Forget about The Italian Job for a moment, as Tim uncovers a new world of Mini collecting in Taranaki
Hot on the heels of the DVD release of the latest version of Mini action movie, The Italian Job, I fielded a phone call from a Waitara family which said it had an interesting collection of Minis if I wanted to take a look. Spokesperson Craig Williams was well into his story about a special 1980 Mini he had restored, with no expense spared, before he went on to say his brother owned a Mini and that his parents, John and Wendy Williams, owners of Waitara’s New World supermarket, were also Mini mad.
In fact, father John Williams started the whole Mini ball rolling in 1995, when he returned home from a trip to Auckland with a 1967 Austin Mini Countryman as someone else’s unfinished project.
John takes up the story: “I was away on business up north, and although I’ve always been interested in Minis, I was kind of supposed to return home with a new vacuum cleaner for my wife, but instead I brought back a ’67 Countryman, a Woody in about a thousand pieces! The whole thing was like some sort of jigsaw puzzle, or Austin Mini version of a Meccano set.” Some wives wouldn’t have been too happy to find a desired vacuum cleaner had turned out to be a huge box of Austin Countryman. Well, rather than be annoyed (and I have to say here that John’s wife Wendy Williams is a true car enthusiast), Wendy eventually got even, in 2005 taking delivery of the latest model (BMW-derived) Mini Cooper S. The story certainly doesn’t end there either, as John has since gone on to purchasing another rare Mini van, this time a low mileage clubman-shaped version dating from 1974. Four Minis, all with different characters, are now part of the Williams’ family lifestyle. A combined photo shoot on a warm Waitara evening and Mini tales over a good quality New World wine and meal set the scene for a rundown on the Williams’ unique collection.
1967 Austin Mini Countryman
The Austin Mini Countryman, often referred to as the Mini Woody, went into production in the UK back in 1961 along with its stable-mate the Morris Mini Traveller, a follow on from the well loved wood-embellished Morris Minor Traveller. Lasting until 1969, the Countryman version featured the crinkle-cut chrome grille similar to that of another small Austin, the short wheelbase A40 Farina MkI. A two door Mini wagon with barn door-style rear opening ability, the Countryman was powered by the BMC A-series east-west four-cylinder engine of 848cc.
The story of Alec Issigonis and his adventurous world-changing Mini car design has been retold many a time, but here we get a glimpse at the now not often seen van versions.
Differences from the standard small 850 include the fold-down rear seats which help give the Mini a spacious carrying area in an unfussy and practical cubed dimension, despite having a monocoque body only 256mm longer than the car version. Like the Mini car, the Countryman van pumps out around 25kW (34bhp) at 5500rpm, adequate for carting the golf trundler, whitebait net or New World groceries in the wee wooden-edged beauty.
John’s 1967 Countryman was in some way rescued, as when he got it in its unfinished state it was part of a brace of Minis eventually bound for sale in Japan. Despite the Countryman being in what John earlier described as 1000 pieces, he set to work feverishly and completed it in less than a year, utilising a few able trades-people along the way. Fellow Waitarian, Ross Calgher, who years earlier used to build Cosworth DFV engines for the McLaren Formula One team, rebuilt the trusty little BMC A-series engine as John set to work on the body and beautiful American Ash outer woodwork. The Mini’s new subframe was acquired from the UK by the late Emily Calgher, Ross’ wife, who sourced it through her well-known parts business. Afterwards the Countryman’s upholstery and green paintwork was completed in Auckland.
John was understandably proud of the final outcome which, when I first viewed it, I thought could have come straight off a Dominion Motors or BMC showroom floor in the ’60s. That leads us to his next Mini purchase¦
1974 Leyland Mini Clubman Estate
As a child I always preferred the look of the original Mini, and didn’t really take much notice of the Clubman version until Andrew Cowan won our international rally in a 1275 GT version in 1972. I still think the original Minis are good-looking, but I have had to come to respect the finish and ‘matching set’ appeal of John Williams second purchase, an orange 1974 Leyland Clubman Estate, which required less work than the ’67 Countryman.
A fitting stable-mate to the Williams’ green countryman, the Leyland Mini was purchased late in 1995 from Whakatane, where it had lived with ‘one lady owner’. She had dotingly brought it out from England with her in the early ’90s after the little estate had given faithful service in the mother country of Minidom. Nicknamed ‘Granny beast’ by the Williams family, the little orange Clubby is a 998cc BMC A-series vehicle which has in automatic gearbox format and is in great condition. John found out from the original owner that the back seat had never even been sat in!
All that was required to bring the ’74 Clubman Estate up to the standard of the Countryman was to fit new carpets, and have the ‘fake wood’ body panelling refurbished. The wood-grained panelling does not have the charm and craftsmanship of the earlier Countryman, and in orange it doesn’t really smoke your front tyres visually, but put ‘Granny beast’ next to the Countryman from the previous decade and it all makes great sense, a matching pair of wood themed Mini wagons that go together like salt and pepper.
Power wise, the Clubman gains over the 850 Countryman, putting out 28kw (38bhp) at 5200rpm, and like the Countryman it can seat a group of four people comfortably or have its rear seating folded down for carting sundries without qualm. Whether in 850 or 1000 specification guise, Mini vans and estates have been produced in varying styles — including the rare high-top version from Australia that I discovered in outer Sydney (see NZ Classic Car May 2005) — and I wouldn’t put it past John Williams to procure another example, but he is presently looking for an original, genuine factory-produced Mini ute, even if it is a worn-out project vehicle.
Utes and vans have, however, been far from the revved-up mind of John and Wendy’s son, Craig, ¨who also works at the family New World as store manager, and this now leads us to Craig’s Mini ¨passion¦
1980 Mini 1000 Special
Craig Williams couldn’t help but be gripped by his father John’s Mini madness. Some would say he ¨had no chance to avoid it, but Craig was no straight copycat. He went straight past the vans and opted ¨to create a sporty Mini special based on a 1980 1000 model.
This immaculate car that wouldn’t look out of place at any car show, on a revolving dais, started out as a New Plymouth car whose claim to fame was having once been used to set a record for the highest number of girls squeezed into a car, at New Plymouth Girl’s High School! I avoided asking Craig how many girls he has squeezed in the Mini since its makeover, and opted to find out more of what went into it mechanically and cosmetically.
Minimal panel-work was needed on this ‘straight 80’, but Craig totally stripped the Mini down to each last nut and bolt, sensibly cataloguing the parts as he went. A bright red paint job for the body, with white bonnet stripes, was ordered from Paintworks Ltd on New Plymouth’s Seaview Road, while Craig went about procuring flared arches, spotlights and mag wheels from various top name Mini shops in the UK. The ceiling lining and interior was replaced also by quality imported ware, and the seating was recovered by well-known Brixton upholsterer John Reumers. Meanwhile Craig was also working his way through a completely new wiring loom and rebuilding the brakes, and his Mini project was turning into a rebuild whereby the Mini would end up better than a brand new one! Things kept escalating, and pretty soon a new steering wheel was being fitted, along with twin SU carburettors supplied by stalwart Taranaki Mini wrecker and parts supplier, Iona Motors.
In August 2004 Craig Williams fired up his newer than new Mini and it hit the road for the first time, looking every bit the part of an The Italian Job on the Waitara Riviera! With such a special Mini completed, Craig added a final touch by importing a rare ‘Mini Special’ badge from the UK; it now adorns the car’s hot red rear.
As a viewer of this special Mini I can say that I feared getting finger marks on it, and that if Craig wasn’t looking I wouldn’t hesitate in eating New World’s finest bacon and eggs straight off the engine manifold, it was that clean and spotless. On my first visit to the Williams’ collection in late 2004, I enjoyed my first look at the three older Minis — seemingly a boys’ obsession. Mrs Wendy Williams was busying herself indoors, but what I didn’t realise was that she was harbouring majestic Mini thoughts of her own, which leads me to the current latest Mini in the Williams garage¦
2005 Mini Cooper S
Not to be outdone by the men-folk of the Williams clan, Wendy ordered up the latest 2005 model Mini from the BMW stable.
Many retro-styled cars simply get it wrong, but I’ve been an enthusiast of the new Minis ever since taking a new Cooper S version from Bib Stilwell Ltd for a quick drive in the winding hill roads behind Melbourne, Australia, back in 2002. The new Minis seem to reflect the character of the old Issigonis-penned original, yet it wasn’t until Wendy parked her beautiful new blue version next to Craig’s that I saw what others already have, that the new Minis seem huge next to the old type. When you lift the bonnet, the differences become even more obvious, noticeably first the complete raising of the whole frontal cowl on the new Mini.
From here on one could list every single difference and end up describing what is in essence a totally different car, albeit sharing clever stylistic traits.
Words & photos: Tim Chadwick
