Ex-works rally Mini in Toyota City for Rally Japan

[mab01UK]

"The Ex-works Rally Mini GRX 195D has made the trip from it’s home in Italy to Toyota City for Rally Japan which starts today."
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...8&locale=en_GB

[Tel 911S]

Very slight chance it might actually be the original car .
I did read up on another one , GRX309D , the registration which was used on at least 4 different cars .
And one of the works registrations was bought up by someone , who built a replica car , and then sold it to someone in Japan. The Japanese do like the Mini,s
.It had to have a Japanese registration to be driven there , so the DVLA had the registration back and the same bloke brought it from them again and did the same again with another car , and then a third time .
After 2 Japanese both claimed to have the original car , there was some investigation done and the bloke selling the cars was prosecuted .
So I would say that there is a lot of cars around the world all claiming to be original works cars .

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

So I would say that there is a lot of cars around the world all claiming to be original works cars .

Definitely the case! Not helped that even in period the same registration plate appeared on multiple shells - so legitimately there could be more than one car claiming a particular id (certainly prevalent with ex-works Escorts for example).

[mab01UK]

The Mk1 Mini Forum has detailed some of the known history and photos of each Works Mini which may be of interest. Access to the 'Works Mini History' section of the forum requires registration:-
https://mk1-forum.net/

Also the book below by Robert Young is a detailed reference on them, well worth a read.



"Robert Young's book covers each one of the 77 cars which, in their distinctive red and white paintwork, were a force be reckoned with wherever they competed. Build details of every car are provided, drawn from factory build sheets, with information also on when cars were reshelled and identities swapped. The details of the events entered and the drivers are the result of analysing hundreds of contemporary race and rally reports.
The result is the most in-depth study of the works Minis ever published, made possible by years of research by Robert Young, a lifelong Mini enthusiast. As the Mini Cooper Register’s Ex-works Registrar, Club Chairman and for many years archivist, he was well placed to write with authority. A proud owner himself, he had intimate knowledge of the little red cars."
https://www.herridgeandsons.com/works-minis-in-detail