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Maximum Mini: Booij finds Mini-based oddities
Written by Publisher, 16 March 2009   
Maximum Mini by Jeroen Booij
After over five years of research COACHBUILD.com writer Jeroen Booij’s first book is published this month. 'Maximum Mini' describes all the known and many unknown Mini-based cars in a great style and with over 500 pictures that have never seen print before.


Classic and Sportscar found it “Simply brilliant”: “Jeroen Booij’s superb analysis of Mini specials captivated the Classic & Sportscar office. Clearly a labour of love, this 128-page title led the Dutch fanatic travelling the world to track down the extensive group.”

Jeroen Booij:  "If I had known how much work it would take to make this book, it’s possible I would never have begun. Fortunately, I was oblivious to the scale of the job when I started looking at the first of the 58 cars featured. It opened an Aladdin’s cave of obscure motoring paraphernalia that was so intriguing I became insatiable for more, and there was plenty to be discovered."

Deep Sandersen
Deep Sanderson 301


Some coachbuild Minis that were long thought lost were unearthed by the author. Among them the unique Zagato Mini Gatto that was designed and built by the Milanese carrozzeria in 1961 on the base of a brand new Mini Van floorpan. The aluminium-bodied car was found back in a corroded but completely original condition, with just over 4,000 miles on the clock.

Zagato Mini Gatto
Zagato Mini Gatto

Other cars include the Tom Karen designed Ogle SX1000 and the Pellandini, designed and built by a former employee of London coachbuilder HJ Mulliner.

Ogle SX1000
Ogle SX1000

Gordon Murray wrote the enthusiastic foreword after Booij had managed to track down an IGM Minbug. The Minbug was Murray’s first step in motor manufacturing. He built four examples in 1970, but all four were thought lost. With chassis number ‘01’ the Minbug that Booij found in rural Berkshire turned out to be Murray’s personal car.

Gordon Murray: "Back in the early seventies, if, like me, you didn’t like ordinary cars, you just built your own. I bought a £60 scrap Mini Van and designed an incredibly strong spaceframe to bolt its 850cc engine and running gear on. I never should have sold it. For over ten years I looked for a surviving example, and had just about given up when a Dutch chap rang saying he thought he’d found one. It turned out to be true, and after all these years I found myself reunited with my Minibug."

Gordon Murray & Jeroen Booij
Gordon Murray and Jeroen Booij with the IGM MinBug

These are just a hint of the stories in ‘Maximum Mini’, which describes 58 cars. Another 19 Mini-based vehicles make it to the last chapter of the book: ‘The cars that didn’t make it’. Even Booij, being unable to track these down, describes these cars as ‘obscure’.

Maximum Mini is published by Veloce Publishing and you can order your copy here.
 
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