regrets

[mk1]

Hi Jay,

I would be happy to help you in posting pictures.

Please PM me or e-mail me direct.

Regards,

mark F

[mk1coopers]

I regret not taking more pictures and details of the Minis that my Dad had, at the time you just don't think of these things because the cars were right in front of you. I'll also regret it if I miss the thread with the pictures of the Sprint as mentioned above

[Pete]

GOY746D the rear plate is hanging in my living room

Brilliant, that's the S&A brochure car isn't it, another famous sprint (ex)owner on the forum then ! I do have an article with a modded sprint (lots of whistles and bells in the dash dept) and thought it may be the same car, maybe not. I'll post it up later anyway.

[Ant Hines]

it had 10x4.5 minilites. standard looking dash with a vicking pod on the column. pictures of the car before i purchased it and starting ruining it are used in the s.a. ad on the sprint site on this site. GOY746D the rear plate is hanging in my living room. i've got some pictures of the car when i was a kid in an album. i have hundreds of photos i'd love to share but need help doing it. any volunteers? when i got car it was as nice as shown in the ad

Hi Jay, if you need help scanning photos to post, I'm in LA and would be very willing to help.

[JC T ONE]

I do have an article with a modded sprint (lots of whistles and bells in the dash dept)

Is the name of the article = "Speed Shops - The little bit extra, in several languages" ? dating january 21 - 1967.

Thats the one I found in my collection, If not then there are 2 articles .

[Pete]

So did it look pretty much as in the brochure when you got it Jay ?

[Pete]

I can't remember which mag I scanned this out of...not GOY though....

[foxy52]

i've got a very mk11 super deluxe which is tuned to near cooper spec. and with disc brakes it,s a laugh a minute. i,m 60, so of course you look back at all
the lovely cars you owned through rose tinted spectacles, but it,s pointless really. enjoy what you've got.

...we think alike and u r the same age as me (61 this year)... my neighbour still works and spends 600+ in fuel alone each month....( 2 vehicles)... !!! has the world gone mad ?? spiraling prices in food,gas etc etc...i had many new mercs,golf gti,s.. but i wouldnt swap my S for any new car...well perhaps a high spec skyline jus to see what its like to drive a gtr before i get to old to enjoy it ??!! but would i want the running costs .?... nah !!!..( nice sprint pic pete, not seen that one before).....foxy52

[JC T ONE]

I can't remember which mag I scanned this out of...not GOY though....

Hi Pete,

Thats the one, did you scan the interior pic too ? I have never seen so much "mumbo jumbo" on a dash before
If not can I have one made & post (consider yourself warned )


the mag its from is Motor

[TuttSpeed]

In the early ‘90’s a tatty black Radford showed up at a swap meet on a trailer for sale. It was left hand drive and based on a 997 Cooper and sat on chrome plated Cooper S wheels. The body was good with all of its original panels, having been stored indoors in California all of its life. The wickerwork sides were a work of art and still looked good but several areas of the black paint were dull and scratched. The Webasto cover was in shreds and the leather on the seats had deteriorated into something that resembled beef jerky. The 997 cooper engine had been swapped for tired looking 850 with a magic wand and the 7 inch discs had been replaced with drums. The insides of the engine compartment and boot still showed the fiesta yellow that the car originally left the factory in.

The seller said that it previously belonged to the daughter of a certain Hollywood director. The car had also made an appearance in one of the director’s films starring an English actor portraying a bungling French inspector.

Having seen this film several times myself because this mini was in it, I had no doubt that it was the real deal. I knew it had to be the mini discovery of the decade. I wanted it bad. Unfortunately it was priced at what a nice restored Cooper S was going for at the time and I had very little cash being just out of university and not fulltime employed. As there were no takers for this car it went to a local high end consignment lot where it sat for a while.

I had told my mate in the UK about the Radford. At The time he was selling an early countryman for his brother and a bloke that ran a reputable restoration shop stopped by to look at it. This restoration shop owner was buying up nice early minis as well as building sprints for his wealthy Japanese clientele. When he passed on the countryman due to some dodgy rust repairs my mate mentioned the Radford to him. He was very keen on this information and was soon in touch with me.

After several phone calls and faxes (this was before the internet was available), I had convinced him that it was the real deal and he had convinced me that it would be given a sympathetic restoration and stay in the UK. He said he would probably keep it and I mentioned to him that he might be able to sell it to the Cars of the Stars Museum so that many people could see and enjoy it. Anyway, a deal was struck. I purchased the car on his behalf and got to look after it for a week whilst shipping was arranged.

The rest is known history in the mini world.

Derek

[Pete]

Another great story, so it was the 'Shot In The Dark' Sellers car later sold to Blake Edwards. John Adair was quite good at finding cars like that as he did with the Trickett Minisprint racer. I first saw the Trickett car at Loton Park hillclimb and didn't realise it's significance, as didn't the owner at the time as I recall, it was "just" a bright red chopped down Mini. If only....

[JC T ONE]

I subscribed to MW back in those days, I remember the article about the car.

Thanks for filling in the gaps bet it must have been frustrating to know what you found, and not be able to buy it

John Adair had quit a few rare Mini,s

[fricsman]

I first saw the Trickett car at Loton Park hillclimb and didn't realise it's significance[/quote]

What year would that have been?

[Pete]

I reckon around 1995 ish. In fact I only recognised it once Adair had restored it by all the holes in the dash rail ! Fantastic car. So many cars used to turn up in those days. I remember a mate telling me about a Mini with Downton badges on it in a garage in Nantwich.
Anyway so we pop over there and true enough it was in an old dealership now used as a working garage with another Mini and a Moke in there. The owner was about and was borrowing the garage space whilst he fixed the car up, got it through an MOT and then planned to sell it. The number plate was 1 ELY which was the Anthony Marsh Downton demonstrator..

http://mk1-performance-conversions.co.u ... rticle.jpg

The owner was going to sell it so whilst he 'did it up' I tried my damndest to see if I could buy it but with two obstacles in the way :

1. In the process of 'doing it up' the owner was in fact ruining it right in front of my eyes as he used bolts to fix an outer sill on then got a brush and started to paint the floor panels in domestic brown gloss paint all over the original Smoke Grey panels !! So I realised something had to be done pretty quick. You have to realise that this car , though had been painted over in dark blue in the late 60's, was a proper original two owner car with history not some made up logbook job and had all it's extra period bits in place and the guy was setting about taking this stuff off. For instance the Restall and Microcell seats (am I right Francis ?) were going to get recovered in Newton Grey/Grey ( ) and the rear seat was also going to get recovered. The original carpet was gonna get binned amongst other plans he had for it's immediate future. I did urge (begged !) him not to throw anything away whilst I tried to negotiate a deal.

2. The other problem was the fact that he valued the number plate at £18K !! and the car at £5K so there was no chance that the number was ever going to stay attached to it because nobody would pay it, so I thought anyway , and I was proved right because the next thing I knew was that after a few offers he then flogged it on to somebody who had the plate off and before too long it was on Ebay without the plate for what turned out to be a reasonable sum from the guy who'd plate raped it. Innevitable really I'm afraid and little that could have been done but the car found a new home with a thoroughly decent chap of this very parish.

[JC T ONE]

What a sad story, shame people only think of money, but nice that the car is in good hands.

Such a rare car, with that history should have kept its org no plate.

When was 1 ELY built at Downton ?

Has the owner made a copy plate, he can fit at car shows ? thats what I would have done.


Not long after I bought the JanSpeed / W & P, did a guy turn up in my garage,
he made me an offer that was 5 times up, on what I had paid for the car, if I would let him have the interior