36 replies to this topic

[Minigman]

Who first decided to paint a red mini roof white?

One hell of an idea...

Edited by Minigman, 07 November 2018 - 10:07 PM.

[nicklouse]

it was the Motor Sports team at BMC  they did it before the Mini and just carried on on the works cars.

[Cooperman]

Let me tell you a little story about the first red Mini to rally with a white roof.

 

In 1961 my good friend Bill Rogers, who co-drove my 1964 Cooper 'S' on the recent Lombard Bath RAC event, was given a brand new 850 Austin-Mini for his 21st birthday. It was Tartan Red all over.

 

When it was a few weeks old we went to Silverstone for the May International race meeting and on the way home we had agreed to meet some friends at a pub in Ayot St. Lawrence, near Hatfield, for a drink or three (no breathaliser in those far off days!). A friend of ours named Mike Smith said that he had never driven a Mini (he had a VW Beetle), so Bill gave him the keys and said he could 'take it down the road'. A while later Mike appeared and said that he had put the car onto its side and that he owed Bill some money.  

 

I had a friend who worked for an insurance company as an assessor and he knew a body shop who could do the job straight away. A price was agreed which Mike paid and the car was being fixed quickly. After straightening it and getting it in primer, the body-shop owner called and asked if Bill would like the roof a different colour.

 

At that time Bill and I were apprentices at de Havilland Aircraft and we worked on the Comet 4 airliner (first commercial jet service over the Atlantic). The Comets had their roofs painted white to keep the cabin temperatures down when parked on hot airfields, so Bill said to paint the roof white.

 

We did our first rally in that car in July 1961 and it was red with a white roof.

 

The BMC 'works' team did not start painting their Minis Red with White Roofs until over a year later. By then Bill's Mini, 9NKP, had done and won a lot of events. All the early 'works' Minis were standard colours and Pat's 997, 737ABL was red with a blxck roof when it won the 1962 Tulip Rally.

 

When I got my first new 998 Cooper in 1964 it was red/black, but I had the roof painted white before delivery. Some folks said I had copied the 'works', but really that was Bill's and my colour originally.

 

So the answer to the OP's question is, it was Bill Rogers, who now lives in Arizona and, until last year owned a 1071 Cooper 'S' and it was red with a white roof.

[Itsaminithing]

Do you have any pictures of 9NKP taking part in a rally?

Edited by Itsaminithing, 08 November 2018 - 12:35 AM.

[Cooperman]

I will see what I can find.

[JXC Mini GT]

Let me tell you a little story about the first red Mini to rally with a white roof.
 
In 1961 my good friend Bill Rogers, who co-drove my 1964 Cooper 'S' on the recent Lombard Bath RAC event, was given a brand new 850 Austin-Mini for his 21st birthday. It was Tartan Red all over.
 
When it was a few weeks old we went to Silverstone for the May International race meeting and on the way home we had agreed to meet some friends at a pub in Ayot St. Lawrence, near Hatfield, for a drink or three (no breathaliser in those far off days!). A friend of ours named Mike Smith said that he had never driven a Mini (he had a VW Beetle), so Bill gave him the keys and said he could 'take it down the road'. A while later Mike appeared and said that he had put the car onto its side and that he owed Bill some money.  
 
I had a friend who worked for an insurance company as an assessor and he knew a body shop who could do the job straight away. A price was agreed which Mike paid and the car was being fixed quickly. After straightening it and getting it in primer, the body-shop owner called and asked if Bill would like the roof a different colour.
 
At that time Bill and I were apprentices at de Havilland Aircraft and we worked on the Comet 4 airliner (first commercial jet service over the Atlantic). The Comets had their roofs painted white to keep the cabin temperatures down when parked on hot airfields, so Bill said to paint the roof white.
 
We did our first rally in that car in July 1961 and it was red with a white roof.
 
The BMC 'works' team did not start painting their Minis Red with White Roofs until over a year later. By then Bill's Mini, 9NKP, had done and won a lot of events. All the early 'works' Minis were standard colours and Pat's 997, 737ABL was red with a blxck roof when it won the 1962 Tulip Rally.
 
When I got my first new 998 Cooper in 1964 it was red/black, but I had the roof painted white before delivery. Some folks said I had copied the 'works', but really that was Bill's and my colour originally.
 
So the answer to the OP's question is, it was Bill Rogers, who now lives in Arizona and, until last year owned a 1071 Cooper 'S' and it was red with a white roof.

What a great story and piece of history.

[rich_959]

Fantastic to read Cooperman, thanks for sharing. 

[Boycie]

I love hearing Cooperman's real-life experiences, thankyou for posting :)

[mab01uk]

Road going Mini's and Coopers in red did not get a white roof from the factory until some of the Rover Limited Editions and the 1990's Rover Cooper was launched. The earlier Mk1 & 2 Coopers in red had a black roof and the Mk3 Cooper S was monotone as standard.

[Cooperman]

A friend of mine had a 1961 850 which was Clipper Blue and it had actually been prepared by the 'works' for international rallying. It was originally owned by a chap named David Hiam who was Dunlop's Competition Manager.The roof had been sprayed white and it looked very good.

David did a lot of international rallies in it including the famous Liege-Sofia-Liege. It was bought by one Peter Gilbert and I did several rallies with him and he lent it to Bill Rogers and me when Bill's car was a bit sick just before a rally we needed to do.

In fact it was one of the best known 850's and was registered 16BOJ. There are a lot of photos of it in rally books. I have a photo of me driving it on an autocross early in 1964.

If you Google 'Images for Mini 16BOJ' there a whole lot.

Edited by Cooperman, 08 November 2018 - 03:31 PM.

[timmy850]

Road going Mini's and Coopers in red did not get a white roof from the factory until some of the Rover Limited Editions and the 1990's Rover Cooper was launched. The earlier Mk1 & 2 Coopers in red had a black roof and the Mk3 Cooper S was monotone as standard.

The Mk1 Cooper was available in Australia in Tartan Red/Nurburg White roof. The Mk1 Cooper S was also available in Red/White for a while. 

 

For some reason black roofs didn't catch on out here!

[DeadSquare]

Looking back to the 60's, I always had a sort of feeling, kind of based on observation, that Coopers had a white roof, and the S had a black roof.

[mab01uk]

Looking back to the 60's, I always had a sort of feeling, kind of based on observation, that Coopers had a white roof, and the S had a black roof.

 

Factory spec Red Cooper & Cooper S only came with a Black roof in UK (unless it was a Works car or owner modified.). The later Rover Coopers in red came with white roof.

[mab01uk]

 

Road going Mini's and Coopers in red did not get a white roof from the factory until some of the Rover Limited Editions and the 1990's Rover Cooper was launched. The earlier Mk1 & 2 Coopers in red had a black roof and the Mk3 Cooper S was monotone as standard.

The Mk1 Cooper was available in Australia in Tartan Red/Nurburg White roof. The Mk1 Cooper S was also available in Red/White for a while. 

 

For some reason black roofs didn't catch on out here!

 

 

Maybe in Australia the climate means a white roof was better at reflecting heat with no air con available!

[Cooperman]

The 997 Cooper and Cooper S shared the same colour options. There were Coopers with white roofs, but not the red ones which had black roofs. The OP's question was about the red cars.
The 850 Super deLuxe also came with a different colour roof as an option.
Some people painted the roof a different colour or had completely different colour. I had a friend who was a BMC dealer and his rally 1071 S was gold with a black roof and looked fantastic.