Geoff purchased this wonderful British Classic newly restored from a fellow enthusiast who had four Minis. The car was standard and finished in Tartan Red with a Black roof.
Geoff’s plan was to build a Monte Carlo replica and after studying numerous photographs of the various rally cars, collected many of the necessary fittings. He also had a genuine Monte Carlo plate and had obtained the registration LBL 10D. Four newly built ‘Works’ entry Minis were entered for the 1967 Monte, together with a further car. The new ones were registered LBL 6D (the eventual winner), LBL 66D, LBL 606D and LBL 666D (this one driven by the late great Paddy Hopkirk) and so Geoff created a 5th LBL car! All five cars finished, three of them in the top ten.
Many of the rally fitments are genuine period ones, such as the 4x Lucas 700 lamps on a bar (2x SLR700 spots and 2x SFT 700 fog), Lucas 576 boot-mounted as a reverse light, Halda Twinmaster, Heuer clocks, Butler map light, Lucas dipping interior mirror and washer reservoir, John Aley 3 point roll cage, Bradex fire extinguisher, Minilite wheels and more.
A number of excellent replica items were sourced including a ‘Works’ specification dashboard, door mounted navigator’s panel, rear screen demist panel, route card holder and headlamp protectors. With the roof repainted in Old English White and yellow door squares painted on, the car now looks the part!
The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during six, from the last year of the 1950s into the last year of the 20th century, over a single generation, as fastbacks, estates, and convertibles.
This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis. It was manufactured at the Longbridge plant in England located next to BMC's headquarters and at the former Morris Motors plant at Cowley near Oxford, in the Victoria Park/Zetland British Motor Corporation (Australia)factory in Sydney, Australia, and later also in Spain (Authi), Belgium, Italy (Innocenti) Chile, Malta, Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia.
Issigonis' friend John Cooper, owner of the Cooper Car Company and designer and builder of Formula One cars, saw the potential of the Mini for competition. Issigonis was initially reluctant to see the Mini in the role of a performance car, but after John Cooper appealed to BMC management, the two men collaborated to create the Mini Cooper. The Austin Mini Cooper and Morris Mini Cooper debuted in September 1961.