Anyone know about this Morris Minor ?

[Benni]

Hi BritRacers !
Stolen from this -interesting- thread in GG :
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... ,
and following one of the links there :
http://raceenginedesign.biz/Manic-Beattie.htm

"The car he used was his mother’s Morris Minor 1000,
complete with 948 cc ‘A’ Series engine.
Over a period of 15 years this was progressively modified.
At one point it featured a turbocharged B series unit and,
eventually, a turbocharged and intercooled Rover V8
with nitrous injection giving something in the region of 550 bhp.
To cope with the increased power
the vehicle initially had a Ford live rear axle and, finally, a Jaguar XJ6 rear driveline.
“Throughout this period it was fully road legal
and was driven to and from meetings with the racing wheels and tyres strapped to the roof!” recalls Mann.
In 1990, having reached a plateau in the car’s engineering development,
together with the arrival of a new family,
the car was sold to drag racer Bill Sherratt.
It still competes in that category today."

Does this car still drive today, and what does/did it look like ?

Regards,
Benni

[fastcarl]

i'm sure it wa still about at york raceway up to about 5 years ago, although time is flying by these days, could be longer, it was a really well kept car so doubt it will have been neglected.

if your desperate try the york raceway website,


carl

[Jon C]

Nic Manns Hillclimb Minor. Still owned (I believe) by Bill Sherratt.

There is a full feature from Autocar magazine scanned here.

It was certainly quite a piece in its day.

[MartinD]

Nick Mann's moggy was legendary in its day, 550 bhp is commonplace nowadays , but 20 years ago in a road car that handled it was as I said legendary. There must be loads of pics of it around, it was featured in many magazines back then. The car deserves to be in a motorsport museum.

[v8 jago]

I just love this car soo much.. It is a awsome bit of kit from years ago that would still turn a lot of heads today even with all the exellent cars out these days. It is a car that i would love to have in my garage... Absolute genius..

[Benni]

Thanks ev´rybody, especially JonC for the scanned article.....
I thought this amazing car must have turned attention -and heads- in the pits,
anyone know some 1/4 mile times of this engineering masterpiece ?
If not, I will ask Bill next time in the "Showtime" pits,
sometimes it´s a small world for PerformanceHeads.............
Cheers,
Benni

[Dilligaf10]

I remember this car when it used to compete at Prescott Hill Climb near Cheltenham. Nic Mann used to drive it up from Wantage, change the wheels, compete, usually win, change wheels and then drive it home again. I think at one stage it even had a baby seat strapped into it! Saw it race at Blackebush as well including IIRC a final against Pinball Wizard which it won as PW broke half track. Awesome car in its time.

[BB-Q]

I used to fit his tyres- can that be my claim to fame?

[fastcarl]

BB-Q said:

I used to fit his tyres- can that be my claim to fame?

if you really must,

[BB-Q]

fastcarl said:

BB-Q said:

I used to fit his tyres- can that be my claim to fame?

if you really must,

[Morris-lover]

Its runing fine how do you think it looks last seen in france

http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=morrispo5...

Edited by Morris-lover on Monday 7th January 20:28

[Benni]

Hel-looo Jack !

Hey, that tempted you to your first post after lurking over a year ?
Thanks, and the Minor has the original Paint job, still........looks great.
What was it doing on the other side of the channel ?
Regards,
Benni

[v8 jago]

Its good to see it and looking as good as that makes my day And to know its not just parked up with its pipe and slippers

[Heebeegeetee]

Morris-lover said:

Its runing fine how do you think it looks last seen in france

http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=morrispo5...

Edited by Morris-lover on Monday 7th January 20:28

I've seen that, (i'll look for a piccy), on a regularity rally in France. Its amazing that its equally adept at pottering around at 26.8mph for hours on end.

[NitroWars]

I spoke to Bill Sherratt about this car a little while ago (one or two years) after it was being discussed on this or another forum and he told me that he was taking it over to France for some event...

Edited by NitroWars on Tuesday 8th January 13:38