Tag Archives: Austin

Wild Goose and The Pet – MINI T Building

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On Sunday I got the chance to pop in to the T Building which houses the MINI Visitor Centre at Cowley near Oxford. Here are a couple of the vehicles on display.

The MINI One Alan Aldridge Special 2008, is a work of art by ‘The Graphic Entertainer’ Alan Aldridge who created a well known related work with an original Mini back in 1965 that appeared on the cover of The Sunday Times Magazine at the time.

Mini Mokes have featured in this blog, before this 1968 Austin Mini Moke is for Weske & Anja over at the Belgian Mini Forum and for everyone at the Mini Moke Club Forum.

The Mini Wildgoose was aimed at folks intent on spending their kids inheritance before the kids spent it for them.

Based on the Mini Van this wild RV conversion provided four seats in a ‘dinette’, ‘double bed’, table, curtain’s, cupboards and water carriers.

Optional extras included combined luggage rack and spare wheel carrier, which I guess was better than having it in the support vehicle driven by the wife, extended wing mirror’s, just how could you possibly reverse with out them (?), hammock bunk and all important undersealing of the cab !

Finally The Pet MINI covered in cow hide, was exhibited alongside a mass produced chaise longue similarly covered by Le Corbusier in 1927 at the ‘neue raume 07’ design exhibition in Zurich, Switzerland.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s Mini Museum edition of Getting a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a 215 hp spec MINI Cooper S R56. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Federal Spec – MG Midget 1500

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Today’s blog is a little thank you to peteran51 whom I know as Piet who a couple of weeks posted a link to one of his favourite cars the #238 Frank Hernandez Austin Streamliner on the Spridget Register website www.spridgets.net in Germany.

The British Motor Corporation MG Midget started out life as a badge engineered Austin Healey Sprite MK II in 1961 reviving the successful Midget name which MG had used in the 1930’s.

By 1972 the Midget had completely replaced the Sprite in the now British Leyland Motor Corporation model line.

This 1979 version is powered by a 1493cc / 91 CUI motor taken from the Triumph Spitfire with a modified 4 speed all synchromesh gearbox from the Morris Marina.

Production ceased on 7th December 1979 making this particular vehicle registered in 1979/80 in Reading one of the last of the 73,899 Midget 1500’s that had been produced since 1974.

Midgets today are still raced regularly with dedicated Midget series in the UK which has been running since 1977. Parts are still available thanks to British Motor Heritage which owns original press tools sufficient to supply complete Midget body shells.

My thanks again to Piet for the heads up, I hope you have enjoyed today’s US Federal bumper spec edition of Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres and that you will join me again tomorrow for something that I will photograph at a Piston Heads Sunday Service later this morning. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS It’s sad to report that Psycho on Tyres contributor Ed Arnaudin, who took all of the late 50’s sports car photographs it has been my humble privilege to share this past couple of months is not very well, I hope you will join me wishing him a full and speedy recovery.

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Holy Terraplanes ! – Triumph Dolomite 14/65

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After Donald Healey was invalided out of the Royal Flying Corps at 18 he took a correspondence course in automobile engineering and then opened a garage in his home town Perranporth, Cornwall, upon the cessation of hostilities at the end of WW1.

In the early thirties his reputation as a consultant engineer and designer led to an appointment at the Triumph Motor Company where he was responsible for Triumphs new vehicles including the Dolomite launched in 1936.

The design of the radiator grill of the Dolomite 14/65 appears to have been influenced by the contemporary US gangsters automobile of choice the Hudson Terraplane, as was, to a lesser extent, the grill on Healey’s post WW2 Healey Elliot and to a lesser extent still the grills on early four cylinder Austin Healey 100’s.

It is believed that 33 Dolomite 14/65 roadsters with a twin carburettor 13 hp 4 cylinder motor were built and this 1938 example driven by Derry Aust is one of 13 known to have survived.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s waterfall grill edition of ‘Gettin a lil’ psycho on tyres’, and I hope that you’ll join me tomorrow on a tropical island paradise in the Pacific to see what happens when the brakes fail on an 1850 hp jet powered vehicle weighing 250,000 lbs (two hundred and fifty thousand pounds). Don’t forget to come back now !

PS I’d like to thank Tim Fulcher who got back to me about the identity of the driver of last weeks Jaguar XK 140 in Northern Rhodesia, turns out the name of the gentleman driving the car is Ken Livingstone. Thanks again Tim 🙂

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Choking on a clothes peg – Austin 10/24 Ripley Sport

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The Austin 10 produced from 1932 to 1947 was a mid range car fitting between the Austin 7 and Austin 12.

Austin kept the chassis low by dipping the chassis frames 2 3/4 inches between the front and rear axles.

Capable of 55 mph and 34 imperial mpg this 1935 version, originally registered in Derbyshire, would have cost £168 when new. The clothes peg operating the choke is a not a factory fitted item.

In 1939 the Austin 10 was restyled by Argenrtine Ricardo “Dick” Burzi and 53,000 ’10s’ were produced during the course of WW2 for use by the UK armed forces. After the war almost all Austin 10s were exported the first exported to the USA in July ’45, in September ’45 the first cars to be imported into Switzerland after the war were a pair of Austin 10s.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s open top edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil psycho on tyres’ and that you’ll be up for getting down and dirty with me for some grass track fun tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

08 04 12, the full name of this model was added today, I have also found out this car is thought to be the first of an eventual fleet of 7 used by the Derbyshire County Constabulary.

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Eins Zwei Polizei – Porsche 911

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The first time I saw a Porsche 911 was in 1966 when I was seven on an Autobahn, just inside Germany, on a trip from Athens to London. I was sitting in the back of my folks Austin A40 Countryman, it was white with green bonnet, door and boot panels.

It had huge blue lights on the roof and the legend POLIZEI in smart white letters on the green panels, what I remember about it above all else is the audible harsh rasping noise coming from the boot/trunk. That noise was the first engine sound I fell in love with.

The 1966 911 S featured iconic Fuchs five spoke alloy wheels which saved 5 lbs pounds per wheel, though in 1966 they still carried the same size tyres as a regular 911 so there was no great improvement in handling with break away oversteer / loose a problem at the limits of adhesion.

Despite the 1966 ‘D’ licence plate suffix, the Fuchs alloy wheels and the lovely extra set of lights on the front, the 911 badge on the engine cover indicates this might actually be a regular 1965 911 with a 130 hp 1991 cc / 121 cui 6 cylinder boxer engine probably identical to the one I fell in love with in the back of that police car when I was seven.

Hope you have enjoyed this aircooled edition, thanks for dropping by, hope you’ll join me for another exciting Ferrari Friday tomorrow, don’t forget to come back now !

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A day at Thompson CT – Austin Healey 100-Six

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On the 20th of July 1958 Norris Crosby Chief Engineer at Orangeburg Plastics loaded up the trunk of his Austin Healey 100-Six and headed for the ‘Old’ Thompson Raceway in the North East corner of Connecticut, on the way he picked up Ed Arnaudin who took these wonderful photographs kindly provided by his son Steve for us to enjoy.

The Austin Healey 100 was designed as a private enterprise by Donald Healey to run on the historically disastrous Austin A90 Atlantic running gear including a 2660 cc /162 cui motor with a three speed gearbox fitted with overdrive on 2nd and 3rd gear the 100 name was chosen because the vehicle was capable of over 100 mph.

When Austin MD Leonard Lord saw the Healey Hundred prototype a deal was struck for the bodywork to be manufactured by Jenson and then shipped to Longbridge where assembly was completed alongside the Austin A90 Atlantic.

The #65 seen here is listed twice as being the 4 cylinder ‘100’ model however the horizontal crinkled grill bars and air scoop tell us that this vehicle is actually a BN6 ‘100 – Six’ manufactured between 1956 and 1959, fitted with a 117 hp 2639 cc / 161 cui in line 6 cylinder BMC C Series motor from the Austin Westminster and a four speed gearbox, overdrive if fitted was optional.

The car on the outside row of the grid from the #65 and the #114 are both earlier 4 cylinder ‘100’ models with distinctive vertical radiator grill bars and no air scoops .

Norris blew his exhaust muffler during the race and came in 5th overall 3rd in Class D in Race 5 behind the race winning smaller Class E AC Bristol of E Hamburger.

(Note results corrected 03/04/11)

In this shot Norris leads F Twaits in his rare Fraser Nash 100/163 down the yet to be finished Thompson CT pit road.

Ed Arnaudin describes riding in the car with Norris on the way home on a dark, cold evening as being “loud as hell” thanks to the muffler blown during the race.

A lovely fuss free way to go racing no trailers just get in your race car pick up your buddy on the way, race and go home.

With thanks to Ed and Steve Arnaudin for taking and providing these photographs, additional material from Northeast American Sports Car Races 1950-1959 * by Terry O’Neil.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s edition from the race in 1958, looking forward what tomorrow brings, don’t forget to come back now !

* Please note :- I do not in anyway endorse, or have any commercial interest in the products or distributors highlighted in today’s feature, I am merely passing information on as an enthusiast of all things motoring, I have no experience of handling these products nor have I used these vendors. I recommend anyone interested in these items or distributors do their own thorough investigation into suitability, reliability and particularly prices of both products and vendors before making any purchasing decisions.

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A badge engineered van – Austin Minor

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In 1968 as British Motor Holdings merged with Leyland Motor Corporation to form British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) the Austin Minor Panel Van & Pick Up was introduced to replace the Austin A35 Panel Van & Pick Up, the design of which dated back to 1956.

Ironically the Austin Minor Panel Van was a badge engineered Morris Minor 1000 apart from the bonnet badge, crinkled ‘Austin’ grill and ‘Ausitn’ steering wheel boss the Austin Minor Panel Van is identical in every respect to the Morris Minor a design that originally dates back to 1948 !

This particular vehicle was registered somewhere between 1968 – 1969 and so was one of the early Austin Minors which are also distinguished ‘AA’ prefix to its chassis number rather than the ‘MA’ featured on the Morris Minor Van.

Manufacture of the Austin and Morris Minor Vans ceased in 1971 as the whole Morris Minor range was replaced by the exciting modern and thoroughly maligned Morris Marina.

Slightly off topic congratulations to Jimmie ‘I don’t sign autographs’ Johnson on taking his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup title after a fascinating race at Homestead Miami last night.

I imagine I am not alone in wondering why the title was not awarded to either the driver who won the most races Denny Hamlin or the driver who had the seasons, including the Chase, highest average finish (my driver) Kevin Harvick ?

Wishing you all a healthy week, as I look forward to preparing tomorrow’s edition of ‘Gettin a lil’ psycho on tyres’, don’t forget to come back now !

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