Best wishes from Maximum Mini

2020 Has been a most unusual, chaotic and strange year almost everywhere. Here, too. I wish all of my readers and other Maximum Mini enthusiasts a happy Christmas and the best wishes for 2021. Thank you for your support and please don't forget to vote for the 'Best Find of 2020' here.

The one-off CJC Bison by Colin James Cooper of Leicestershire who spent 8,000 man hours creating it

Original picture Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., imaging Jeroen Booij

Back from the UK - what a trip!

Having returned from the UK, I can look back on a week with some fantastic meetings but also with some real downsides, too. Things started pretty gloomy when the fuel pump of my beloved Saab decided the time had come to stop pumping fuel on the night before leaving for Calais. Thanks to my garage we could fit a new one just in time, but then I still wasn't prepared for the terrible traffic jam around Antwerp, which caused me to miss my ferry. And my first appointment. More trouble lay ahead, but let's focus on the good things first: the people I met. Thanks guys, you've been great! I took hundreds of photographs, so let's scroll through a small selection here.

That's Andrew MacLean of the Scamp Motor Company welding another chassis. He's done hundreds!

Picture Jeroen Booij

While this machine has made all the body panels for all the Scamps that were ever sold

Picture Jeroen Booij

Andrew then brought me over to a field where he knew one very special RTV had been parked up

It's certainly worth a story on its own

Picture Jeroen Booij

This man is mister Santos and he is the curator of the UK's largest classic car collection.

The warehouse behind him stores only one half of it, but was too big to photograph in full!

Picture Jeroen Booij

I was given a grand tour and was left amazed. While focussing on the top end of the market, this collection also houses some Mini derivatives. Hustler Sixes for example 

Picture Jeroen Booij

And how about this Wood & Pickett Mini? - a car that was previously featured in Maximum Mini

Picture Jeroen Booij

Master of the coachbuilt Minis is Steve Burkinshaw, here in his Hertfordshire based workshop. 

We had a truly lovely day and made some great plans for the future

Picture Jeroen Booij

The number of coachbuilt Minis that Steve restored over the last decades is quite unbelievable. 

And then the stories that he tells about them! 

Picture Jeroen Booij

A typical car you'd find in his front garden, one with great provenance. More special stuff behind

Picture Jeroen Booij

Over to the Midlands. Stimson-fan Paul Wylde managed to buy this Stimson Scorcher two weeks ago. Did he want to take it out for me to do a photoshoot? Oh, yes

Picture Jeroen Booij

And his mate George Marsh came over, too, bringing a beautifully built Domino Pimlico 

Picture Jeroen Booij

Next stop: Worcestershire, where I bumped into some genuine barn finds. 

Some real obscurities there! Recognize some?

Picture Jeroen Booij

The one I actually came for was outside. It's the long-lost Micron GT! More to follow

Picture Jeroen Booij

Havoc struck when, on a particularly dark and deserted Lincolnshire road, out of nowhere a couple of deer stood right in front of me while I traveled at 50mph, damaging my beloved Saab

Picture Jeroen Booij

One deer was hit at the right side and one at the left. I never found them as it was so pitch dark. 

These pictures were taken the next morning

Picture Jeroen Booij

Don't say I just hit a tree. My mate who is into the game trade told me this was the hair of fallow deer

Picture Jeroen Booij

ABS boss Tony Bucknall made up for it though, spending much of a day to show me around his place and talk about his passion for Mini derivatives. He has quite a few!

Picture Jeroen Booij

Oh, and did he want to push out the mighty CJC Bison for a full photo shoot, before I went to catch my ferry back? Of course he wanted that!

Picture Jeroen Booij

Bitten by the Bison (9)

Oh lord, has it been long since we've heard of the CJC Bison project (click here for previous updates) and its intrepid and anonymous restorer! He's had a bit of difficulty with his (many) other projects, but there is now finally some news from him. He wrote: "The Bison has now been dropped off at the paint shop – photo as evidence!!"

"Its going to be painted radiant red, but with a satin black roof and pillars. It caused much amusement at the body shop. I just spoke to the lad there and he said they have never had so many people come in to have a look at a car they are working on. He said the normal response is 'What the fuck is that?!' They specialize in American stuff and classics, so have had a lot of strange looking stuff in over the years, but he said the Bison is the car that has had most interest!"

Fantastic news after all pal! In fact the CJC Bison is one of the cars I am looking much forwards to to seeing it in the next year!

Evidence: the CJC Bison is off to the paint shop. It was about time, too!

Bitten by the Bison (8)

It's been over a year since we heard from our mystery restorer, working on the one and only CJC Bison, better known as the Mini Lamborghini (click here for his previous adventures). As a matter of fact things didn't look good for a while. I received a message earlier this Spring: "If you fancy a nice project, I am thinking of selling the Bison – less the engine and gearbox. The grp dust is playing havoc with my eczema (indeed my skin specialist thinks it may have been the trigger for it). It would do you perfect, super rare!" I answered in shock that I believed it wasn't a good idea and - to my own surprise - he listened! He dropped me a line earlier this week with the happy heading 'Mojo returned!'. It said: "I've bought a new spraygun so I could paint the side of my Mk1 Cooper S. That went okay, and I was bored on Sunday, plus it was a reasonable day. So… Just a single solid colour has made me cheer up about it. It needs a colour sand and probably a final quick pass over coat, but all the awkward bits and the edges are done." He made my day. Keep up the spirit pal!

Work is resumed on the restoration of the CJC Bison. The body is finished now

And with a first layer of fresh paint it is beginning to look like a car once again!

Bitten by the Bison (7)

Gladly, I am not the only person who'd been messing around with plaster over the last few weeks. In fact our own handyman, better known as 'Buffalo Bill', made some great progress on the CJC Bison project car (click here for his earlier adventures). He worked as hard as always to turn the former garden ornament into the 'Lamborghini Mini' that it was before. This time, he wrote: "The front spoiler of the Bison was pissing me big style. I'd repaired/improved it once, only to rip the damm thing off the first time I drove out the garage. So I jacked it up, drew a line from the front of the tyre level with the anti-roll bar and onto the front spoiler, marked it, and chopped the lower bit off. I could maybe go a little more, but have to allow space for the funnel thing that the air hoses attach to. I fired it up and drove up and down the bumpy drive, it didn’t catch and I managed to snatch second gear once, so that’s a big improvement!"

"Next, I made a steel frame that picks up on the bumper mounts, so the bumpers are stronger - the metal bit bolts to the chassis, but isn't removable, but would still (if you wanted) allow the body to be removed of the chassis. The lower point was fixed (so that the front anti roll bar was hidden and to protect it as its more of a square edge to hit) and it looked rubbish if the whole thing tapered up, so I angled the edge parts to give a lot more space (it tends to be the outer corners that get the damage anyway). It still needs a final sand and a couple of little bits extra, but I'm quite pleased with it, the whole front is a lot stronger now. I also removed the lights (for access) and roughly swopped them left to right as it looked rubbish before as the lamps where too far in board - I think the maker made an error as there is no reason to have put the lights more in than out (if you see the pictures, you will see what I mean - it looks miles better) I then discovered that one of the lamps was broken, and seen late 1970's square Cibie lights are not exactly 10 a penny, I have filled the holes up, so will have to look for something better - I'm thinks a pair of twin round ones, to fill the box shape more and maybe not have to open as far. Happy days..."

Step 1: Mark a line onto the 'snow plough' before chopping the lower bit off

Step 2: After the actual chopping, make a steel frame to improve bumper mounting

Step 3: Angle the edges in fresh fibreglass. Well done! Now look for new head lights

Bitten by the Bison (6)

Since the last update on the CJC Bison, better known as The Mini Lamborghini, the project's progress hasn't exactly been smooth. In fact, since the fitting of the exhaust our anonymous handy man Buffalo Bill used his hecksaw for his next step: creating much needed more interior space. Back then he wrote: "It's going to get a lot worse I think, but will be worth it." The idea was to dramatically alter floor and bulkhead to win space. Sounds easy, but when some images were sent over to here - after the hecksawing took place - I wasn't so sure anymore about the ease of the job. As always, Buffalo Bill remained dead calm: "The one with no seat is the passenger side, you can see how much space has improved simply by leaning its all back and round by a couple of inches. The one with the seat is the drivers side, showing how much more room is round the seat. The upper part will be flat (like before) with just a bit of shaping to marry up to the side windows. There's tons of room now."

Nothing could stop our project man from improving the Bison's limited interior space

But then things got quiet for a while, and just when I believed the Bison was about to come to an unhappy end another message with more pictures arrived: "Cracked on with the bulkhead, it's about 95% done inside (just a bit more smoothing and odd spots around the windows need a bit more) and about 50% done outside (the whole upper part needs sanding flat, and the lower part needs more work). The seats fit fine though now, or at least as well as they ever will. I am really pleased how it turned out. Just the rest of it to do now!" You just have to admit this man doesn't give up easily... I also liked the comment of one of his friends: "Wouldn't it have been easier to have your legs shortened & your arms lengthened!?"

And this is how the beast looks now. It must be fun to cut out that rear window...

Bitten by the Bison (5)

Time for an update on the amazing Mini Lamborghini, the CJC Bison project car that is under restoration by our own handy man mister 'Buffalo Bill'. He writes: "The exhaust is done! I chopped the original black bit in two and widened it by 6 inches, then chopped the rear body to suit. All the exhaust box needed was a couple of tags welding to it for rubber feet and a bit of a reweld on the input pipe. It fits fine (it does mean the boot no longer fits however!) and is very quiet - which is no bad thing these days. The black bit needs finishing off, I am going to cut a hole in the middle and mesh it to let the air out and break it up a bit, and the edges of the red parts will need a bit of filler, but it all looks pretty good. The exhausts fit central in the holes, they just look off in the photos, they also point up a little - this looks better than if they where straight out (I think)"

Could this be the only Mini that suit a double exhaust really well?

It only just fits under the body, although it ate the boot space!

That's the good bit. But there's more. He continues: "We wont talk about the new seats though. See here some photos of the seat fitting, this is before I chopped the floor as well. The problem with the original floor is that the seat was so far back that you where looking out of the 'rear' side window, so it looked as if no one was driving! Chopping the floor allowed the seat forwards and gives a lot more side vision."
Bloody hell, is this ever going to be okay again? Our handy man is confident it will be...

Fitting the new seats turned out least as problematic though...

Bitten by the Bison (4)

Don't think our handy man 'Buffalo Bill' has been drooling around lately. In fact, he has finally found a rare set of rear tyres for the Mini Lamborghini: the CJC Bison. He writes: "The back wheels and tyres look great, I just need to save up for some front tyres now. Note the polished edge on the rims, it took ages but makes the wheels look great! Also, bought a spray to try and touch in some of the worse areas - most I am going to leave - patina ain't it? I filled and painted the little bumper and it is a perfect colour match - Alfa Rosso red. I have also started trimming the dash, but rain stopped play."

Chunky tyres suit wide arches well. Note craftsmanship on polished edges!

The thread may look simple, but Avon rear tyres (245/50/13!) are not cheap 

Bitten by the Bison (3)

Been sitting in the garden, reading motoring magazines, lately? Our man Buffalo Bill definitely doesn't hang around like that! He wrote:

"I have removed the Weber for now, it is so over cammed that its impossible to shunt around the garden with it on, it needs a good strip and clean as it will tick over but with any throttle load it just stalls - a pair of slave twin SU's are in place and let it start and run fine - handily the bar that links the rear towers unbolts (which I had to do to allow the jet tubes on the carbs to fit) and rebolts 1" lower down - handy! The clutch is done and it's better than it was before, but still heavy - something to do with the shorter pedal providing less leverage I guess."

Weber carburettor has temporarily been swopped for a set of twin SUs

"I have also removed the exhaust, it was so loud the neigbours had started to 'mention' it, so for now its got a recycled RC40 box just to keep it at a more reasonable level - it's got the getto outside the body work look, but it works and will pass an MOT with it - I had to remove the black portion of the rear to repair it anyway, so now great shakes - it is a bit vile, but will do the job. I have won an Elise backbox on ebay, so may be able to make that fit. The problem is that the exhaust is limited by the boot shape - the boot needs to be fitted to hold the Targa top."

" I have also got the glass ordered - it was financially enlightening!! The people who make the glass said that the problem with mass produced car glass is that it is cheap because they make so much, and when I told the guy that the side window (which was the expensive bit) was from a one-off car he just went 'Oh, that must have cost the original owner a fortune to make...' It has to be CNC-cut because of the shape around the pill box electric windows - I've had it all remade in the correct light bronze tint as well, which cost a bit more. Igot the glass out tand can now retrim all the dash and pillers, then get the new glass back in the next couple of weeks. I have also started on the pop up lamps and used a MX5 motor in a bodged bracket to make sure it could lift the mechanisim, it did at a furious speed, so I have bought a complete pair of MX5 set up to try and use one to control both lamps - anything will be better then the shakey slow noisy motor that was in there before."

Exhaust, too, is a temporary fitment. Elise box may be better

"Then there's the tyres. These are pretty critcal as anything lower and the front spoiler scrapes on the floor due to the huge distance between it and front wheels - also the tyres need to be pretty chunky to match the wheel arches. I found a set of over 30 year old tyres on ebay that sold for over 200 euros!! I've now found that Avon do a CR500 245/50/13 which is about as near as I can get. They are well expensive (and on back order...) but I think I have found a part worn pair. Annoyingly Avon don't do a 205/60/13 to do the front, but there are plenty of tyres avalible in that size."

That all sounds as if it won't be too long before the car is on the road again. What is our man going to do then? He says: "If it drives okay I will keep it, if its an understeering deathtrap it's going!" Watch this space.

Bitten by the Bison (2)

There are many good ways of spending Easter but our man Buffalo Bill has certainly not been drooling around with eggs as he's spent most of the days in his shed working on the CJC Bison. Good man. He writes: "I have, with much elbow grease, been able to prove that it IS possible to polish a turd! The CJC now gleams (apart from all the bits where there are chips, scratches etc.) - and it is amazing how good it looks!"

"The brakes are fixed, the master cylinders changed (which was an 'interesting' job - the builder had clearly fitted the masters before he attached the body to the chassis...) and most of the electrics now work. It was also like it had the stiffest clutch ever made in it, which was also soaked in oil, so I pulled the flywheel off (when I take the engine out, there is one part of the chassis that im going to chop and move about 10mm, that will make the job far easier) and once the flywheel was off the reason for the clutch problem became apparent, as the bronze bush in the primary gear was spinning and was so worn that it was down to the steel, it had actually overlapped itself where the split is in it. I think the gear itself is junk, but that's a job for next time."

"I've had a good response from the neigbours (bar the noise of the thing, thats another job I have to sort!), my friend's wife thought it was a TR7 while another neigbour thought it was a Ferrari (what's even funnier is that her son actually does own a proper one!). Anyway: I am going to make the templates for the glass this week so I can get that ordered, and I was hoping to be able to cut the bond and ease the glass out, but on closer inspection it is so fragile it's just going to break."

CJC Bison: clutch and most of electrics are now sorted out...

...as are the master cylinders. Note pretty amazing Countach style interior

Bitten by the Bison

You will surely remember the CJC Bison: the 'Mini Countach' that was offered for sale recently (click here if not). Well, meanwhile the car is sold to a friend of this blog who wishes to remain anonymous but is kind enough to keep us posted on the resurrection of the beast. Let's call him Buffalo Bill. Initially he was rather sceptical about the car, calling it 'Count-tacky' and 'Lambaguni Testicala' but now that he's picked it up that's all changed. He writes: "It is far better than expected. There is a full 'S' motor (inc. box); 'S' front discs; 'S' master cylinders; 'S' servo; Weber carburettor with 'Team Coldwell' manifold and fully rose jointed rear suspension (similar to early Cox/GTM but far better in design and layout). It is running a steel box chassis with Mini suspension grafted into it, with proper anti-roll bars and coil overs. I bet it handles very well. The quality of the design and the grp is amazing, far better built then many cars that I have seen."

"The worse part is the trim which is wreaked due to the water pouring in through the gaps. All the glass is knackered as well, a lot of its de-laminated, so it needs most of it remaking. I got it going today, it took a while as all the loom is either red or blue wire - of course nothing inside works and all the fuel pipes had broken! Once it fired it roused the dead - man its loud! It is the first Mini engine I have ever started that was blowing as much flame out the Weber as it was out the exhaust! Amazingly it did drive, but the clutch is sticking. The rear wheels are awesome as well, they are 8 x 13 with 225/60 tyres - man, thats going to cost!!"

"Next weekend I am going to swop the master cylinders, the rubber brake, clutch and fuel lines and the front discs - hopefully it will MOT easily - it certainly looks as if it will. It has been built with some care, everything has little access hatchs, so, for example if you need to swop a headlamp bulb, you simply open the little hatch and easy as that! Who ever built it was obviously a) a clever guy, and b) must have wasted a fortune!"

The CJC Bison runs after some much needed TLC by our man 'Buffalo Bill'

Meet the Mini Countach

You have undoubtly heard of the Unipower GT's nickname 'Mini Miura', made up after a French journalist described it as such in his magazine report. But how about the 'Mini Countach'? I did not know it existed but after I was sent numerous messages that a most unusual Mini derivative ended up on good old eBay this week I noticed some definite similarities between the two thoroughbreds: the bull from Bologna and the Bison from Blighty, 'cause that's what it is named.

So what really is this Mini Countach thingy? Well, apparantly it is the one and only CJC Bison and is registered as such on the DVLA database. It was built (or at least finished) in 1994 and MOT'd until June this year. The current owner has recently decided to sell it and I have been in touch with him. Unfortunately he cannot tell me much more about this intriguing one-off creation, so that leaves me with more questions once more. See the ad here. Oh, and excuse me for the Photoshop fiddle on the picture attached. I just couldn't resist doing that...

Thoroughbreds? The Bison from Blighty and the bull from Bologna