I was trawling a different car forum when I stumbled on this and thought it interesting enough to post. I havent seen it before on this forum thats for sure.
This was the guys story:
Most car fun I have ever had for under two grand. The spectator kids at the races loved the car, looked just like a big hot wheels toy. They also liked the sink drain plug stoppers in the tops of the Weber throats which you can barely see in the four Weber bell mouths sticking out of the hood. To a 1275 Mini Cooper S motor I added the two down draft Webers, custom intake manifold, an Iskenderian cam, magnesium push rods, high compression pistons, custom headers, lowered front and rear suspension, wide wheels, very wide CanAm qualifying tires, roll cage, disc brakes up front, custom fit lower seat, bench flowed cylinder head, radiused valve seats, fuel cell,and Koni shocks and ended up with the worlds most fun and fastest Mini Moke. Note the front tires are two inches wider than the rears, they were used CANAM qualifying tires I bought at a great discount from Roger Penske. Great adhesion as they really got very gummy when hot, Bryan's job was to pick out all the rocks and gravel which had vulcanized to the tire after each run. Same rolling diameter as the original Moke tires. Cornering was truly unbelievable. Top end was geared for about 88 mph at 6700 RPM and could leave rubber in third, and would take tight corners faster than you would believe. With this set up I won many more trophies and races than I ever did with the Ferrari up until Pebble Beach in 2008 and the 6 shows following. Roll bar added to chassis stiffness. The bottom of the drivers seat is literally on the rear seat floor. Instrument panel is a bent aluminum cookie sheet "borrowed" from HelenAnn. The nose and hood were modified after a badly misjudged 180 degree corner at the Giant's Despair Hillclimb, at least the aerodynamics improved on the former brick face. Also added some lexan under body and at base of nose to "enhance ground effects". ;+) By the way the end result was taking the SCCA NE Div Solo 1 championship in 1974.
One can tell from the right rear wheel position, the chassis with the roll cage made for a very stiff chassis and quite predictable handling, even on three wheels.
The driving style between the Ferrari and the Moke could not have been more dramatically different. With the Ferrari one must complete your braking by the time you hit the apex. With the Moke you typically entered a turn far faster than you could ever hope to make the corner, and just before all hope was lost, back out of the throttle momentarily, the huge tire patches then gave full traction to cornering and before the rear completely swung around I hit the gas pedal and the accelerator pumps went to work and suddenly we are off to the races pointed for the next corner. The cam timing was so radical that often a mist of gas could be seen just above the carburetor mouths.
Funny how certain aspects of the old mind bring back moments from a third of a century ago. Thanks for listening to the old guy ramble.
Best regards,