39 replies to this topic

[mab01uk]

1971 Special Tuning 4x4 Mini
Built in 9 days to compete with the 4WD 3 litre Ford Capris in televised Rallycross series
4WD system taken from Ant (used to tow cars from the MG line at Abingdon)

(Update: actually a Moke not Ant see later posts below)
1293cc with aluminium cross flow head using Amal carbs developing 124bhp
http://www.delius.pw..._gt/default.htm

Edited by mab01uk, 26 September 2017 - 06:52 AM.

[Gr4h4m]

very nice, and looking good in the pics.

[HUBBA.HUBBA]

What gear box would it have. I'd love to see a picture of that.

[mab01uk]

More pictures:

Edited by mab01uk, 16 October 2011 - 10:59 PM.

[Artful Dodger]

thats some seriously good and well executed mods on that! id love to be able to re create that:P hmmmm......

[HUBBA.HUBBA]

These pictures are great. I like the gear rod fabriction. Would love to know more about it. I'm seriously considering that Mini Tech honda CRV 4wd kit from the states.

[mininuts]

Here's another piccie of the mini, taken from a 1971/72 Special Tuning brochure..................................



..........................and another from a 1972 magazine advert

Edited by mininuts, 29 November 2011 - 11:38 PM.

[Artful Dodger]

anyone got any more photos of this, especially under side shots???

[markxe]

A couple from Goodwood 2009. Nothing special excuse the pun.
 goodwood 028.jpg   45.82K   48 downloads

 goodwood 029.jpg   70K   35 downloads

[Artful Dodger]

were is the pun??

[RawlinsGTR]

Title of thread - "1971 Special Tuning 4X4 Mini"

markxe - "Nothing special".

There. I've written special so many times now that it's beginning to look wierd.

Edited by Dog., 02 December 2011 - 06:54 PM.

[markxe]

Nothing special refered to my pics as they were not the best  hehe.gif   251bytes   2 downloads

[HUBBA.HUBBA]

I think 'pun' hasbeen said too many times!

[Artful Dodger]

Title of thread - "1971 Special Tuning 4X4 Mini"

markxe - "Nothing special".

There. I've written special so many times now that it's beginning to look wierd.

oh thats shocking!!!!! to be fair i am one for cheesey jokes but thats just over the line and into the next country!

[Moke59Prototype]

.................. two years on from the last post here's something to get you going on this! 

 

In starting off the post mab01uk says that the 4WD system was taken from an Ant that was used at Abingdon to tow non-starters off the end of the MG line. That fact I've found elsewhere on the internet and even in a book about rallycross Minis so it looks to have been a generally agreed fact. However in the light of what I've found out recently I don't think that the 4WD system did come from an Ant, I think that it came from a 4WD Moke made earlier in the 1960s in the Longbridge experimental workshop. Yes, they DID make a few 4WD Mokes (i.e. one engine driving all four wheels as opposed to the Twini Moke that had two engines in order to drive all four wheels.)!

 

There's a logic to it if you think about it. The rear end of an Ant and the rear end of a Mini Clubman are different. The Ant was never a Mini and the Mini never an Ant. Therefore if they had tried to swop the parts over from the Ant to the Clubman it wouldn't have been easy. Remember too that Special Tuning were in a hurry to get the 4WD Clubman out to compete with the 4WD Fords. However the rear end of a Moke was essentially the same as the rear end of a Clubman so the swop would have been relatively easy.

 

If anyone has a photo of the rear diff of an Ant you will see that it is different from the rear diff of the 4WD Clubman. (See Clubman photo posted at the beginning of this thread.)

 

I'd be interested if anyone has any comments. Am I right, or am I way off the mark?