The Independent American Magazine for all Mini Owners
Issue link: http://mc2.epubxp.com/i/33538
being chopped out of the roof pillars, with front and rear screens being further raked, to suit it was just, but only just enough, for Trickett also produced a Traveller version of his Minisprint that sported square headlamps. A 1965 model is pictured above. (although no-one seems to know – or be willing to divulge – the true facts) only a limited number of cars were actually sold. Press reception was ecstatic – that famous British pundit John Bolster (Autosport’s technical editor), borrowed the original car and gushed: ‘This lowered machine handled particularly well on corners, and the reduced air drag gave brilliant top gear acceleration. As a road car, it makes a standard Mini look like a 1908 taxi.’ Even so, and in spite of the cachet given by the Rob Walker name, the Minisprint struggled to find steady sales. The conversion price was the big obstacle for many potential customers, and then there was the nagging thought (hard to dismiss, too!) of having to trade off enhanced handling, and a performance gain, against a loss of space in the already tiny cabin. Even so, in later years Geoff Thomas claims that some 85 cars were sold, with several of them going to various export territories around the globe. A Change In Ownershi p Then came an important marketing upheaval which, proved, in the end, to be unsuccessful. In May 1967 Stewart and Ardern, the London-based distributorship which, at the time, was the world’s largest Morris dealer, announced that it was to take over manufacture and marketing of the little car, and that it would be re-named the S&A; Mini Sprint. When S&A; showed it to us at Autocar, there was much more technical detail than before, though Eoin Young and I both gasped when we heard the price of a converted Mini Cooper S, which was £1,369 ($3,833). That car, in fairness, was loaded with Restall front seats and Minilite magnesium allow road wheels, both of which were optional extras – for a ‘standard’ S & A Sprint GT based on a 1275S was priced at £1,249 ($3,497). ,I WKLV 0LQLVSULQW ZDV D VWDQGDUG PRGHO 0LQL WKH GULYHU ZRXOG EH DERXW eight-feet tall! This shot provides some idea of just how tiny the car is. What was fascinating was that S&A; finally came clean with details of how the definitive body shell was altered, admitting that there were now no fewer than three (not two, as previously thought) major changes to the shell – an inch-and-a-half below the waistline, a further inch-and-a-half in the ‘glass house’ itself, and another inch-and- a-quarter by flattening the roof: incidentally, at the same time the guttering was removed top make the whole car looked smoother. There was more, for rectangular Cibie headlamps had been standardized, the front fenders had been re–shaped to suit, and a Minilite–style radiator grille was also fitted. As an option (to keep taller drivers happy, the car could also be provided with the roof line as standard. A side-by-side comparision shows a much shorter than standard height for the Minisprint. Note that the windows all had to be shortened also. At this time, Stewart and Ardern said that it took 150 man-hours to complete the transformation and re-painting job – and, in a fit of enthusiasm, claimed that they had already built up Sprint GTs, and five of the higher–roof Sprints ‘to test the market.’ What happened next? Very little, apparently, for the S&A; project seemed to drop off the radar quite rapidly, and by the end of the 1960s the enterprise had close down completely. I have never seen any authentic production figures for these cars, though very few seem to have survived. In the meantime, the ever-inventive Trickett drifted off into other enterprises, notably the Opus-HRF project (which was not at all related to the Mini, having Ford running gear and a front engine/rear drive layout.). Trickett also lowered the Minisprint three-inches under the stock ride height. The total effect of chopping and lowering is improved aerodynamics and the illusion that the car is wider. 40 MC2 Magazine www.mc2magazine.com The Minisprint then went into suspended animation for more than three decades. Stewart and Ardern’s garage operation eventually closed down, and in recent years Trickett seems to have re–acquired the right to build the cars that made him famous in the first place. Recent Internet sites list the Minisprint Classic, and the Minisprint R, while even more esoteric derivatives were available on request. I wonder... have you ever seen one?