The Independent American Magazine for all Mini Owners
Issue link: http://mc2.epubxp.com/i/33538
by Graham Robson n the mid-1960s, no question, customizing Minis looked like the right thing to do. Minis – especially Mini Coopers – had become seriously trendy. Princess Margaret was spotted driving one around London and actor Peter Sellers had one customized. The Beatles took joy rides in factory cars, and the ‘works’ machines were winning races and rallies all over Europe. Starting from the cute, but humble, ten-foot-long Mini, how could anyone – how would anyone – set about making their own car different, but still leave it looking much the same? And yet, Neville Trickett, did just that. I His custom Minisprint of 1965, in fact, was a full custom in every sense of the word, but Trickett couldn’t have afforded to tackle the project without a fair amount of financial help from an entrepreneur named Geoff Thomas. 38 MC2 Magazine www.mc2magazine.com Trickett was already a successful A-Series engine tuner, and club racer of some reputation, before Thomas cornered him one day at the bucolic British race circuit, Castle Combe, in 1965. Thomas wanted to do a special-bodied Mini for competition, but didn’t have the skills to carry out the job himself. Trickett, on the Crayford had already designed a convertible, Broadspeed had produced an extremely smart fastback coupe, Minnow had done a cutely restyled countryman, Marcos had launched the Mini Marcos, Landar had designed a smart little circuit racer, and Unipower had designed what had to be the world’s lowest Mini. BMC itself had put the Mini Moke on sale, and shown off the ‘beach car’ concepts, which had no doors and would have been fun to drive up and down the Malibu beach... Geoff Thomas and the Neville Trickett Minisprint car. other hand, had all the skills, but no facilities, no workshops – and no money to back his bright ideas. But, what could they do to make their car different? By 1965, Thomas and Trickett therefore came up with something different – the Minisprint GTS – which had been chopped, and which looked as if an elephant really had sat on it. One is also reminded of that famous Ronald Reagan quip (from a film in which his legs had been amputated without his knowledge): ‘Hey, where’s the rest of me?’ The fact is that there was much The M i n i s p r i n t S o w hn a M i ai mo t do y o er re a u do w o h a y d en y n o? Y u m i wo c au c n t tho o m a! p i t k e