Minis and Imps

[John McKechnie]

Hi Guys, 2 important photos you need to put up for Minis.Well known Stuart Lush rolling his Mini on the first corner at Puke and it catching fire in mid 70s .Also Peter Batten in early 70s smacking his mini into the out side fence in front of the grand stand, absolutely destroyed it .Both happened right in front of me.
Peter B had new racing tyres , couldnt wait to use them.It was a wet day , he came down off the hill and started aquaplaning.Just a passenger after that.I was at Wally Wymers car sales in early 80s and he had the Herald photo on his wall.I could mention that I had a good photo of me- Mini Cooper S- coming second in a handicap race 1974 at Bay Park, all i had to do was get past Paul Currins Escort 1300 on the last straight to win.I went to the inside of the track to sneak through , but dropped my inside wheel off the edge of the track and spun around. Hero to zero.Good photo it was from Inders with all the usual suspects on my back bumper.Also got disqualified for exceeding my handicap.

[John McKechnie]

Actually if you want a real story on Minis here goes-in the early 70s a lot of Uni students had Cooper and Cooper S.We all used to do Hill climbs together.I knew a guy Alex Isbey- he would have been one of the best Mini drivers.He had a 998 Cooper , but could easily beat Coopers S on rallys and hill climbs. He decided to build a super Mini. Got a 1500 Maxi motor 5 speed. Modified it -big zephyr valves , webbers and got Hallidays to fit in on top of a mini subframe.Then got them to cut and join the driveshafts .Fitted a fibreglass clubman tilt front, 13 inch Victor wheel.Roll cage, painted it yellow.Went like hell.Unfortunately on the first rally, the rear subframe , which had some rust, broke and the car went over a bank and got written off.He bought the ex Colin Broadley Mini De Joux and was going to fit that as a real racer .Dont know what happened to it .Alex was unfortunaely taken from us in an accident on the Bombay Hills some years ago. Donald Webster was a true friend to him and may know where it all is.His name is not as well known as many, now, but he was a man of vision.

[Steve Emson]

Loooks like Ralph Emson in the number 34 Imp

Yes that is Dad. This photo possibly has some significance. Very early rallying. The number is what they used in trials. You were not suppose to be going quick. This looks like an early special stage. Dad is overseas so I can't ask him at the moment.

[Oldfart]

From Donald Webster mentioned above.
Alec Isbey. Quite a character and one you could love and hate at the same time. Went to school with him and had many exciting moments in his company, usually when he was driving a car. He had a natural talent for car control that you see only rarely in your lifetime.

We built the Mixi (Mini/Maxi) out of a Mini 850 that had been in an engine fire and Halliday Racing helped us put a Maxi 1500 in it with cable gear change. The 1750 has levers and wouldn't really fit. The cables came through the hole for the original magic wand. We put Mark 3 Zephyr inlet valves in it, a cam and headers. Alec and his co driver Ross Grant were in 8th position overall and on the final stage of the day with the 8 km or so run south into the forest headquarters to go when the rear subframe collapsed and the car went hurtling into the gorse bushes and down a long bank rolling several times. That would have been in the Maramarua Rally in 1975 or 1976. I was driving my R12 with 1565cc and twin 40 Webers in that rally and was waiting at the end of the last stage for him to come in. There was not much left in the way of bits so Alec cut all the body off and got a de joux body to put on the floorpan of it. I am sorry but I have no idea what happened to that car, whether it ever got finished or not

[John McKechnie]

Hi Oldfart.,that was a very quick update from Donald on Alex.Thanks for the input.Most reassuring that my memory from the early 70s is still accurate.I see that in Classic Car mag, Donald recentlyappears with a Renault Alpine GTA..A story on the Webster family and their contribution to Auckland motoring would be interesting.My Dad got his Ramblers and Renaults from them in the 60s--.Campbell Motors.Once again, we wonder what happened to this race car-the Alex Isbey Mini Cooper?

[Imp Wagon]

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?

Hi Steve, thanks for the compliment on my old Imp. It is not the Sidchrome car though. Tony Mann owns the Sidchrome Imp, My OSCA Imp, and I believe he has the remains of the old Roy Harrington car too. Don't know what happened to the Leckie Imp though.

[Oldfart]

Sorry John, your recent memory has put you crook. Donald has an A110 which I have co-driven on Targa for a few years. NOT a GTA.

[John McKechnie]

Very sorry about the model mix up. Does getting the Alpine part right count for anything?

[Imp Wagon]

Here is a shot of the two together at dunedin a few years back when Jim Richards actually drove the Sidchrome Imp again, while Tony Mann drove my old OSCA Imp.



And here is one of a good friend of mine, John Homewood, 2 wheeling his famous Kent Messenger Imp at Snetterton in the late 70's



And I hope you don't mind, as it is not a race Imp, but here is a shot of my daily driver for the last 20 years, my Hillman Imp Husky, one of only 61 surviving worldwide.

[Oldfart]

4 out of 10!
As we have travelled 10's of 1000s of km and both have an interest in french cars a lot of stories have passed, but this is a mini and Imp thread!

[John McKechnie]

OK, message received and understood-keep solely to topic.. Steve Holmes will be posting a picture of my Mini De Joux from 1975 shortly. Over and out.

[225sloper]

This is the rotary powered mini of Ethan Coleman who races in NZGTHere is the hillman imp subaru wrx powered which also races in NZGT driven by Reece Killingback

[225sloper]

Driver climbed out and walked away,was a big hit

[225sloper]

This is the 350 chevy powered mini drag car driven by Don Smith.photo taken NZ Nationals Meremere 2010

[kiwi285]

Here is John McKechnie's photo of his De Joux Mini.

[Steve Holmes]

Here is a shot of the two together at dunedin a few years back when Jim Richards actually drove the Sidchrome Imp again, while Tony Mann drove my old OSCA Imp.



And here is one of a good friend of mine, John Homewood, 2 wheeling his famous Kent Messenger Imp at Snetterton in the late 70's



And I hope you don't mind, as it is not a race Imp, but here is a shot of my daily driver for the last 20 years, my Hillman Imp Husky, one of only 61 surviving worldwide.

Wow, amazing photos! Thanks for posting these. I love the shot of the two Imps together, thats just amazing. Did you originally build that car or does it have history going further back?

That John Homewood Imp is incredible. Any idea what became of this car?

The Husky photo I love! I don't think I've ever seen one of these. I assume its been in NZ all its life, judging by the licence plate?

[Rod Grimwood]

That blue no.76 with Subaru is a quick bit of gear. Saw it at Hampton last year. real neat.

[Carlo]

Hmmm.. I am pretty sure that saw that Husky Imp cruising our patch a short while ago. I do recognise the photo background

[Imp Wagon]

Wow, amazing photos! Thanks for posting these. I love the shot of the two Imps together, thats just amazing. Did you originally build that car or does it have history going further back?

That John Homewood Imp is incredible. Any idea what became of this car?

The Husky photo I love! I don't think I've ever seen one of these. I assume its been in NZ all its life, judging by the licence plate?

Hi Steve, thanks for the positive feedback, and can I compliment you on the great effort you put in on this forum - fantastic!

I actually got the rolling shell from Graeme Clyde who had built it and raced it for a couple of seasons in OSCA in the seventies with a red and black colour scheme. I then added the group 2 arches, hand built the alloy doors, modified the rear suspension, painted it yellow and built my own 998 engine using some components that I purchased from George Bevan who's Imps won the BTCC 3 years in a row in the early seventies.
As for the Kent Messenger Imp, it was rolled heavily at Paddock bend at Brand's in 1975 when John hit some oil on the track and went off. He disposed of the remains in the pit on his farm and burnt it along with the other rubbish. When I visited him in 1978 I retrieved the only piece I could find left of it and still have it to this day.
Finally, you are right about the Husky, it is a 1968 model and was imported to NZ and first registered in 1969. I have owned it since 1989 and it has now covered 250,000 miles.

[Imp Wagon]

Hmmm.. I am pretty sure that saw that Husky Imp cruising our patch a short while ago. I do recognise the photo background

Lake Pukaki, Mt. Cook in the background, 2004 from memory.