The Register

The E-Newsletter of The Mini Register

October 2009

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New Members

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to The Mini Register to:

Kusal Tirimanne, Colombo , Sri Lanka

1996 Rover Mini Automatic 1275cc SPI in green known as "Dream Car"

Kusal's Mini was damaged when he bought it and is in the garage being repaired. He would also like to modify it but wants to know a bit more about it.

From the chassis number SAXXNWAXKBD095... it is possible to say that the Mini is:

   SAX - Manufacturer - MG Rover
   XN - Model - Mini 1300
   W - HLS or Mayfair
   A - 2 door saloon
   X - 1300 SPI (standard compression ratio, 9.4:1)
   K - Right hand drive automatic
   B - 1300
   D - Built in the Longbridge factory
   095.... - the unique build number of the Mini

We look forward to the photos of the finished car 

Chris and Katie Johns, Kindsbach, Germany

1979 Mini 1000 Mini-Matic which is brown at the moment

"Katie purchased this Mini here in Germany, with intent of completing its restoration and taking it back to the States with us. It has been a car she has wanted for some time now and the price and conditions were right for this cool little cars purchase. I (Chris) myself am a car enthusiast, I'm more into American muscle , but if it has wheels I'm game....This will be a very fun project for the both of us."

Tony and Helen Davies, Weymouth, Dorset, UK

2009 John Cooper Works in Grey called Billy

"I have had Billy for only 3 weeks so I am only just getting to know what he can do, I am very pleased with the drive and road holding. Billy is my 3rd Mini and my first new car and by far the best"

Emma  Carpenter, Cape Town, South Africa

1979 Mini Mark 3 in Cream called Maggie

"I live with Maggie in Cape Town. I like to think of her as an old lady - a twinset and pearls type of dame. Recently she's made me spruce her up with some new jewelery I found for her in London. Next project is the interior and another coat of paint... Generally try and tick one item off my 'to do' list each month."

Naxx Shaf, Watford, Hertfordshire, UK

1996 Mini Cooper in British racing green and white

Naxx's Cooper is fitted with Group 7 arches, deep dish 13x8 Superlites and a sound system upgrade

Jayne and Ian Simmons, Wareham, Dorset, UK

1994  Rover Cooper 1.3i in BRG called Midge

Still original apart from RC40 and lots of chrome and stainless replacement parts such as bumpers, wheel arches, boot light etc

"Midge is my 3rd Mini. I have had him for nearly 7 years and he is a big part of our family. We attend most of the major shows such as London to Brighton and Beaulieu and in 2004 I entered Midge in the show and shine at the London to Brighton and he won first place in his category - a very proud moment! Me and my husband Ian belong to Jurassic Coast Mini Club (based around the Jurassic Coast in Dorset) where I am the Chairman and Ian is Secretary. Again, we go to most of the big shows and local events and also some other classic car shows such as the one held at Powderham Castle. We also have our own run each year - the Mouth 2 Mouth - where we travel from Weymouth to Exmouth collecting money for the RNLI. We have just completed this years run (there is a write upon The Mini Register website) and raised £1020 for the RNLI. Midge is completely original - the only things I have changed is his exhaust - which is now an RC40 - and I have replaced original items such as the bumpers, wheel arches and boot light for chrome and stainless alternatives. I have also replaced the radiator for an stainless version. Over the next few years Midge will need work on some rust that is appearing - small amounts at the moment on the scuttle and A panels but considering some minis I have seen he really isn't doing too bad and he stills polishes up really well!"

Sheila Forbes, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

2009 Cooper Clubman in Chilli Red called Dougal

Dougal sports blue viper stripes and pinstripes on the back doors and bonnet. A blue Saltire adorns the chilli red roof. Up front there are two driving lamps and JCW side scuttles are fitted.

David Carson, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

1981 Mini Clubman 1275E in Red called Andy

Andy has been completely restored to the South African Mini Clubman 1275E specification

"The Mini Clubman 1275E appears to be a unique South African model designation (similar to the 1275GT but without the twin carbs). The car was completely restored in 2000 and it is in superb condition. It has only done 4,800 Kms since restoration. It is an absolute delight to drive."

Sharon Lewis and Janet Kelly, Ryde, Isle of Wight, UK

2001 Mini Cooper Sport 500 in Antracite called John

I own a Mini Cooper Sport 500 called John. I live on the IoW. Bought my car this year, having driven my mum's Mini............ first time in years (used to own 2 others) got in hers went round the block, and had to go get one!! best thing I have ever wasted money on.. love it!"

Tim and Lydia Moore, Farnham, Surrey, UK

2000 Cooper Sport in Multi Blue and Silver

1989 Mini 30 in Red

1991 Mini Mayfair in Blue

"I run a small workshop dedicated to the classic Mini, having been in the trade for 35 years (starting at a B.L. dealer) and still love the Mini. I spend all day every day working on a Mini of one kind or another !"

Colin Histon, Altrincham, Cheshire, UK

1990 Mini Studio 2 in Nordic Blue called BooBoo

Colin's Mini is currently standard but he would like some Alloy Wheels - and some cheap insurance for limited mileage.

"I have had several Minis over the past years, But this one is the best so far having done less than 40K miles from new, only one previous owner . I would like to sell it, because I have a serious back injury and find it rather a hard ride, but still enjoy it. Only it leaves me in considerable amount of pain. It has only done 550 miles since the last MOT Test. Probably getting too old now at nearly 63 but do not feel that old, time creeps up on one and you don't think about the years as they slip by. Although cars are now more reliable the Mini is still one of the best cars for simplicity of servicing and most things still cost very little. The BMW Mini is not as good and lacks that cheeky character and chuckable driving ability. And costs too much to buy especially when they have put the old Peugeot (l400cc) 206 engine in (75BHP) for almost £11K. Gutless wonder with 6 gears. What are they thinking about."

Andrea Castellani and Ilaria Innocenti, Firenze, Italy

1989 Mini Thirty in black called Elizabeth

Andrea's Mini has been restored to the original Mini Thirty specification

"I'm Italian and not so expert in UK Mini. But I love her, she is so beautiful. I try to restore her but I'm not a mechanicso I try... Maybe I'll succeed..."

Michael Robinson and Gary Bell, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, UK

1992 Mini City 998cc in red called Sean which is fitted with 13inch wheels, wide tyres, flared arches, a sunroof and wide bore exhaust

2007 Mini Cooper S in Pepper white called Cody which sports Viper stripes

"I have two Minis. A BMW Cooper S and a 1992 Rover Mini that I have just acquired. The proper Mini is a 998cc that I intend to modify. It already has wide wheels and flared arches and a sports exhaust. Hoping to give it a black roof and bonnet stripes once I have tackled the rusting valences."

Diane,  Richard,  Paul,  Hayley  Winter, Guisborough, North Yorks, UK

2001 Mini Cooper in blue

1996 Mini Sprite in white

"BMW Mini Cooper bought for my 40th birthday its mine and I love it. Just bought Rover Mini Sprite 1996 in Oct 2009 for me and kids, wants a lot of work so hubby and me have started the strip down and full restoration shortly"

Dylan, Craig and Mario Rode, Pretoria, South Africa

1974 Leyland Mini 1000cc in Light Powder Blue

Kevin Graney, Fish Hoek, Cape Town, South Africa

1967 Mini in Peacock Green

"None (modifications) yet still in the process of building it up. Has recently been resprayed but need to find the time to put it all together again."

Mark Ashton, Wigan, Lancashire, UK

1990 Mini 30 in Black called The minster

"The min is 99.9% original-other than a black petrol cap instead of rovers chrome one. She was bought new for my mum in 1990 for £5450 and I took her on in 2000 we have all paperwork inc Rob Goldings leatherbound book 'mini thirty years on' in mint condition we are looking for a new owner as an injury I received in 1992 is getting worse and she needs someone to love her and look after her, as we have. No serious offer would be refused.

Stuart Hodgkiss, Preston, Lancashire, UK

1992 Mini Sprite in red, fitted with alloy wheels, uprated alternator

"I had a Mini (bright orange) when I was young (who didn't?) and my brother-in-law moved from working on other vehicles to Minis. So when we wanted a replacement vehicle it just so happened that he had this Mini Sprite he was nearing completion of. So we bought it. Love it to bits. Being just over 6ft we did have an extension bracket added to the drivers seat, but it is great fun to drive and other (Mini) drivers are very courteous with their waves."

Jonathan Gould, Rugby, Warwickshire, UK

2004 MINI Cooper S Works in black

2001 MINI One in red

See Jonathan's request in Where are they now

Members update

Attila Csorba, Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, UK

Rabawi Rahim, Terengganu, Malaysia

Awie's Mini looking very smart with the all silver Dunlop D1s

James Hunter, Airdrie, Scotland, UK

Jim's project Bumblebee is well on her way to the finish line

"you can see more on www.jimhunter.piczo.com, go to Angelas Mini and see the full resto."

Capt James O'Donnell, Auckland, New Zealand

"Please post these pictures of my current projects here in Auckland New Zealand.

'Bugspray' is my daughters Mini, and the project car is mine, which I hope to have completed this Christmas. 'Bugspray' is an 850cc '73, and the project car is a '77 LE 1000cc. I have a Lynn Rogers 1080 engine with cross drilled crank, a special grind cam and a stage 2 head with seats to suit un-leaded fuel. I am just in the process of assembling this engine. Both of these cars will end up in British Standard Blue with White Roof and stripes. 10" Mini-lites with 2" flare trims will finish the out side package. Inside we will have Black carpet with new upholstery to all seats. They should look neat."

Cape Town Breakfast Run

Thanks to Ryan Bubear for this report

Here are the details of an informal breakfast run we had here in Cape Town to celebrate the Mini's 50th birthday:

Nearly 20 Minis pitched up in Kirstenhof on Sunday, August 30, as Cape Town Mini owners gathered to celebrate the wonderful little car's 50th birthday.

Guests of honour on the day were Historian for the Mini Owner's Club of southern Africa, Ryno Verster and his wife, along with their long-time friend Charles 'Chuck' Heleker from Seattle in the United States. All three took the long drive down from Gauteng.

The group of Minis lapped up the attention as we blasted over Boyes Drive, eventually ending up at The Salty Seadog in Simon's Town for fish 'n' chips.

With parking a bit of an issue on a busy sunny Sunday, authorities kindly opened up the pier in the harbour, which made for some spectacular photographs.

Troy Kennedy Martin

The man who penned our favourite film The Italian Job, Troy Kennedy Martin, has died of cancer aged 77.

His writing career spanned five decades, starting in 1958 with a series of television plays before writing his most famous television series - Z Cars.

The Italian Job was the first of his film scripts, he latter wrote Kelly's Heros, The Jerusalem File and Sweeney II, the later based on the popular TV police drama created by his brother Ian.

Where are they now?

Jonathan Gould has sent us this note

"I am an owner of two last generation Mini's and a keen fan of the marque. I wish to find a classic Mini to purchase.

My father passed away in June and I would like to locate his classic Mini reg 252 KWP (circa 64-66) if they are still around, this car was owned by him when I was born. He also owned KAB 965D during that period"

If you can help Jonathan, let us know and we will pass on he details.

MINI 2010 Calendar

MINI's creative Internet initiative - MINI Space - has produced the art work for the MINI Calendar for 2010. Members of MINI Space were invited to submit entries to a competition on the theme of MINIMALISM

Part of the challenge was to integrate the silhouette of the MINI in their design. The 12 designs in the calendar were selected from more than 4,000 entries submitted.

The calendar measures 58 cm x 53.5 cm and costs 21 Euros, it is available from www.MINI.com/shop and select MINI dealers.

Rally Giants - Mini Cooper

Graham Robson has written a book that describes the birth, development, and rallying career of the BMC Mini-Cooper/Mini-Cooper in the 1960s

This book provides a compact and authoritative history of where, when and how it became so important to the sport. The book is packed with over 100 photographs.

MINI in the World Rally Championship

Autocar report that there may well be substance to the rumours about a WRC MINI, the speculation is that Prodrive, famous for the Subaru WRC cars, are developing a WRC contender based on the 4WD Countryman/ Crossover.

The launch of the road version of the Crossover has been put back to next year, probably at the Geneva or Paris motor shows and Autocar report that the WRC car may well be announced at the Paris show. If true, the WRC MINI may well debut in the 2011 season.

Mini 50 Birthday Celebrations – 23 August 2009

Thanks to Frank van der Meer for this report

Well, we planned this event for over a year and the Organising Committee, under the watchful eye of Ryno Verster put in a lot of hard work.

In addition, the day would not have been possible without the generosity of our sponsors, particularly MINI SA, Tiger Wheel & Tyre/Pirelli, the Citizen, Leo Haese, Centurion, Mini Workshop, Kollie’s Mini Clinic and Dez’s Minis.

Furthermore, our most grateful thanks to the members of the Mini 50 Organising Committee, all those that helped on the day, from the tiring job of ‘marshalling’ by Hennie, Andrew and Elliott and the team, to the Madre and her team from Leo Haese team that ‘manned’ the gate, René and Narinda who convinced everyone who came through the gate to make a donation, Marlene, Natalie and Helga who handled the Registration desk, Cornelis and Chuck who got the ‘Time Line of Minis’ sorted out and all the others that helped and made the day possible.

Not least of all, it was you, who came to Zwartkops and joined in the birthday celebrations of your beloved little car that really made the day so great. Also, you, the visitors and everybody contributed just over R10 000 in donations at the gate.

Thanks to Tiger Wheel & Tyre/Pirelli we had the use of the Zwartkops Skidpan and a lot of Mini owners had a lot of fun and learnt that it is difficult to get a Mini to skid. In addition, Brian Hastie kindly organised and handled the Mini Gymkhana and great joy was had by those brave souls that participated.

From the gate numbering we know that just over 460 Minis/Minis gathered at Zwartkops to celebrate the birthday

We had some celebrities joining us for the celebrations, notably the Outspan Orange which usually resides at the James Hall Museum of Transport and which was brought through for the day by the Friends of the Museum.

Also, we were honoured to have Chuck Heleker, from the Seattle Mini Owners Association in USA with us. He and Ryno then subsequently toured South Africa, originally planned to take place in two Wolseley 1000s, but one of the cars ran into some difficulties on the first day and the trip was done in a MINI and a Bantam bakkie.

Jai Monaghan, formerly from the East Rand, but now from New Zealand, was there.

There was, also, a considerable presence from MINI SA, with their GM, Karen Valle joining us and participating in the Parade Lap.

Amongst other things, an attempt was made at a Guinness World of Records, for the largest parade of Minis in South Africa and some 297 cars participated in this. The final checking, recording and auditing is currently being finalised and it is hoped that the record attempt was successful, as there was a bit of disorganisation when cars entered the track ahead of the scheduled time and the event became a bit chaotic at one stage.

In closing, I would like to thank one and all for their attendance, the donations and the hard work.

Remember that this is the Mini’s golden jubilee, so join me in wishing the greatest little car of all times a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

SA Magazine re-launched

Following its purchase about a year ago, the Classic Car Africa magazine has been given a new lease of life to go with its new look and feel.

Van towbar ?

Bill and Kyrie Jones from Queensland Australia are looking for a towbar for the 68 Mini Van. does anyone know if these are available ?

Minis for sale

UK - Paul Ganicliffe tells us of a stalled Mini project for sale in Widnes, Cheshire. It has a 1275 engine, Minilight style wheels, has had all the welding done but needs a respray. The owner wants £500.

South Africa - Bob and Chris Huggins from Gauteng are looking to sell their 1974 LHD Mini.

Events

19th - 31st October - EU - The Italian Job, starts in Turin on the 19th and finishes in the UK on the 31st with a route that takes in Bologna and Venice as well as a visit to the rooftop test track at the Lingotto factory that featured in the film

25th October - UK - The 6th Malvern Mini Show & Spares Day, Avon & Wye Halls, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs

30th October - Spain - Fiesta 50 Aniversario Mini, Barcelona

15th or 22nd November - South Africa - Possible dates for the MOCSA Pretty Mini Day –

29th November - UK - South West Mini Show, Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset

That's it, please let us know what is going on in your part of the world.

Keep in touch

Mike Bennett
theregister@miniregister.co.uk

The opinions expressed in The Register are those of the members and not necessarily those of The Mini Register.

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