Mini Magazine - Summer 2018

Our Minis
The stickers are the only
feature showing signs of age.
Neil Burgess
Contributor
MINI LIFE My first car
was a Mini, And my
second, third, fourth...
It started when I was 17
and a school friend gave
me a lift home in her Mini.
Until then, I had no idea I
would fit as I’m 6’2”. Since
then, I’ve raced and rallied
Minis, causing a stir in the
British Rally Championship
and drove ‘Mildred’ who
won hearts on Wales
Rally GB.
MINI SPEC 1993 Cooper,
Quicksilver and Black. Built
to Mighty Mini spec.
Subject of a Corgi model
in 1999.
MINIS OWNED
1988 Red Hot ‘Roger’
1993 Mighty Mini racer
‘Purdey’
FIA Group A rally car
‘Mildred’
2005 R53 John Cooper
Works ‘Olympia’
2007 R56 Cooper S
project ‘George’
Racing Mini
Neil reminisces about and revisits Purdey, his Mighty Mini racer.
It was quite a risk when I bought a
Mini to go racing. I never really
clicked with karting, probably as
I’m too tall for a kart and too thin to
fit in the seats. However, I always had
a fascination for rallying and I felt
that racing was a much more
accessible sport, especially as I
thought I’d be doing it all myself.
The Mini Shop stepped up to
support me from my first year
competing. This led to the distinctive
colour scheme which made for a
memorable Corgi model! We ended
up entering a rally in it, the first time
a Mighty Mini had entered a rally,
and I’m not sure this has been
attempted again. Co-driven by fellow
racer Paul Clark, we did surprisingly
well. Our success was helped as the
rally was at Snetterton circuit which
the car was set up perfectly for.
I learnt a lot about racing from
competing. Your first race is a
particular eye-opener and you
quickly learn what does and doesn’t
work. After a couple of years racing, I
acquired a rally car, and although I
tried competing both, one had to
give, and the rallying took over.
Purdey, the race car, is pretty
much as she was after her last race.
She has various racing dings but they
all have a story so I won’t restore
them out. There are a few small
bodywork issues too, but the biggest
problem is that some of the stickers
are suffering the ravages of time.
This is something that ’60s
competition cars don’t have to
contend with. A couple of the letters
have lost their stick and the vinyl has
gone brittle in some places, but it was
never designed to last so long.
I also have to replace the starter
motor and alternator which I stole as
spares for the rally car. The engine
hasn’t turned since around 2002. I’ll
have to check everything moves
freely before attempting to start it
and when I do fire the starter, I’ll
have to keep a careful eye on the oil
pressure gauge. Fingers crossed that
there are no issues there.
To do list
Fuel cap relocated to the boot.
The scene of many victories!
1. Get back into
service after too
many years
standing. Sticker
restoration.
Every knock and ding tells a story...
100