 Although British Motor Heritage at Gaydon houses the three most famous
Monte Carlo winning Mini Coopers, many enthusiasts will be aware of
all the other rallies and motor racing championships that were won by
Mini Coopers in the glorious 60s. There were approximately 71 “Works
Minis” built by the factory over an 11-year period, and the
whereabouts of nearly all of these wonderful and unique cars are known
to the Clubs Registrar. Some of these cars have been traced and
carefully restored by fortunate club members, keen to maintain these
historic cars for posterity. Some however are mothballed in private
collections for the sole enjoyment their owners. Fortunately, a good
number are owned by Club members who frequently display their cars for
all to see under the banner of the Ex-works & Competition Car
Register. These cars are highly prized and very valuable.
“Ex-Works” refers to those cars on record as having been built and
campaigned by the BMC/BL Competition Department at Abingdon, the home
of the MG Car Company. Private owners could order cars prepared to a
similar specification as Works cars from the BMC/BL Special Tuning
Department situated next door. They could also order parts similar to
the Works, from their local dealer, to fit himself or herself.
Due to the finite quantity of these rare Works cars, some members have
built “Part number perfect” replicas of the Works cars. These are
often displayed along side the Works cars and are a credit to their
fastidious owner. These cars are essentially brand new Works Minis and
the level of research and detail that goes into building one of these
cars should never be underestimated. The knowledge gained by these
members is encyclopedic and can be called on by others trying to
achieve the goal of building and owning one of these superb cars.
The Register now also encompasses Competition Cars. These are cars
that have a known Competition History but may well not be built to the
same specification to the Works race or rally cars. They are generally
cars that are actively used in competition. The Register also embraces
‘Special Tuning' cars. These are cars that have been modified by using
the relevant Special Tuning parts that were available to the public
from Special Tuning in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. |
