Handling
Straight out of the box they were always great handling cars. In the 60s they smashed onto the rally circuit and started cleaning up all the big awards. What really surprised everybody was the effectiveness of the package. The rally cars were developing a mere 120hp but combined with the light weight, and handling, it was game over for the larger boys. And you don’t have to go crazy with modifications to make them an effective track weapon. I love the David and Goliath duals in the historic races like the St Mary’s Trophy. I had a racing go kart back in the 90s and I’m drawn to the mini’s handling characteristics. This time around though I’m not sitting in anything without a roll cage!
Familiarly
I’ve been a fan of the classic mini for many years, worked on them and restored them. Safe to say that I know my way around them. Their simplicity, availability of parts, and general following make it a great place to start. Most of all they’re great fun.
Cost
This is intended to be racing on a budget. A weekend pursuit within a great community shouldn’t break the bank. It’s the closeness of the racing due to limited modifications in some of the race series that appeals most. And the fact that I’ve little spare cash 🙂
The challenge
I’m looking forward to the challenge of the build, (I’ve never built a race car before) obtaining my National race license, and finally putting it all together on the track.
I want to be able to look back at this blog and compare my expectations with the reality and share the experience, warts and all. But mostly if my story encourages you to go down the same path, and maybe learn from my mistakes, then I’ll be happy with that alone.
I have no real ‘racing skills’ per se, but every time I’ve been to see the classics on track I always had a yearning to be out there on track rather than stood on the sidelines. I’ve done a few track days in the past but it’s too hard to gauge whether I’ve any promise as racing driver. If all else fails I’m determined to ‘have a ball’, and in any case I hopefully would be able or recoup the costs of the build.
Who knows where this will all end up?