Minisprint conversion .

[swifty]

I'm getting bored with standard restorations so I'm thinking il do a minisprint next . Thing is , for what Neville charges is it worth me doing it . With Neville you've got his name on it , so would it be worth more ? ... Than if I done it . If a minisprint with his name to it is worth say £5 grand more than me doing it , then it offsets his fee . I know it's not all about the money but it has to be considered. Opinions appreciated.... Ken

[mk1]

Doing your own Sprint is quite a good challenge, & I am sure you would enjoy working through the bugs & would successfully do so eventually.

However, And I know I am biased here, as I am lucky enough to consider Neville a good friend.

Getting a Sprint from Neville is a ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE!

Neville's price is very inexpensive for all the work involved & at the end of it you get a "Neville Trickett Minisprint" a car made by the original designer. Where else can you get such a chance to buy something so rare for so little money?

The cost of the conversion work charged by Neville would be covered in extra value if you were to ever sell it.

Contact Neville & see how he is fixed, he won't string you along & unlike a lot of people nowadays he'll answer your questions honestly.

[rich@minispares.com]

I made my own, and whilst im pretty proud of a car that has been well used and abused over the many years ive owned it, it is, at the end of the day, just a modified mini.


a proper minisprint on the other hand........................

[medwaybeat]

I've seen a few sprints in the metal and GRP and hats off to all who done them, But there is just something about the Trickett sprint that just looks so completely right. Neville really does have a fantastic eye for detail and proportion.

[Pete]

Nev's name on the car will indeed add value, hard to disagree with that. However he does normally have a waiting list and there will be quite a bit to do on the shell before paint that's the impression I get, but I'm sure that'd be the case either way. I seriously considered getting Nev to do me one (and was on his waiting list) until I found my Unipower GT.

[swifty]

Thanks for the replys . It's exactly what I was thinking . Although I'm capable of doing one it's not quite the same and never will be . So i will be restoring a shell then contacting Neville . Thanks .

[mk1]

Just to make it absolutely clear.

There are people who do Sprint conversions who are 100% true died in the wool body bashers, their conversions are dead straight & beautiful in the metal, paint can be more or less put straight on them.

Neville has never made any claim to be a car body work expert, he is more akin to an artist. The proportions of his Sprints are gorgeous, the cutting & welding is all done exactly like the 60's ones were with an angle grinder & mainly gas welding. You will have a lot of finishing to do before you can get the shell into paint, but at the end of the day you own a 100% genuine Neville Trickett Mini Sprint.

Neville currently charges E3500 or thereabouts, that is around 1/5 of the price you would pay to a body specialist to do similar work. Where else can you buy an original at 1/5 of the price of a reproduction?

If anyone is interested in a Sprint conversion, I would suggest you contact Neville direct through his Minisprint web site, to ask how long the waiting list currently is. Or if you have general questions, I would be more than happy to answer them.

[swifty]

Yes I appreciate there will be a fair amount of distortion and making good . That's the pros and cons of gas welding . What I do like about gas welding is that you can get 2 bits of metal melting together . A proper weld penetrated . I've had a fair few staff working or me over the years , so called welders and panel men , who by the time you ground off there stuck together mig , your left with a very thin piece of bodywork . I've emailed Neville this morning through the website . At the moment I have a mk3 S in black or a mk1 Cooper in old English White . Would a mk3 look right ? ... Ken

[mk1]

Ken,

I have just had a mail from Neville, he is currently travelling & will answer your mail upon his return to France.

M

[swifty]

Yeh thanks mark . Had a email from Neville already . I've still got to get a shell panelled up so thought I would get the ball rolling just incase he has commitments from other people . I'm getting excited already

[mk1]

Nev did also mention that he was starting to think about scaling the Minisprint business down, not stopping, but reducing the number he does. After all although he is very fit & healthy he is in his mid 70's and does all the work himself.

Not something I'd want to be doing at that age, if I'm lucky enough to make it.

[mk1coopers]

Out of the two I'd say do the MK1 Cooper, you can then build a much more period looking car

[mk1]

A MK3 would look fine, Nev has done a few internal hinge shells.

However, I agree with mk1coopers in that a MK1 / 2 shell looks more "correct" to my eye.

[JC T ONE]

Out of the two I'd say do the MK1 Cooper, you can then build a much more period looking car

I agree with mk1coopers in that a MK1 / 2 shell looks more "correct" to my eye.

Even thou I am no Sprint owner (like the 2 lucky guys above) I will agree to their posts.

MK 1 & II cars were Sprinted originally "back in the day" by Neville,

But never seen a original MK III Sprint , so if you ever want to sell it, value will play against you with the MK III shell.

So MK 1 is the shell to do it on.

[rich@minispares.com]

funny story about Neville and mk3 sprints


when me and mark collected his shell, the next car nev was doing was a mark 3

we helped him slide it into his workshop once marks car was loaded up

it was only then that he noticed the internal hinges and exclaimed that he didn't even know that minis where ever made as such!

I had to tell him how and where I had cut my shell around the a posts, b posts and the doors as he was a little confused!


it shows how he just walked away from minis when he gave up the first time!

[foxy52]

funny story about Neville and mk3 sprints


when me and mark collected his shell, the next car nev was doing was a mark 3

we helped him slide it into his workshop once marks car was loaded up

it was only then that he noticed the internal hinges and exclaimed that he didn't even know that minis where ever made as such!

I had to tell him how and where I had cut my shell around the a posts, b posts and the doors as he was a little confused!


it shows how he just walked away from minis when he gave up the first time!

Mk 1,s 2,s or 3,s it doesn't matter ?!! a chopped down mini is just a chopped down mini !! external hinges for a mk 1 or mk 2 or any other from mk 3,s onwards to the last proper mini ever made.... none of them are original mini sprints who ever does them ,...as we all know only a 50 odd were ever made MK1,s that is that were sold thru Stewart and Arden dealerships then I gather about a 100 or so variants in total in the mid late 1960,s to the more modern ones built by the company in East Sussex plus variants built by kit car companies..anyone with the nouse can copy a Mini sprint or a Radford for example if as I say u have the tech know how and in the case of a coachbuilt conversion the relevant bits !!!...do chopped down minis look nice ?? yes I think they do..is there a market for other companies to start doing the same ?? hardly !!... foxy52

[mk1]

S&A were relative late comers to the Sprint game. The first ones were done solely by Neville for Geoff Thomas who sold them through his company the "GT equipment co", Rob Walker then ordered 50 from GT for sale through his own dealer network, & it was about this time that Neville walked away from the project. GT struggled to do the 50 although a good percentage of them were indeed completed, this included at least 2 Mini Sprint Travellers, the transition to "square" lights also happened around this time due to a run in with the local constabulary that GT suffered.

By late 66 early 67 GT had become disillusioned by the whole project and managed to off load it onto S&A who took on the production of Sprints for about 18 months or so.

The whole Sprint project didn't make anyone any real money apart from when GT sold the project to S&A for a reputedly large amount of cash.

Whichever way you look at it, there are more "Genuine" Sprints out there than just the ones made or sold by S&A & to suggest otherwise is in my opinion simply wrong. For anyone interested in Sprints there should be at least one or two at the MK1 Action Day at Blyton next month.

[swifty]

Yes I've made up me mind and il be having the mk1 done . People certainly have different views on them and everyone is entitled to there opinion . But to me if there done by the original designer , then it's a genuine sprint . Doesn't matter weather it's done in 60s or modern day .

[Pete]

For anyone interested in Sprints there should be at least one or two at the MK1 Action Day at Blyton next month.

I'd say more like three or four.

[Pete]

S&A were relative late comers to the Sprint game. The first ones were done solely by Neville for Geoff Thomas who sold them through his company the "GT equipment co", Rob Walker then ordered 50 from GT for sale through his own dealer network, & it was about this time that Neville walked away from the project.

Such a shame I never got a chance to talk to Geoff at any length but in the brief email exchanges we had (I was asking about Corsley) he revealed some interesting titbits :

"Stan Jolliffe suggested to Rob Walker that he acquired Corsley Garage for his son to run. I was at the RRC Walker “opening” in 1961/2 when Stirling did the ceremony. The garage had the Austin and Jaguar franchise, but, as far as I am aware, was not involved with ‘competition’ work. I knew Jan Odor well. I met him at Downton ,Gordon Spice was there too. Jan used to race at Castle Coombe. Things did not go well at Corsley and I bought control in May 1966, having just sold my camera business.
The first MiniSprint was a ‘racer’ which Neville produced from a used shell. The first road-going MiniSprint was converted from a Cooper (S?).

After my “Garage” days, I went into the telephone business, got the licence for the very first Cordless Phone and then the first Mobile Phone. Good business!"

I did ask about the Minisprint Traveller, about the one that turned up in Australia and about the numbers he thought may have been made but sadly he passed away soon after.