Minis and Imps

[Habu]

Henry Grocock - Kettelwell Cooper S




Roger Hood Mini

[Steve Emson]

Another kiwi Imp

[Habu]

Not sure who's, but its nice

[rotorbladez]

Does anyone have any photos of Hugh Bagwells (Hawkes Bay) 1964 Mini Cooper S. Rego Number EN8145. It was subsequently owned and raced by Dave (Paddy) Brocklehurst (Wellington) then Jim Langebeer.(Christchurch) It was originally 1293cc then changed to 1000cc when Jim Langebeer owned it. (car #121) I saw a photo of the car (#112) on this thread when it was first owned by Paddy.

[GD66]

Not sure who's, but its nice

Brian Patrick's Imp : you can see Brimar Imp II written on the door. Pretty sure this very car became the Sidchrome Imp pedalled wilfully by Jim Richards.

[shellsport]

The Climax motor used in alot of the Imps was the same unit used on Fire Brigade water pumps, and once this was discovered by some people, a lot of pumps were repowered and the original engines found real homes in cars. There are still some classic old pumps around with climax engines (not many). They were light and could be easily moved or carried around and had good grunt.

I remember as a kid watching fire fighting demos with these pumps they had adistinct wail to them , probably pulling some heady numbers !

[David McKinney]

Brian Patrick's Imp : you can see Brimar Imp II written on the door. Pretty sure this very car became the Sidchrome Imp pedalled wilfully by Jim Richards.

JR's first Imp races were certainly in Brian Patrick's car, though I'm not sure if the later Sidchrome car was the same one. If anyone can find a Sidchrome car showing reg. no. EU6376 we'll have the answer

[Rod Grimwood]

Found a old (very) scrapbook at mummy's. It has alot of cuttings etc from way back.

Mrs Carney in Arden Mini.
JR in Imp, This was the blue one and Rod Collingwood, Reg Cook minis

[Habu]

Brian Patrick's Imp : you can see Brimar Imp II written on the door. Pretty sure this very car became the Sidchrome Imp pedalled wilfully by Jim Richards.

Thanks GD66 for the info - nice looking car as I previously mentioned, and obviously turned out to be quite a racecar.

[stubuchanan]

I found and scanned some B&W photos I took during practice at the Auckland Car Club 9 December 1967 meeting at Pukekohe. A time when advertising on saloons was in its infancy!

Jim Carney and Shack Manon



Brian Pellow and Austin Pratley



A very plain-looking Harrington Imp



Dave Jolly (Wide Wheels) 998 cc Riley Elf. Not strictly a Mini on the outside. Must have pulled off track in front of stand and took shortest route back when practice ended.



Stu

[Steve Holmes]

Awesome photos guys. How many of those original NZ racing Minis still survive? There seem to have been a lot of them that raced. Did they all end up in Mini 7's? You don't see many of the original cars in historics these days, makes you wonder what happened to them all?

[stubuchanan]

Of the 6 cars in my photos, one probably didn't last out the day. The 1293 Cooper S's of Austin Prattley and David Redpath tangled on the back straight on their first racing lap and Prattley's flipped several times before ending up on the railway track. I didn't see it from wherever I was, but my lap chart includes them on the grid, but they didn't come round on the first lap.

Likewise, I don't think Shack Manon's car would have seen out the 1960's either. It looked very second-hand after its celebrated underwater incident coming down off the Pukekohe hill and into the ditch which looked waist-deep in water.

Stu

[Shano]

This one you mean?

[stubuchanan]

That would be the one. I'm sure I was there but can't find any programme or photo or even Motorman article. When was it?

Stu

[Shano]

Sorry I don't have any further information about when it was, the closest I can work out is 68 but that is pretty much a guess. He spun and slid over the grass but the car tripped and he went into the drain with the car rolling and it hit roof first on the inside bank, creating the biggest splash I've ever seen.

I'd say Mr Manon did very well to get out of the car unharmed because it could easily have gone pear shaped, that one. He must have been extremely disorientated.

[Imp Wagon]

The Climax motor used in alot of the Imps was the same unit used on Fire Brigade water pumps, and once this was discovered by some people, a lot of pumps were repowered and the original engines found real homes in cars. There are still some classic old pumps around with climax engines (not many). They were light and could be easily moved or carried around and had good grunt.

In fact, the Hillman Imp production engine was based on the Coventry Climax FWMA 750cc and the Rootes group applied for permission to modify the design for their use. The mis-nomer that the Imp engine was a fire pump engine stemmed from the fact that all subsequent Coventry Climax race engines were loosely derived (but significantly redesigned) from the original fire pump engines.

[Imp Wagon]

The black and white image is of Bill Leckie's Imp-Ford at Ruapuna in 1975-ish, while the colour one is of me racing my old 998 Sunbeam Imp at Ruapuna in the 1982 OSCA series. Tony Mann now has this car.

[Ross Hollings]

Looks like Ralph Emson

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, I LOVE these! Whatever happened to the Leckie Imp? Your car is gorgeous! Is this the Sidchrome Imp later in its life? Or perhaps not, I thought I'd heard Tony has another Imp?

[Ross Hollings]

Loooks like Ralph Emson in the number 34 Imp