Picked up a new project on the weekend. Something a little different to the average mini. It was built by John Lungren of Brisbane in the late 60's and ran as a sports car closed car then progressed into group A sports. The car was involved in an accident at Surfers Paradise in the 70's and then John simply stuck it in the shed under blankets until I came along. Everything that ever belonged to the car was there, stored in boxes. John called the car a Minispeed when he built it thinking it was a cross between a minisprint and had the windscreen rake of a broadspeed. All the bodywork including the flares are steel. The gullwing doors and bonnet are alloy. It was certainly a piece of work and pretty quick in its day. I plan to restore the car and run it in group U as sports cars closed cars have now been accepted as historic sports sedans. Should be fun.

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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

Holy smoke, you do come up with the goods.

What a really sweet project. There must be some really nice gear which comes with it.
How is the body constructed? All steel, but welded up/bent/modified?

What a ripper.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

Yeh Mick its a pretty cool project. I have heaps of photos of it being constructed. The roof was sectioned, A, B and C pillars modified. It is very very light. The guy who originally built it had an engineering background and was pretty well off. When he bought spares he didn't want to have to wait the weeks it took to ship stuff from the UK so he used to buy 2 or 3 of everything, so the spares list is pretty unbelievable. New old stock straight cuts, cossy pistons cranks, blocks LSD's etc etc The car is so unique I couldn't pass it up. It took me 2 years of annoying him before he finally got sick of me and gave in. He has held the car since 1967 so it was a big deal for him to let it go, but ill health and a realisation that he wanted to see it run again, but didn't have the time or ability to fix it led to his decision.

Take your time to look at the photos. This car has more holes than a politicians travel account. Every hole was drilled in pattern then rounded off to prevent any stresses around the hole. Everything is seam welded. There will have to be a few mods in the interest of safety to be done, namely the steering column (spear) pointed straight at my chest, amongst other things that are down right scary and hazardous to my health. The original steel flares are there and will be welded back on, and the engine is complete as if it was lifted out yesterday, with all hoses, brackets etc. Got to be the easiest resto ever.

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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

Very nice barn find

The spares would be great for your other projects.

Was the supercharger fitted at the time?

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

No never fitted, was a plan of his but it ran a 5 port with split webers

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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

Can't say it much better than that.
Lungren looks like a legend.

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1998 Rover Mk VII
2001 Honda CBR 929RR (street)
2014 BMW S1000RR (track)

that is unbelievable - fantastic

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Wow. Thats just wow.
Even the clutch pedal is swiss cheese!
Then the hand brake lever! Thats fantastic

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1963 Morris 850 Smoke Grey
1963 Morris 850 Shadow Blue
1965 Morris Mini Smooth Van
1966 Morris Mini Van
1969 Morris Mini Deluxe Resto
5/72 Clubman Gt

WOW. Some people have all the luck. Unlike the poor fella that had to drill all them holes....

Very very nice find.

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The best part of fixing your mini is the test drive

Minis..

1976 van daily drive
1975 van
1968 deluxe in the shed
1967 deluxe high strung 1310
1959 austin healey sprite

You'll have to get this onto a set of scales.

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Too many cars, and too little time.

He told me it weighed 1050lb whatever that is in metric but its pretty light. A bit too light actually. Will have to put some metal back in to increase rigidity of the shell.
The half doors provide much of the structural integrity in the same way the modern Lotus cars do. Lets it be light without buckling in the middle. The mods on it are everywhere. The front and rear windscreens are recessed so that they sit flush without rubbers, the bootlid is gone, the rear guards are tubbed and the wheel arches lifted to prevent rubbing. When the flares are on you cant notice the arch changes as much so it all looks right again. Car ran a drop tank and side pipe exhaust. Should be a fun little project to get it race ready again.

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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

What a great find Greg. Well done.

They drilled holes in everything back then to make the cars lighter. I know when we had the ex Brian Foley Broadspeed at our place for a couple of weeks I was amazed at how little metal was actually left on the car to hold it together.

Looking forward to seeing this peice of motoring history resurrected.

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Julie.............

Thanks Julie, will have it on the track pretty quickly. Hope to run it at wakefield next year.

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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

Hey Greg, does that mean that you've finished the Works car? I'm sure there are lots of people who are keen to see that one.

M