Morris Cooper S - 1967 club racer

[Phildaupho]

I was the passenger in a Cooper S sort of like this one back in 1967 for a few high speed laps of a road circuit, The driver was passing Corvettes through the curves. It was very exciting.

This model was built pretty much out of the box from the excellent Tamiya kit. However, I did convert it to left hand drive, reverse the windshield wipers, drill out the steering wheel, make a straight through exhaust with aluminum tubing, eliminate the backseat and add a roll bar. To give it a more race car look, the bumpers were left off. I did not attach the roof top to allow better viewing of the interior. The paint is Tamiya Coral Blue.

[Jim B]

Cool Mini racer. Well done. 

[Dave B]

Looks great Phil.  A mate had a hot Cooper on racing rubber. Boy did we have fun in the dry!!

Dave B 

[kensar]

Great looking model, Phil.  The weathering smudges are a nice touch.

Now for my Mini Cooper story.  I worked as a volunteer corner worker at Road Atlanta for the SCCA runoffs one year.  As a thank you to the volunteers, several drivers and teams gave us a lap around the track in the race cars after the races were over for the day.  We lined up and were picked up one by one as the cars came through the line.  When my turn came up, a red Mini Cooper pulled up, driven by an old lady (must have been in her 60s) wearing a huge floppy straw hat, big round sunglasses, and flip flops.  My heart sank.  I was hoping for one of the hot cars.  Well, that old lady scared the hell out me and gave me a ride I won't forget.  Didn't know a Mini could go that fast.

[Phildaupho]

18 hours ago, Jim B said:

Cool Mini racer. Well done. 

Thanks James

16 hours ago, Dave B said:

Looks great Phil.  A mate had a hot Cooper on racing rubber. Boy did we have fun in the dry!!

Dave B 

Thanks Dave

15 hours ago, kensar said:

Great looking model, Phil.  The weathering smudges are a nice touch.

Now for my Mini Cooper story.  I worked as a volunteer corner worker at Road Atlanta for the SCCA runoffs one year.  As a thank you to the volunteers, several drivers and teams gave us a lap around the track in the race cars after the races were over for the day.  We lined up and were picked up one by one as the cars came through the line.  When my turn came up, a red Mini Cooper pulled up, driven by an old lady (must have been in her 60s) wearing a huge floppy straw hat, big round sunglasses, and flip flops.  My heart sank.  I was hoping for one of the hot cars.  Well, that old lady scared the hell out me and gave me a ride I won't forget.  Didn't know a Mini could go that fast.

Thanks Ken - your experience was so much like mine. It may have been the fall of 1967 that myself and three friends attended a major racing event at the Westwood Circuit outside Vancouver BC. At the Sports Club of BC booth at the Pacific National Exhibition one of my friends had put his name in for a draw that would give lucky spectators a ride in a racecar for fast laps around the track during the lunch break at the big race. We were all excited when we heard his name called to come to the pits for his ride. Wanting to share in his experience we all went with him and lucky for us three of the people whose names were chosen did not show up so we volunteered to take their places. There was a mad scramble to get to the most desirable race cars. I thought I had really missed out when all that was left was a Mini Cooper S at the back of the grid. The driver was determined to make my experience memorable by demonstrating how he could get ahead of the more powerful cars through the corners.

[1959scudetto]

Very cool looking racer, Phil ! The Mini was a brilliant vehicle with outstanding roadholding - one of my personal favorites and all-time greats.

[Mark W]

Nice Mini! Has that “real car” look.