thats why I love British races...
- Thread starter kenshiro8
- Start date
I watched this on TV when it was broadcast and yes, considering these are historic cars they were really throwing them around. Great to watch
Great ol racing. Obviously not too cautious about bending something.
Ian Anderson
Lifetime Supporter
One of the best races I ever watched was at Brands Hatch
And it was Citroen 2CV racing
Yes a bunch of deckchair coverings driving around the track and leaning at crazy angles around the corners
But hell was it close Like after 3 laps ALL the field was still in the "straight" together - they went around Padock Hill bend 4 abrest
Brilliant and I believe max top end was about 70 mph! But all the cars were so tightly constrained by the work they could do from factory specs that nobody had a distinct advantage
Only the Poms could have organised it!
Ian
And it was Citroen 2CV racing
Yes a bunch of deckchair coverings driving around the track and leaning at crazy angles around the corners
But hell was it close Like after 3 laps ALL the field was still in the "straight" together - they went around Padock Hill bend 4 abrest
Brilliant and I believe max top end was about 70 mph! But all the cars were so tightly constrained by the work they could do from factory specs that nobody had a distinct advantage
Only the Poms could have organised it!
Ian
But back to Mini's, they are great, everybody should have one as compulsory to learn about safety on roads. And the lift off oversteer was just fab! Mine was flourescent green and rust coloured. I genuinely had the experience of driving it to college and getting out, shutting the door, walking 3 paces only to hear the sound of the wing mirror falling off! Priceless.
Ron Earp
Admin
That is what the Darwinian 200hp motorcycle is for!
Mine was a red CooperS with black roof, did 150K miles and every type of motorsport we could enter, only got rid of it when the kids came along !!
This was my car for about 6 years. 1380CC, dyno at 116hp, The car weighed in at 1,450 pounds. Adjustable shocks, urethane suspension bushings, 12" wheels, disc brakes on front, lots of negative camber on front, sway bars.
This was more fun than my FFR C****. My son drove it during high school and took a lot of dates out in it.
Fun, Fun, Fun.
This was more fun than my FFR C****. My son drove it during high school and took a lot of dates out in it.
Fun, Fun, Fun.
Attachments
think the little mini is one of the nicest and most important cars in automotive history.
This little brit always always gave great satisfaction in races. I remember the first time I watched theme in historical race in Monza (that is not really a track for Mini cause u need BIG engine).
All guys were drifting in parabolica (or oversteering?)...with a HUGE smile in face doing it.Pure fun to drive. I did it once, was a 1969 1300 "Diabolik engine tuning" historic car from monte carlo rally,painted in a lovely ugly light british green.
After the ferrari 308 carburatori was the nicest car I've ever drove in my life.
I couldnt buy it cause 10 yrs ago this car was already too expensive(also cause a real race car with palmares).
And the greatest one I saw in GTC-65 race where the yellow mini simply FLY over the Ferrari GTE......humiliating the red in Misano 2006
So little,so cute, so fast. Pure love for the little brit !
This little brit always always gave great satisfaction in races. I remember the first time I watched theme in historical race in Monza (that is not really a track for Mini cause u need BIG engine).
All guys were drifting in parabolica (or oversteering?)...with a HUGE smile in face doing it.Pure fun to drive. I did it once, was a 1969 1300 "Diabolik engine tuning" historic car from monte carlo rally,painted in a lovely ugly light british green.
After the ferrari 308 carburatori was the nicest car I've ever drove in my life.
I couldnt buy it cause 10 yrs ago this car was already too expensive(also cause a real race car with palmares).
And the greatest one I saw in GTC-65 race where the yellow mini simply FLY over the Ferrari GTE......humiliating the red in Misano 2006
So little,so cute, so fast. Pure love for the little brit !
David Morton
Lifetime Supporter
I think you are all missing the most important part about the Mini and for many a young man in England in the 60's the right of passage was to own a mini with the sliding windows on the two doors. Why was it so special? Surely, unless you go home on the other bus, dance at the other end of the hall, or punt the punt from the other end you don't really need me to explain. I think Minis saw an incredible amount of action and the engine was not even turning. I believe the sliding windows were deleted at the same time as the starter button on the floor. I was sixteen when I first drove a Cooper (was it 993cc or 1085cc - I can't be sure ) and I swapped the Beetle plus a few drinks afterwards to have a go in the Cooper around the Nordring in Gutersloh (then W Germany). Licenced to drive ? Nah - the German Police at the time did not dare. PS - The Beetle wasn't mine to swap but who cared. Even the RAF Police used to let us drive in their trucks which I think were called Magirus Deutz. The 60's and the Mini were just incredible.
Thanks Paolo for bringing back some great memories. My first car.....1967 1275 Cooper S which I painted in John Player Special Colours with flared wheel arches and the lot. I also put in black windows long before they became popular. In Ipswich I was quite the lad and the birds (girls) who lived in my area would wave to me from the bus stops to pick them up. I did....and got more dates that way. 
I thrashed that mini around the Town and along many a country lane. Those memories will flash before my eyes in my dying thoughts. I hope.
I thrashed that mini around the Town and along many a country lane. Those memories will flash before my eyes in my dying thoughts. I hope.I think the adventures and liaisons associated with the Mini have coloured people's memories, The wing mirror falling off sounded about right (thanks for that recollection, Malcolm). I had a lot of contact with mini's, and owned a Mini-Cooper S, and while I enjoyed the acceleration, handling, and parking (in every sense), they were the most unreliable, cheap and nasty, poorly assembled pieces of junk I've ever come across. Every component rusted, the bonnets flew open as the front flexed, the car would never start in wet weather (I used to ring road service before I left the office on a wet evening), you couldn't get any traction for acceleration on a wet road, the car changed lanes every time you changed gear due to the torque effects, ergonomics were a dirty word, I could go on. Great fun, but I never want to own another one.
Dalton
Dalton
In the early 60s there was a long running debate in the correspondence column of MOTOR SPORT as the whether it was possible to have sex in a mk1 ( Frogeye) Austin Healey Sprite, we all rushed out to buy one, and yes it was possible, with a lot of contortion, to to it in the car. Later the same question arose about the Mini ----------------- !
Yes it's a shame that, but for BL economically very sensible. My uncle was in quality control at Longbridge, and most completed cars that came past him on a Monday or Friday were pulled out of the line and sent to Australia..
David Morton
Lifetime Supporter
Tony - I know of a few cockpits as well. Maybe thats why they were renamed as Flight Decks. Puts a whole new meaning into a slow roll, followed with an Immelman and then a rapid hesitation roll and finally followed with an outside loop.
All done within the box - as well you know.....
Are we digressing a bit ?? It was Paolos thread to begin with but I sense he is a bit of a sport...........
All done within the box - as well you know.....
Are we digressing a bit ?? It was Paolos thread to begin with but I sense he is a bit of a sport...........
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