MIGHTY MINI AND MY MINI STORY - 10 august

MINIS IN INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SPORT
- Brian Moylan

The MG Factory in Abingdon was designated the centre for all BMC Competition Work, this came about in 1955 when the MGA was announced and a team of the were entered in the 24 Hour race at Le Mans.

There followed a series of fairly non competitive cars until the Austin Healey came along and won every International Rally of the 1950s and 60s. Toward the end of the Healey domination in 1959 the Mini was announced and before long some were sent to Abingdon to be made into Rally cars.

After the sucesses with the Healey the task of developing this rather nondescipt looking car looked very unlikely. But consequent events show how wrong that assessment was as the Mini won even more events than the Healey both on the Rallies and race tracks of the world.

RACING THE MINI GT SPRINT
- Wilf Ashman

In the mid-60's garage owner and motor racing enthusiast Wilf Ashman was keen to try circuit racing with a mini as his car of choice. Using a Geoff Thomas/Neville Trickett mini Sprint Racer Wilf made a name for himself with 7 successful seasons on the circuits of the UK.

The Mini Sprint Racer was the brainchild of Geoff Thomas and Neville Trickett and was a heavily modified cut down car, 9" lower than a standard Mini and weighing only 410kg through the use of fibreglass and Perspex in the body. These modifications and the fitting of a front suspension unit to the rear of the car made it both quick and agile.

Wilf will talk about the trials and tribulations of racing the car at speeds of more than 100mph, Something Sir Alec Issigonis never envisaged!

You can find out more about the history of this fascinating car at: http://members.lycos.co.uk/ppjracing/minisprintracer/
minisprintracer.htm