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Roo The Leyland Australia Mini Window Van


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#1 Hunter2

Hunter2

    Mini Mad

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  • Location: Vancouver
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Posted 16 February 2019 - 11:46 PM

I realize that ROO has only been mentioned briefly here...in connection with other posts.

 

The April 1973 Mini Window Van has the 'clubbie' nose, but Leyland Australia dropped 'Clubman' from the several model names in March.  In fact, all Minis until the end of production 5 years later (Mokes went on to 1980) had the 'clubbie' nose.

 

I bought the Mini in 2010 through my Cousin in Brisbane, as I wanted to visit Australia after I retired.  My Uncle Frederick had lent his name to me though we would never meet.  He had emigrated to Australia in the 1920s and my Dad to Canada.  They never saw each other again.  However, their wives became friends through correspondence during WWII while both men were in the service.  Therefore, the overseas families were fairly 'close'.  We hosted my Uncle's widow & younger daughter in the 1970s and my Dad met them here in Canada.

 

My Cousin would return again with her Mum and later with her Husband.  So, I was keen to go to Australia meet the other Cousins & offspring and see the continent.

 

The quest for a Mini drew blanks initially.  Quite common for young people to look for cheap rides before getting to OZ, however after 3 attempts, John Kornbrekke a key member of the Queensland Mini Owners Club Inc. googled me, found out I actually owned and had driven Minis around Canada & USA.  Soon I was in contact with Andrew Wright a wonderful young man who owned the Window Van and we arranged the sale/purchase.  The seller also installed several hundred dollars of new parts for me.  Later my Cousin got the Mini to an auto-electrics specialist, who was a Mini club member & Mini owner.  He installed relays for the headlights and serviced the alternator & battery.

 

We flew into Brisbane in early August 2011 where I quickly got to know the Mini, connected with Mini club members, added an auxiliary rad, wired a hookup for a GPS...and set off on a test drive, south through the New South Wales highlands, then east towards Sydney.  On the way I stopped in North Rocks to drop off a gift from a friend to Graham Russell, who generously said, "You are staying with me."  And he dropped us at Parramatta for the ferry & picked us up after our day trips into Sydney.

 

Then we were on our way to Lisarow to overnight with Dave & Kim King before the start of the Inaugural Rylstone Classic - Pretend Rally/Real Fun.  It was, as we toured inland from the coast into the Blue Mountains, answering gimmick questions and faced a technical question at the finish in The Globe Hotel, Rylstone, NSW.  We went to see more of OZ, meet other Mini owners and share a motoring event.  (We 'won' the rally and I sent a perpetual trophy over - there are already 100 entrants for the 9th Rylstone Classic this year)

 

The test drive showed up some faults...we rebuilt the front suspension with somewhat better doughnuts, hi-los & adjustable Koni Sport dampers in North Rocks/Parramatta.  The drivers door mirror fell off on the Great Western Highway and we needed a muffler & tailpipe on getting back to Brisbane.

 

Within two weeks we were taking part in the week long Mini 50 Celebrations on the Sunshine Coast (Mini introduced in OZ in 1961).  A day after getting back to Brisbane we were entered in the Annual Brisbane Mini Muster and the next day set off to the Sunshine Coast to join John & his wife Lynne for a 70-day tour around Australia.  It was fabulous.  We mostly tented, spending only a few nights under a roof.  Stayed together but split up for separate activities in Jabiru & Katherine, later in Broome, in Perth and Melbourne.  Both Minis were essentially faultless - John had a minor wiring issue on the run from the coast into Melbourne, I had the carb filter injest many bees coming down the Indian Ocean route and had the right front wheel bearings blow out on Day 68 just short of Toowoomba.  I also bought 2 more new tyres (started with 6 new tyres) and a new battery in Adelaide.

 

I left the Mini with my Cousin and we returned 2 years later to take a month with John & Lynne and two other Club couples Keith & Carol and Steve & Jenny to head for Tasmania and its biennial Tasmania Mini Fest in Hobart.  Again our 4 Minis ran almost faultlessly.  Keith's needed a water pump, Steve's had some grit in a carb but that was that.  Terrific time on a well laid out trip organized mostly by Lynne!

 

After getting back to Brisbane, the Mini needed to be checked over and cleaned before going to the shipping broker for the ocean crossing to Canada via Yokohama, Japan.  Of course, I commented that we should look at the QH inner joints, then had a good laugh as the bearings were shot.  The Mini got to the docks on Nov. 25 and arrived in Port Metro Vancouver on January 14, 2014.  I swept it up off the dock on the 19th and took it for Certification so it could be registered licensed & insured in British Columbia...and drove it home on the 26th!

 

Some further improvements were made before Ken Martin, a fellow Vancouver club member, & I set off across Canada for Ohio and the Can-Am Mini Challenge Race - where ROO's aux. rad. was loaned to a racer from Manitoba whose ex-Miglia Mini was overheating on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  Afterwards we circled south to Indianapolis, Indiana then north to Rockford, Illinois (to go into Chicago by bus) before heading for Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Mini Meet East Meets West.  After which, we headed home via Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Yellowstone Park in Montana, and Idaho before rejoining our outbound route in Castlegar, British Columbia.  Another fabulous trip!

 

In 2016, my Wife & I headed for San Diego, California and Mini Meet West and once again ROO got us there & back in its original factory set up with 1 1/4" SU on stock intake/exhaust manifold with pea shooter exhaust.  It ran comfortably at 64/65 mph on the interstate & took it's time climbing over the Sierras into Yosemite National Park.

 

In addition to local club events including Fall Escapes in 2015 & 2016, ROO was prepared late in life to take on a long rally event the ALCAN 5000 that ran from Seattle, Washington, through British Columbia and Yukon on into Alaska.  Unfortunately, fake idler gear bearings blew out on the Alaska Hwy. so my Swedish friend Micke Pettersson & I followed the field in a rental car to Dawson City, Copper Center and Fairbanks, Alaska.

 

I'll get up a few photos later and more when the rebuilt power unit goes back in....


Edited by Hunter2, 16 February 2019 - 11:59 PM.





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