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looks to have had a van front?

That's what I thought...... that can't be factory.
I'm trying to find some more info about it.

Why can't it be factory?
Didn't some of the pre-production prototypes have 'van' front grilles?
Also in the early race line up's had a car with a van front grille, could it be that car if prepared from a 1960 car?

But the photo is 72 on, probably much later.Strikes me that the van panel was the best/ cheapest one found in the breakers

Quite a few really early Minis were still racing in the 70s but the car's got gutter drip rails so I don't think it's mega early. I agree though, possibly just had a van front panel from the scrappy.

Thanks for your input guys...
The chassis number stamped on the stiffeners panel is in the 57000's and the bulkhead BMK number is in the 49000's.
I will keep digging.....

All the best competition Minis had van front panels

Well all the best orange ones!

Maguire Mini wrote:

Pete wrote:Anyone got any pictures of Gerry Hinde? He raced an 'RB Motors' (Rod Blanchard) Gordon Allen short stroke 8 porter in the early 70's with a Vita beam on it. Based around Derby , the car was yellow with a black top half I think.

Ta

Pete

Hi Pete,
I know this post was a long time ago, but I have just come across a photo of, what I think was the ex- Gerry Hinde car, driven by photographer John Colley at the Curborough sprint course, I'm sure it had a beam axle and had RB Motors on the boot, it looks as though it has a 5 port engine at this time because of the IDA Weber sticking out of the bonnet !, it's a very poor photo taken on a Kodak instamatic whilst trying to protect my ears from the open exhaust.

Hi Pete,
Found another photo of the ex-Gerry Hinde car, same poor quality I'm afraid
Regards
Ron.

Great Ron. I think I bought that trailer!

Couple of nice period photos of Mini racer Simon Ridge in the early days at Brands Hatch (around 1966-67) when he was running his own Free Formula car and before the heady days of sponsorship! He later drove for Automex & D J Bond.
Original Photos: Sunrise International Productions B.S.Kreisky (Archive: Martin Henn)

Terry Harmer - his last racing Mini 1978 (Mini Racer 1966 to '78)


(Photo: Terry Harmer)
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~terry01/index.html

Maguire Mini wrote:Found some photo's I took in the Silverstone paddock in the late sixties, I get the impression Mr Price had an overheating problem !!!

Crude but effective?!

Great old photos, thanks for posting ....as said crude but effective!

Reminds me when we went to a front mounted rad on my brothers 850 Free Formula racer in the early 1970's......but it looked less crude as we turned the standard side mounted rad on its side and soldered up the filler neck hole (as did many others), if you look carefully the remote header tank was made out of the top part of an old Mini rad with a flat plate soldered on the bottom. If anything this setup overcooled and we often had to blank off part of the rad with an aluminium plate.

Photos showing our evolution from side to front mounted rad......







A younger me above just caught on camera in the old Brands paddock!

Great pics....fantastic thread this one!

mab01uk wrote:Great old photos, thanks for posting ....as said crude but effective!

Reminds me when we went to a front mounted rad on my brothers 850 Free Formula racer in the early 1970's......but it looked less crude as we turned the standard side mounted rad on its side and soldered up the filler neck hole (as did many others), if you look carefully the remote header tank was made out of the top part of an old Mini rad with a flat plate soldered on the bottom. If anything this setup overcooled and we often had to blank off part of the rad with an aluminium plate.

Photos showing our evolution from side to front mounted rad......







A younger me above just caught on camera in the old Brands paddock!

Great pictures mab, I agree yours was a much tidier solution.
Good to see you in younger years, (I used to have hair like that, in fact I used to have hair)
Those Firestone tyres were brilliant compared to the Dunlop's available at the time, we used them in sprinting/hillclimbing in a soft compound, I think they were IB or YB11 and the circuit tyres IB or YB19, they had so much grip my brother had one push off a Mamba wheel on the front, which then dug in and the car cartwheeled into a little ball, I was waiting at the start line for my turn when an official told me he had gone off, they took me up to the wreck, which looked like a tent had been pitched on the grass, the roof up in a point, a re-shell being required.
Found another photo from the B&W set at Silverstone, not a Mini but it had got an A series.

Maguire Mini wrote: Found another photo from the B&W set at Silverstone, not a Mini but it had got an A series.

Right, I'm off to take off my bumpers!

Al

Pandora wrote:

Maguire Mini wrote: Found another photo from the B&W set at Silverstone, not a Mini but it had got an A series.

Right, I'm off to take off my bumpers!

Al

i bet it hasn't got big ears hats painted on the front wings.....

Their loss.

ding ding, went the wing!



Al