Was he quicker than Graham Littlemore's lightweight cooper s aroound Surfers?

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Slide
1965 Mini Van (1360)
1970 Mk2 Cooper S (1310)
1978 Rover SD1 V8 (4.6)
1996 Land Rover Discovery V8 (4.0)

Send me a PM and my people can talk to your people

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"Show me the Mini!"

I would think so,
Fastest time as Surfers Paradise was 1min 19.2 seconds with 1420cc
Fastest lap at Lakeside was 59.3 seconds with 1380 cc

Interestingly Car was consistantly faster at the Lake with the 1380 cc engine
Car was slower at Surfers with the 1380cc engine than the Stroker, as expected.

With 1293 cc engine car went 60.4 sec at Lakeside and 1min 20.3 sec at Surfers Paradise
These times where good enough to take the Lap records at Both tracks for Under 1300 cc.
Both of which still stand today.....

Dave

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PM sent

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Send me a PM and my people can talk to your people [/quote]

PM sent[/quote]

PM IN - standby for transmission [/quote]

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"Show me the Mini!"

Hey, I just found this thread.

Did Phil ever find the car?

Just in the interests of Historical Accuracy, I built that car as a 19yr old in 1978 with Simon Harrex (RX Automotive) and I sold it to the Swinton Brothers in 1979 with a blown motor (1293, SCCR, Sailsbury, SC drops, Weber, long branch, beatifully crafted air box) on a tandem trailer. I'm embarrassed how cheaply it was sold for, but I was a kid and I couldn't afford to keep it on the track. I never finished a race in it (blew 2 motors), but did manage a 63 (+a bit) at Lakeside in practice.


Being towed out of Simon's workshop at Prior Street, Tarragindi - readying for 1st start. Neighbours weren't impressed.



It started life as an early round nose, but we wanted to make it more "modern" and fitted a clubby fiberglass lift off front and clubby tail lights. I had a complete Mk1 S incase I needed a spare shell - paid $450 with rego for it. How times and tastes have changed...



Trailing arms hung off roll cage, coil over shocks, tubbed wheel arches, alloy skinned, alloy drop tank - rear end was a work of art... Front end was standard sub frame.



1st race at Surfers International Raceway - me thinks October 1978 - and the famous Fred Sayers had one of his pit crew come to me on the grid to ostensibly settle my nerves. He actually "Skinned" me. I had Harry S on the screen but Fred fixed that. I lasted exactly 1 lap before it blew No.2 piston...



I too have thought many times about re-aquiring it, but after having red this thread, I'll defer to Phil, who I believe have a far stronger tie to the vehicle.

But I would love to see it again and I'm sure Simon would too.

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No decision is incorrect when made - but it does become apparent in retrospect...

Hi Harry,
Phil Here
Using my mate Dave's account.
Those Photos Sure bring back a lot of Memories.
If I remember Rightly isn't there a 4 missing off the top of the screen???

Now you know it really is Me,
Phil

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How you Goin Harry??? funny how small this little world is hey?
u missed a great party last month old mate
have you spoken with Simon lately?
Phil i`m keeping my eyes & ears open for your old thing, crossing fingers for you too

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Welcome Harry...PM sent

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"Show me the Mini!"

Hey!

I was a little 4 yr old dirt magnet only 1 kilometer from this photo! I wish I knew, I might have come around...

I do remember an old bloke on Orford St nearby who had a stack of tuned minis at this time. Some of my earliest recollections.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Hey Phil - long time...
Regarding the 4, yes it's definitely missing! Darn evil Fred Sayers I was such a trusting and innocent lad
I must say Phil, you did amazing things with that little car. I didn't think anyone would ever go faster than Peter Phillips. Well done.

Here's the only "before" photo I have. Today, it would be called a hoon's s##t box. Come to think of it, it was then, too. Don't know what possessed me to buy it, especially when you consider that the tow car was my daily driver:



Matty!!! 50! Congrat's! Simon said he has a gas. Sorry I missed it. Were you doing laps in the toy car around dad's paddock/track???

Mick, here's the last picture I can find - again on Prior street, towing the brick behind my (long gone) gen-u-ine JG66 XB GT Hardtop, now worth a mint but then good for gymkhanas, thrashing in the dirt and towing the race-car and later used to tow a boat. What does my by-line say?

Sorry about the lack of quality. Digital back then related to fingers and toes...



9YaTaH - Thanks for the welcome. I've been skulking around here for a while, but I'm the shy retiring type - ask Matty and Phil...

So much for the trip down memory lane.

A lovely little Sports Sedan was created by Simon Harrex and myself from rubbish.
A bonafide record setting racer was created by Phil Swinton, which records have yet to be bettered.

What amazing providence.

I wonder where it is?

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No decision is incorrect when made - but it does become apparent in retrospect...

Its funny how our perception of value changes...
Toohey Forrest had a few good tracks for doughnuts. I remember watching other people doing just that back then...and muttered rumours of someone tossing them off the cliff at the Nathan quarry....

Its cool that after all this time you're looking for the mini and not the GT however.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Thanks mate, & no,,, for some reason Dad didn`t want a pile of p!$$-heads crashing the buggy into other p!$$-heads ... or trees ,,, or fence posts,,, or,,,,

i thought that was fair-enough too because i really didn`t want to get any blood on the buggy

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

You know, that had never occurred to me.

Apart from the race car, which was a major event during a very special time in my life and is unforgettable, later in life I wanted a stupidly fast S

I bought my '69 Mk2 S from a fellow in Sydney 16 years ago. It was a basket case and needed a total restoration. But I wanted to restore a Mk2 S, so I bought it for $2,250.00.








Back than, I could have bought an E49 Charger for about 4 grand, an exceptional RPO83 GT for around 7, or any number of HT/K/G Monaro's for almost nothing. I chose to buy the brick. Been there, done that with the V8's

I really don't care that the others have all skyrocketed in value. I just want a really trick S. -wouldn't mind getting the Sports Sedan too, but as I said, I reckon that's Phil's car.

There is nothing quite as satisfying as biting at the heels of a "Muscle Car" in a mini. I used to get quite peeved back in the day when I was the guy in the Muscle Car....

Matty - I'm distressed to hear that Jack is a kill joy, but you do have a point about keeping the buggy clean

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No decision is incorrect when made - but it does become apparent in retrospect...

With a little help from friends, we are on our way to getting the mini back to Phil, although it needs to be collected from all over australia. No doubt Phil will let you know when we have it back together.
G.

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1970 Cooper S ex-Bathurst & ATCC
1964 Austin Cooper S ex-Group C race car
1967 Morris Cooper S ex-Group B
1962 Mini Speed sports sedan
1968-71 ex-Peter Manton Shell car