After the Jack Frost Rally, whenever I was out and about, I found myself looking in driveways, farmyards etc for any sign of an old Mini. I looked on ebay, and in magazines etc, and whilst there were some bargains to be had, not possessing a trailer, or the means of towing one, I would find it difficult to get a car home. I asked at some of the local garages, but I was starting to realise that classic mini’s were not to be found lying around anymore.


After a month of fruitless searching, I went to see my MOT tester, and asked him if he had failed a mini recently, he said not but we got talking and I told him why I was looking for a car. He suggested I went to see Michael Storry, at Rudgate Motors, Tockwith, as his son raced in ministocks and usually had mini bits lying around. I went to see Michael at his garage, and there lo and behold were a couple of Mk3 minis. A White 1989 Model, with a blown 1275 engine, and a Black 1982 rolling shell. I looked at both cars. The White car (H973 WAG) had disc brakes etc, and some useful parts on it, but the shell would require a lot of work and the suspension units had been stripped out. Although older, the 1982 shell looked in better condition and was a complete rolling shell minus the seats. I decided to go for the older car and we agreed a price of £250. 


WWB 278Y was going to be my rally car project! I went home and thought about things and decided to go back and see if I could do a deal for both cars. Micheal told me that he wanted one of the shells as backup for his sons racing car, but if I wanted I could have the white car, strip it to a bare shell, and let him have the shell back. As I said, the car had some useful parts on it. The engine had a rod through the side, and the gearbox casing was smashed, but I reasoned that some parts must be salvageable, including the A plus cylinder head. The front Discs, Callipers, Hubs and shafts were ok; it had the later wide rear drums, a pair of bucket seats, and a set of GP2 wheel arches. I agreed to pay £100 for the car. Michael would deliver the white car to me, and when I was ready, he would bring me the black car and take the white shell back, which I thought was a reasonable deal.


And so one snow covered morning in February 2006 the first part of my project arrived on my drive.


My marshalling friend and Co-driver to be David Dykes was keen to help with work on the car, and was there waiting with me when the car arrived. We attacked it with great enthusiasm, and by the time darkness fell the car was almost reduced to a bare shell, although we would need a little extra help to lift out the engine unit. The following weekend with the engine out we were ready to swap it for our project car.


And so at the beginning of March our little friend arrived on the back of Michaels transporter along with a 1275 engine and Gearbox, rollcage, stripped out drivers door and a multitude of other spares that I had bought off Michael for the bargain price of £150 when he purchased an ex autograss car, off which he wanted the 10” alloy wheels and the Cooper S Discs, callipers and drive shafts.


Chapter 4, The arrival of Jubbly