Bought it off a panelbeater apprentice who had been restoring (back to bare metal) it for 5 years & couldn't get it to run right & lost interest (bodywise it just needed one rear window, the drivers door bolted on & the interior. He told me it was an A+ engine but he didn't know much else about it & it had a brand new set of headers & a 2" exhaust system. It also had a nice little set of 10" alloys & 165s. Aus$1200 passed hands which he told me was almost what it cost him for the paint job done by a friend & off we went.
Trailered it home & stuck it in the corner for "one day". "One day" came when I blew the G/Box on my supercharged Range Rover & needed a car in a hurry at minimum cost. Dragged it out of the corner & started playing with the engine after an hour or so went back to basics & checked the saprk plugs only to find #4 earth electrode bent over shorting out that plug (obviously someone had dropped it & didn't check before installing)New set of plugs & she roared into life & sat idling with wild cammy enthusiasm. Whilst changing out the inlet manifold & carb (it came with an 1 & 3/4" SU) for an 1 & 1/2" SU I had lying around that I knew ran OK I noticed that it had an extreme porting job done on the head that required the pushrod galleries to be sleeved. It was then I realised I had an A+ with some fairly extreme modifications. Well a solid 72hrs later with no sleep & cannabilising the 3 other minis I had for disc brakes, wheels & tyres, dash & basically the best parts from the other cars, a quick polish & I stood back & there it was as you see it in the photos. I took it for a quick spin & whoa what a lil monster. It will spin the Pirellis in 3rd gear & leaves most boy racers at the traffic lights with a confused look on their face.
It gained the nickname Vanish & was driven regularly for a couple of years until I moved to Peru for work. It now waits patiently in storage in Perth WA for when I return on holidays once a year & obligingly fires into life every time without complaint. It really turns heads wherever I go & drew a crowd at a British car show day that I went to.
This car was built on a budget with a lot of stuff lying around & it's amazing what you can do with a little ingenuity & a few long hours.
I have some plans for the future but nothing too radical or different from what you already see here. Basically A bit more of a sound system, change the 2 piece rear side windows for one piece units & tint all the glass & maybe change the 2 rear doors for a fabricated one piece that hinges upwards.
I love it & no it's not for sale.
Vanish rides on original solid rubber suspension with adjustable ride height cones & spax adjustable dampers. Combine this with 13" x 7" Superlites & 175/50 x 13 Pirellis & you can throw this thing into a turn at almost any speed with confidence
Front bumper removed, mounting holes filled with stainless socket head screws, stainless towing eyebolts, owner fabricated flares from acrylic with stainless socket head screws
Saas wheel, "S" dash with tacho, oil pressure guage pod ($5 towball cover) mounted on steering column, shift lever & handbrake sleeved with chrome tube (towel rail) & modified plastic end plugs, speakers mounted in baking tins
Door panels fabricated- MDF backing, 1/2 Acrylic, 1/2 black carpet
Hot engine, 2" exhaust with a 3" megaphone tailpipe means this little rocket barks when you hit the loud pedal, A small bed with black velour cover, mirror ball & violet LEDs complete the backend.
Should I change the double rear doors for a single unit that hinges up, a split unit with a pickup tailgate or a single door that swings open like a hearse?
Fabricated acrylic flares
British Car Show day in Gingin, Western Australia. How ironic....it rained!!!
Yes the roof racks do get used. One of the donor cars (Clubman S) in the background & the Rangy complete with blown (that's Supercharged) engine & blown (that's destroyed) gearbox.
