1960/70's Mini Racing Photos

[mab01UK]

From Dec 2019 Classic & Sports Car magazine...





"One of the most interesting cars competing in Irish saloon class events is undoubtedly the 'Complan Mini' - sponsored by Glaxo Laboratories (Ireland) Ltd., and driven by Alec Poole. Highlight of a successful 1970 season was a dramatic victory at the I.M.R.C. meeting in the Phoenix Park, when after being left at the start, Poole provided the driving thrill of the year in coming through the field to win by almost 2 seconds. The 1.3 litre turbo charged Mini has a power output of 180bhp, runs 13" wheels with 8" front rims and 7" rear rims, can touch 140mph on the straights, and has an overall weight reduction on the standard model of 2.5 cwt."

More info and photos on the Complan Turbo Mini here:-
https://tentenths.com/forum/showpost...23&postcount=6

[mab01UK]

March 1974 - Gordon Allen: The Crankshaft Man of Slough (Motorsport Magazine)
"Gordon Allen is something of an engineering adventurer. His various achievements over the years in the pursuit of engineering enjoyment and motor sport pleasure include designing and constructing a two-cylinder, twin-overhead camshaft racing motorcycle engine, constructing upon Mini gearboxes two four-cylinder, 1.5-litre alloy block engines fitted with adapted Jaguar twin-cam cylinder heads and placing one in each end of a racing Mini, making his own eight-port alloy cylinder head for a Mini complete with his own fuel-injection arrangement and now his latest trick is to adapt a Ford-BDA cylinder head to his own designed arid manufactured block and crankshaft assembly to create a 16-valve, five-bearing, dry-sumped, racing Mini engine. Several Allen BDA-engined Minis are racing successfully, including that of Peter Kitchen, in which Allen has an interest and which I was fortunate enough to try at Silverstone last year (but that's another story).

However, constructing engines is really a hobby for Allen, who runs Allen Tool and Engineering Ltd., from Slough Trading Estate (Slough 23782). It is a hobby which led him by chance into the manufacture of crankshafts and his small engineering works is becoming widely known in competition circles for the quality of his nitrided steel crankshafts machined from solid billets. Many leading engine builders use his crankshafts in Formula Two, Three and Atlantic Ford BDA engines, but his manufacturing capabilities spread far beyond these modern racing realms into vintage and historic crankshaft manufacture. He can make any crankshaft so long as it is not too big for his machines and provided a drawing or preferably an actual example (even broken) of the crank required is available.
More here:-
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/a...3/gordon-allen

[mab01UK]

Originally Posted by mab01UK

Designed and built by Gordon Allen from half a 1700cc BDA (so rated at 850cc). In the 1970's special saloons there was an 850cc class which was full of destroked/overbored 970 Cooper S engines, usually running exotic 8-port heads and the like. This 2 cylinder BDA was a real winner once a few niggles were overcome. It was used by Peter Day in a Mini and also a Fiat 500 (the "Mighty Mouse") Here it is at home in the Mini;

This 2-cylinder 850 Allen BDA engine on a Mini gearbox was a real winner once a few niggles were overcome in the 1970's. It was used by Peter Day in a Special Saloon Mini and also later in his Fiat 500 (the "Mighty Mouse") with the Hybrid Mini unit and front subframe now mounted at the rear.
Here it is at home in the Fiat;













The Fiat was bought by Ian Medcalf off Peter Day as a rolling shell in 1987 and a Swiftune A-series engine installed for hillclimbs and sprints.
Ian is trying to find some in period film footage of the Fiat (or Mini) with the unique sounding half BDA engine.....so if anyone has any footage or photos from back in the day please share!

Ian Medcalf Video Interview | Pride of the Paddock | Race Retro 2019.
"Graham Clark of VFS Videos interviewing Ian Medcalf in the Pride of the Paddock area at Race Retro 2019. Ian talks about his totally rebuilt Fiat 500 with its Swiftune engine (the car was more famous for the 850cc half BDA engine in circuit racing days), which he now uses to do sprints and hill climbs throughout the United Kingdom."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gQmGqteGc8

[mab01UK]

"Mini - The Racing Story" book by John Baggott has a bit more info below.



I also remember well this CCC track test article below and great period photo of a 1300cc Allen BDA Mini racer.....



More info and in period articles on Gordon Allen hybrid Minis here:-
https://twiniminis.com/gordon-allen

[S griffin]

What a nice selection if videos. Get to see racing from a completely different era

[mab01UK]

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by mab01UK

A great article, thanks for sharing it. I'd forgotten that WBB was also such a talented driver in the past, I always remember him as a great engineer, especially with engines.

[S griffin]

Hope those changes work. Not easy to upgrade a car from that era. Still a great car either way. Looks nice in blue, hope the engine sounds good too

[mab01UK]

An Autocross event in Wales from 1969 in link below, quite a few Mk1 Minis in it.

Rhyl Motor Club
Slip sliding away: motor sport time trials for Minis in particular at Towyn, between Abergele and Rhyl:-
https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/...ub-1969-online

"Rhyl & District Motor Club was founded in 1946 and a car of that era is parked with loudspeakers attached to its roof as a new generation of cars slip and slither around a time-trials course at Towyn, between Abergele and Rhyl, on land in front of Ysgol Maes Owen (primary school in Morfa Avenue, Foryd, Rhyl). Nippy little Minis predominate, a black one sponsored by 'Star St Garage Merlyn Pyer – Cardiff'. A red and orange one, from 'Crompton Transport St Fagans', comes a cropper.
This footage was shot by Joseph Cone, of Pentre, Queensferry, Flintshire, a member of Deeside Cine Club (HQ: Rivertown Schoolroom, Shotton) and a provider of film shows locally. He was proprietor of a General Merchant's business, selling hardware, oil and electrical goods and photographic film which he developed and printed."

More old Motorsports films here:-
https://player.bfi.org.uk/search/fre...t=Motor+sports

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by mab01UK

Bill Richard's Clubman has a heart transplant.
1300 BDH Gordon Allen conversion from the 1970’s.

Nice

Originally Posted by S griffin

Hope those changes work. Not easy to upgrade a car from that era. Still a great car either way. Looks nice in blue, hope the engine sounds good too

Bills Minis are always on the absolute limit of what's possible with a Mini - always looking for that extra tenth. It'll sound amazing - that thing will easily rev past 10K (when Bills Metro spaceframe had the BDH in it the rev counter telltale was showing 11K - and Bill claimed he was "taking it easy").

[mab01UK]

Peter Baldwin - Oulton Park

[Carson Hayes]

It's as if the ride would turn on its side. Good, historic shot, overall.

[mab01UK]

Archive : Getting the most out of the Mini in 1969
These colour images were first published in a November 1969 edition of the now defunct Motor magazine:-
https://www.aronline.co.uk/opinion/g...-mini-in-1969/

[mab01UK]

Thanks to Richard Lawrence for the photo (Eelmor Plain, Aldershot in 1965) and scan of the advert:-
https://www.minimarcos.org.uk/altpic...way/index.html

[mab01UK]

Aerodynamic Mini Mk1 (1965)...long before the R50 MINI (2001).


All about the Hamlin Special - once the Fastest Mini in the World:-
"It was built out of a blue 1959 lightweight Mini but had parts from a wrecked Cooper 'S' which Frank bought."
http://maximummini.blogspot.com/2020...e-fastest.html

NZ Hamlin Special crashed:-
http://maximummini.blogspot.com/2020/03/hamblin.html

[mab01UK]

John Chappell - Howley Racing
"For a while back in the early 1970's with Special Saloon racing at its most popular John Chappel became the fastest man in a Mini around Oulton Park. He rivalled Geoff Wood as the 1-litre king always in his dark blue and white-roofed Cooper under the Howley Racing ( of Warrington ) banner . For 1972 John moved up a class with a 1293cc engine and set a new class record of 1 minute 50.2 on the long circuit. Always content to just race in his native north-west rather than chase national championship honours John won his class at least 34 times in career from at least 1965 to 1977. Later concentrating on his Howley business his younger brother? Brendan Chappel continued the good work in the team's 850 class Mini racer in the latter half of the 70s."
http://www.modbase.info/john-chappel/4594543188

[mab01UK]

Lots of Mk1 Mini's & Mini Coopers and a Mini Pickup in the second cine film from 4m.30s

750 Motor Club Cumberland Centre Autocross, 1960's
"A selection of cine footage of members of the 750 Motor Club's Cumberland (Cumbria) Centre in the 1960's. The early footage in the movie was shot in a field beside the old A74 Cumberland Gap. The later footage was shot at Kirkbride Airfield. The low slung special at the beginning of the movie was aptly known as the 'Ball Scorcher'."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t40B5MJv_GQ

[mab01UK]

Plenty of Minis here in several forms of motorsport in this Castrol film featuring seven different forms of motor racing from 1972; Drag Racing, Autotest, Hill Climb, Autocross, Circuit Racing, Rallypoint, Rallying:-
https://www.bpvideolibrary.com/record/725

[GORDON STREETER]

Sorry to jump in on this thread but I noticed this on Jeff Bloxham's FB page, maybe someone has some in the attic

Jeff Bloxham
calling all my photographer chums, Bill Sollis is looking for photos of this car from 84/85 please look through your archives and let me or Bill know.
Bill Solis.jpg

[mab01UK]

Richard Longman, Geoff Wood & Gerry Marshall.
Forward Trust, Mallory Park 1973
https://www.facebook.com/thesporting...type=3&theater

[mab01UK]

Geoff Wood’s (‘the Mad Monk’) Ford powered Vita-Mini
https://www.facebook.com/thesporting...type=3&theater

[mab01UK]

Nice photo of Richard’s Downton Engineering Mini from 1969 with accompanying silverware.
https://www.facebook.com/longmanraci...type=3&theater

[S griffin]

Really must have to had gone some to win that much

[mab01UK]

Geoff Wood, 999cc Weslake 8-port

[S griffin]

Now there's a name from the past. He always seemed quite suited to those Minis