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Minis
at the Mint
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Broadcast
dates : 18th September 2005
24th September 2005 |
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To
celebrate the 46th birthday of Sir Alec’s
creation, the Mini Club visited the Mint in Midrand in late
August, after gathering at the Kyalami racetrack.
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The event was
open to all Mini drivers, new, old, club members or not. As
usual some rare cars arrived, such as this pair of Mini
Marcos sports machines, built in kit form in the late ‘60s.
And the oldest Aunty Austin Seven was there too, keeping a
watchful eye on shenanigans.
Like the Volkswagen beetle, Minis are completely classless
cars.
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They
were bought by district nurses, as Issigonis had
envisaged, but also by some of the world’s top
celebrities.
Head Beatle John Lennon owned a Cooper S, as did Lord
Snowden, and Peter Sellers of Pink Panther fame owned a
Radburn model, with an interior trimmed to Rolls Royce
specs.
Club racers, station wagons, pick-ups and long-nosed
examples, like the Clubman and 1275 GTS all headed for the
mint. And many of them were in mint condition.
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The sight of
over 250 Minis on the Ben Schoeman highway warmed the hearts
of car fans on a cold blustery day.
The sheer numbers and variety of the righteous assembly made
all the organization worthwhile.
And even for 250, parking was never going to be a problem.
Sunshine Minis, Moonlight Minis, Mini tug-o- war
competitions – for the Mini crowd there was one reason for
being there.
To celebrate a car that was in production in South Africa
almost unchanged for over twenty years.
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The variants of
the Mini theme seem endless, such as a Van den Plas special
luxury model, now mostly consigned to the mists of time.
Mini pick-ups are becoming sought after and even more rare
is this Mini… err … ummm.. trailer?
The Mini Workshop on the East Rand specialize in squeezing
turbocharged Toyota twin cam engines into Mini’s.
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With over 200
kiloWatts on tap, and an overall weight of less than 700
kilograms, the performance of this car is said to be
stupefying.
And the beat goes on. How many people remember the Wolsely
Hornet and the Riley Elf, more radical examples of BMC’s
badge engineering expertise?
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The Mini Moke
is a Jeep-like Mini, originally conceived for military use.
But for most Miniphiles, army-like discipline takes a back
seat to fun.
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For sheer
rarity value, the car of the day was this genuine
four-wheel-drive Mini.
Built by Leyland in the UK, it was never put into
production.
The Mini Ant has a tilted back engine to accommodate the
low-range transfer case for the four-wheel drive
system.
As for the interior, comfort is not in the BMW X5 league.
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