The Independent American Magazine for all Mini Owners
Issue link: http://mc2.epubxp.com/i/33538
mini heritage section GT Equipment always glossed over the work needed to alter the glass, to, but somehow the job was done, and neatly, too. Many years later, Thomas admitted that although his team was adept at cutting a laminated screen down to size, that they lost one in four to breakages at the fitting stage! Filleting the main body shell, however, was a more serious proposition. Not even Thomas or Trickett were anxious to describe where the major horizontal cut was located, but by visual inspection it must have been above the line of the wheel arches/cutouts. Once again, at the rear and on the side of the shells, this was a relatively straightforward operation for a skilled metal worker, but considerably more enterprise and skill was needed to reconcile changes to the passenger bulkhead/firewall and position of the front suspension/sub- frame location. At the same time the external welded panel joints – those that followed the line of the front windscreen pillars, and the absolute turning point of the rear quarters – were removed, and replaced by butt welds or internal joints. It was this, rather than the overall change in profile, which seemed to make the most obvious impression. Some of the cars were then even further customized by being given rectangular Cibie headlamps. There was no spare cash to make sure that early cars went to publicity-worthy personalities, but it soon became clear that demand would exceed Trickett’s ability to supply. Indeed, the whole situation threatened to get out of hand when the famous F1 team owner, Rob Walker (who was running Lotus 49, later Lotus 72 single-seaters with huge success at the time) ordered no fewer than 50 cars. In May 1966, Thomas found a way to ensure that the project did not then implode – he wanted premises, and Walker’s business needed more business to stay afloat. In the end, Walker provided those premises at his Corsley Garage, Warminster, and to allocate extra experienced labor to build the cars. A consequence was that a second series of cars, known as Walker GTS, featured even more /LFHQVHG DV QXPEHU 58 1HYLOOH 7ULFNHWW·V SHUVRQDO Minisprint quickly became somewhat famous on British highways and race courses during the mid-1960s. Issue 30 MC2 Magazine 39