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Some old photos from a 'Treasure Hunt' event I organised back in September 1981 for the original Surrey/Sussex region of Ray Holmans 'Mini Cooper Club.' The photos are from the mid-point of the run parked up at Outwood Windmill, Surrey and at the finish at the 'Hand in Hand' pub on top of Boxhill, Surrey. I remember one of the 'treasure' items required to be collected was a hard boiled egg, so some members who had managed to obtain an egg (not that easy on a Sunday in 1981 England) were unsuccessfully trying to boil them using their hot radiators or exhaust manifolds....the eventual winner (my brother Steve navigating with his then girlfriend driving) managed to drop in on a local resident who agreed to hard boil an egg for them! Despite some suspicions from other competitors at the time the result was not 'fixed' for close family members! We also arrived at the pub, hungry after a long afternoon of Mini driving fun and getting lost on narrow twisty country lanes, only to find the pub did not serve any food on Sunday evenings.....only packets of crisps.
http://www.outwoodmill.com/

The white '65 Mk1 S with Weller wheels (next to my red Mk3) had been recently restored by its long time owner 'Nick' but appears to be currently on sorn so I guess it may still exist. (The green Renault imposter was Ray Holmans company car as his Mk1/2 Mini Cooper was being restored/reshelled into a new Mk3 shell).

the green Renault is probably the rarest classic car of the lot of them now a days!

Viking VW camper conversion behind aswell.

The white '65 S, looking a bit different 9 years earlier in the classified ads of the 10th anniversary edition of Car magazine (September 1972), which I found in a job lot of early 70s car mags that my mate lent me a few years back. Haven't got them now, but I scanned the pic and made a note of the description: "CAR's Art Editor is selling his wife's December 1965 Cooper 'S' - Two tone brown 'Like a Radford'. Flared arches, wide wheels, sun roof, radio, twin spots in grill, bucket seats. New clutch. Timing chain etc. Selling to make room for clapped out Tiger £350 o.n.o secures."

Reminds me of one of my old nails - GGY which, as the car above, was also registered in swinging London in the Summer of '65.





Shame these cars have to be restored, can't imagine the reaction turning up at Bulee with 6" Wellers on a Mk1 S now! Loads of cars ended up looking like this, not that you'd believe it now!

(Liking the Iggy reference there by the way! )

They look fab don't they, my mk2 is staying just like this. S discs, 10 Dunlop D1's and no arches. Proper old skool wide boy mini.

I still miss my other mk2 now sadly dissolved, painted washing machine white, debumpered front and rear with washers under the hydro knuckles at the back to get some rake on a set of 12" Dunlop D1's.

That's what's in my mental image of these cars, just like Richs mk1 'S'

Pete wrote:Reminds me of one of my old nails - GGY which, as the car above, was also registered in swinging London in the Summer '65.

haha

I remember this one!

it was a shocker!

Yes it was, interior by B&Q. ..featuring a good quantity of furry stuff, luxurious black velour, plywood, bits of 2"x2" you name it.. it also had an upholstered overhead entertainment unit, and the windows didn't lock cos they didn't have any catches or any holes for any.

Behind all the 'Barry-fication' was an original car with most of it's original panels and it's original engine!

Hi Mab the top picture was taken at Saxmundham the first MCC national weekend, my Innocenti (midnight blue/red roofed) is in the line-up next to Gary Pearce's metallic rose Innocenti Export. 1981 puff it only seems like 33 years ago!

GGY a few weeks ago, less plastic and less filler and NO Velour

Pete your 'old nail' - GGY looks very similar to an 'in period' 70's upgrade that a friend of mine carried out but to his '64 Mk1 850 in the '70's......he deseamed the rear quarters for the vinyl roof with plates welded from behind, then seams were ground off flush and isopon smoothed over the joints, all painted in white with a blue vinyl roof and black perspex windows....he could not see out at night without sliding back the side windows. My brothers and I were breaking a rusty Vanden Plas Princess 1300 at the time (we were constantly being offered rusty Mini's and 1100's for free to break up for spares) so he had the twin carb engine with remote change out of that and managed to cram in most of the unwanted VP leather interior including the front 'arm chairs' complete with walnut picnic tables in the back rests! The VP walnut dash also fitted in with some major surgery and white 6x10" Wellers filled the blended in arch extensions. Their were plans to add the Vanden Plas grille but that never happened as he sold it quick just as the isoponed arches and rear seams started to crack through the pristine home sprayed paint job and bought a Cortina 1600E with chrome rostyles and peeling 'Blue Mink' metallic paint !

The Vandem Plas headlamp rims also made a nice subtle mod for our Mini's at the time and they had the sought after chrome handbrakes.!

And here is GGY as delivered to my mate David Strange by Fred of Nippy cars a few weeks ago. Shame the deseamed shell could not be reused.
These cars had such interesting histories, with mad and tasteless mods being the norm really. Here is a picture of mine in the early 70's. Should I have preserved its bonkers look rather than have another perfect standard car to bore everyone with ?

bryan wrote:Here is a picture of mine in the early 70's. Should I have preserved its bonkers look rather than have another perfect standard car to bore everyone with ?

Now i really like that !

Billy, hopefully these will put you off the look!.
If you were to recreate the mods, how far do you go ? Blow over the car in black, and leave the door shuts in original Almond Green like the first owner did? Interesting debate!

bryan wrote:Billy, hopefully these will put you off the look!.
If you were to recreate the mods, how far do you go ? Blow over the car in black, and leave the door shuts in original Almond Green like the first owner did? Interesting debate!

I'd Defo leave it the way it was painted, like the two tone, still with the almond showing as a tribute to its history !I like the 70s Vibe, like Rich's car, is that an oil cooler on the front grille ?,

I think it's a shame to put everything back to standard. But ultimately it's about what makes you smile when you open the garage door.

Nick

Dr S wrote:I think it's a shame to put everything back to standard. But ultimately it's about what makes you smile when you open the garage door.

Nick

Absolutely, and despite my appreciation of contemporary "Kev'd" up cars I'm sure I couldn't have left any of GGY's mods in place but it's great to see them like that before they do get restored (which in GGY's case was compulsory!).

Yes, I think it was an oil cooler, but not as we know them...
In earlier days of his ownership, the owner had a thing with Raydot lights, configured in the way you did in the 60's.
He also didnt seem to want his missus to see where she was going in the rain. He always ran the car with no passenger side wiper throughout his ownership!