I JUST WANT ONE ! - Maloo R8 !

The odd Latvian Lada Zhiguli notwithstanding it's not everyday I amble along the streets of Bristol and get stopped dead in my tracks on seeing a vehicle and think WTF is that I want one and want it now !



Such was the case with this vehicle, which oozes refinement and speed by the bucket load yet looks like a pick up. Turns out the Maroo R8 is manufactured by Holden Special Vehicles in Australia and has it's origins in the humble Holden Ute - pick up.



This Maloo R8 would appear to be the latest E series introduced in 2007, which features a 412 hp 6 litre / 366 CUI LS2 V8 from the Corvette parts bin.



This pick up does not just look fast either, it holds the record for being the worlds fastest pick up timed at 168 mph / 271 kph a staggering 13.5 mph / 22 kph faster than its closest competitor the Dodge Ram SRT-10.



I don't think its a stretch to say the Maloo R8 is a considerably better looker than the Dodge either.

For a long time the 1970 Chevrolet El Camino has been my dream pick up, my dream just took a turn for the Australian outback :-)

Hope this Antipodean Stunner leaves you in good spirits for the week ahead, Don't forget to come back now ! Hear ?

Keep turning right - 2010 Somerset Grand Prix

Yesterday I took a couple of hours off to visit Oak Tree Arena home of Somerset Raceway. Finding it was none to easy as the track, which opened in 2008 has yet to be photographed for Google Earth, however it's off Junction 22 of the M5 on the A38 heading for Bridgewater, a tad south of Burnham Without.



I didn't spot the signage first time but a local resident kindly pointed me in the right direction.



Above Dan Lewis Class 5 Mini.

This weekends event was billed as the Somerset Grand Prix, a round of the 2010 National Autograss Championship, hosted by the South Somerset Auto Grass Club under the National Autograss Sport Associations governance.



Above Otis Williams, Class 1 (Junior), Mini.

NASA promotes Autograss as a family sport catering for Juniors aged 12



Above, Paul, Fackerells, Class 10, Special.

with Seniors starting at 16 and allegedly running up to and over 70 !



Above, John Gays Class 7 Suzuki SC100.

Cars run in 10 classes which split into bodied



Above open wheel Specials.

and space frame open wheel specials.



Above Peugeot 205 & Vauxhall Nova.

NASA Autograss racing is a non contact sport run professionally for amateurs, the racing is close, and atmosphere friendly. I look forward to watching how the the Oak Tree Arena develops as a venue in the future. One things for sure I'll certainly be going back.

Further NASA fixtures can be seen here. Information about the South Somerset Autograss Club can be found here.

Don't forget to come back now ! Hear ?

Is your Mini too big ? Introducing the Mini Mini !

Cut & Shut open top fun for all :-)

Don't forget to come back now ! Hear ?

Don't get mad get even - Replica Revenge Mini.

Today's featured vehicle is a replica of 'The Revenge Mini' which won the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally in the hands of Rauno Aaltonen and Henry Liddon. Unusually the car is probably most famous because of the events that took place on the 1966 Monte Carlo Rally.



There has always been a bit of an edgy competition between France and Britain in just about every field of endeavour, I guess no one wants to be first loser against their immediate neighbour. Evidence of this can be seen in the Monte Carlo Rally of 1966. The Mini Cooper S had been the winning car on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964 in the hands of Paddy Hopkirk and Henry Liddon and again in 1965 with Timo M aekinen and Paul Easter at the wheel. Timo and Paul crossed the line in first place in 1966 with Roger Clark in a Lotus Cortina second followed by Aaltonen and Hopkirk both driving Mini's in third and forth.



However much to the surprise of everybody the top four and two other British cars were disqualified for cheating. Their crime was running non standard (performance enhancing ?) single filament headlight bulbs. It transpires that when teams had entered they had done so on the understanding that these bulbs would be legal as they had been over the previous two years but then the rules were changed after entries had closed making these bulbs illegal because the models of the disqualified cars did not have single filament bulbs fitted as standard.

Curiously the car declared as the winner Pauli Toivonens Citroen was allowed to and did run with these bulbs because some ID19's were fitted with the single filament bulbs on the normal production lines. Naturally the result upset everyone Prince Rainer snubbed his own prize giving ceremony , Pauli Toivonen, declared the winner, swore he would never drive a Citroen again, and kept his word, and the British Motor Corporation protested the result which 10 months later was declared final and stood.



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Of course better than getting mad is to get even so in 1967 BMC came back and Rauno Aaltonen with Henry Liddon co driving the #177 took the Mini's third and final Monte Carlo Victory. Observant fans of Michael Caine and the original 1969 film 'The Italian Job' will remember Crocker making reference to the '66 Monte disqualification in the workshop where the Minis are being prepared and some one is checking the head lights Crocker says 'I hope their dual filament bulbs, we wouldn't want to be caught doing anything illegal now, would we ?'

Wishing everyone a fabulous weekend. 'Don't forget to come back now. Hear ?'

What to do if your Mini Cooper S isn't fast enough ? The Castle Combe variations.

Although designed as a motorised shopping basket on wheels the Mini platform provided incredible handling characteristics and soon became the target of highly respected performance companies, none more so than John Cooper who's cars Jack Brabham had taken to successive Formula One Championships in 1959/60.



John Cooper was friends with Mini designer Alex Issigonis but still had to go behind his back to appeal to the BMC management direct inorder to get the go ahead to develop the Mini Cooper into an extremely popular performance model. It was also extremely competitive winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964 '65 & '67 and was famously disqualified after winning in 1966!



Budding entrepreneur and custom car aficionado Geoff Thomas thought he could improve the Mini Copper S by producing a lighter Mini Cooper variant with a seemless body 3 inches shorter than the original.

One day in 1965 Geoff was at Castle Combe Circuit and met fellow racer Neville Trickett who prepared his own lightweight Mini racer with extensive engine modifications, impressed with the quality of Neville's work Geoff discussed his idea for manufacturing the Minisprint and after a 'ridiculously brief discussion' Neville agreed to work for Geoff and the production of Minisprints began eventually settling at Rob Walkers Garage Nr Warminster, Wiltshire.

The model shown above is registered in France, and might possibly, with the emphasis on possibly, belong to Normandy resident Neville Trickett himself ? Notice this vehicle is fitted with highly unusual triple screen wipers.

I am not sure where the square headlights idea came from nor where they were sourced ? They were not part of the original spec, but seem to have been introduced before production of Mini Sprints moved from Wiltshire to Stewart & Arden in London.




Like Cooper, ERA came form a racing background, primarily known for it's pre WW2 voiturettes powered 1.5 litre 91 CUI supercharged Riley 6 based engines. By the late 1980's ERA were primarily engaged as consultants to the motor industry.

In 1989 The ERA Mini Turbo, ERA type M (?) was conceived as a replacement for the Mini Cooper S which was out of production between 1971 and 1990. The interior of the car featured unparalleled levels of refinement including Connelly hide seats.



The fastest ever production Mini ERA Turbo used a 1300cc /79 cui Mini Metro Turbo engine capable of being serviced at regular Austin Rover Mini dealers. The suspension and brakes were also upgraded using many parts from the Metro, surprisingly the cars handling characteristics were first tested and tuned at Castle Combe prior to going into production.

Finally I'd like to welcome all new readers to this blog who are now coming from UK, USA, Canada, Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Croatia, Saint Kitts and Nevis (!) and Sweden.

Wishing you all a fabulous day where ever you are, 'don't forget to come back now ! Hear !'

On the Origins of Brands - Riley & Wolseley

Today I am looking at two storied brands Riley & Wolseley born out of industrial diversification which were woven into that DNA of the nationalised merger British Motor Corporation in 1952.

From 1961 - 1969 they marketed top end 3 box versions, featuring wood veneer dashboards, of the Mini known as the Elf and Hornet respectively.



In 1896 William Riley jr purchased the Bonnick Cycle Company of Coventry which was born out of the cycling craze that swept England in 1890 and renamed it Riley Cycle Company.

Williams son Percy secretly built his first car, featuring an engine with the the worlds first mechanically operated inlet valve, in 1898 aged just 16.

Percy who also patented the detachable wheel went into business with his brothers forming the Riley Engine Company in 1903 supplying motorcycle engines and in 1905 they built their first car.

During restructuring in 1918 Riley car manufacture was transferred to Riley Motor Manufacturing which went into receivership in 1938 and was absorbed into the Nuffield Organisation along with Morris and MG, which in 1952 would merge with Herbert Austin's companies into the nationalised BMC.

By 1947 Riley had ceased manufacturing it's own designs and became a top end brand for shared designs in the Nuffield and later BMC organisations.

The Riley brand is easily identified by its blue diamond badge originally designed by Harry Rush with the strap line 'As old as the industry, as modern as the hour', was discontinued in 1969 and currently belongs to BMW.

Between 1961 and 1969 30,912 Riley Elfs were built.



In 1896 Herbert Austin working for the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Company made a copy of a Leon Bollee vehicle that he had seen in Paris. By 1899 he had built a Voiturette that went into production in 1901 with Herbert Austin in charge of the Wolseley car division that had by now been spun off as an independent concern.

In 1905 Herbert Austin left to set up his own Austin Motor Company.

After several mergers and changes of ownership the Wolseley Motor Company came into existence in 1914 in the hands of Armstrong Siddeley. At this time operations were started in Toronto and Montreal which became British and American Motors after WW1.

In 1918 Wolseley started a joint venture with Ishikawajiama Ship Building and Engineering for the production of Wolseley models under license, in 1947 this venture became Isuzu.

In 1927 William Morris (Lord Nuffield) purchased Wolseley outbidding his rival Herbert Austin and General Motors using his own money.

Woseley became another top end brand for shared designs after WW2 and would become part of the merged BMC a combination of the assets of William Morris and Herbert Austin who between them had been responsible for the rise of much of the British motor industry.

The brand disappeared in 1975 the last model being a wedge shape forerunner of the Austin Princess which was in production for just 7 months.

Today the brand is owned by Nanjing Automobile Group along with the assets of the MG Rover Group. The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Company is today known as Wolseley plc.

28,455 Wolseley Hornets pictured above were built between 1961 and 1969.

Hope you have enjoyed today's post, don't forget to come back now !

Why does the sight of a little Mini Moke make every body rock ?

Today's blog is dedicated to Rowdy Mini Moke fan club member 'Archidude' of Brevard NC, who sent me a link to this interesting Mini Moke video.



Designed as a vehicle with military applications in mind the Mini Moke made use of BMC Mini mini parts bin, including the engine, drive train and 10" wheels which rendered the vehicle useless for military off road purposes because the Moke did not have much ground clearance.



However the vehicle produced between 1964 - 1993 did find a niche as a recreational vehicle in the sunny climate of many former British Colonies and was the first vehicle ever used on Pitcairn Islands, of HMS Bounty Fame, becoming the remotest vehicle on earth.



Correction Edited 29 09 19 The above vehicle is an AMC Andersen Cub not a Moke. Thanks to Dean and every one at www.moke.org who helped me correct this error.

Of the 50,000, Mokes made in Britain, Australia, and Portugal some have a competition history which includes Hans Tholstrup and John Crawford who nursed their Moke from London to Sydney in the 1977 Marathon and most unlikely of all Charlie Smith and Barry Seaton who gallantly jumped in their Moke to take on a field of Ford GT40's and Ferrari 250 LM's including winner Andy Buchanan,seen here , co driven by none other than Jacky Stewart at Surfers Paradise in 1966.



Finally Mini Mokes were used as Taxi's in the surreal television series the Prisoner, a catch phrase of which was; Be Seeing You !