Christmas Mini Shows
The club attended two of the three pre-Christmas UK Mini shows this
year. The Malvern event was under new management this year. Billed as the
"Cool Yule Mini Show" it was held in late November and I for one found it
rather difficult to get into the Christmas spirit. However the show was a
vast improvement on its predecessor, with greatly increased participation
by traders and autojumblers. We were in the same hall as last year but
unlike then we found ourselves in the midst of the action with traders
and clubs on one side and the halls that would otherwise have been unused
on the other side were turned into Mini-only car parks.
The "Mini Christmas Show" took over a new venue this year at the Bath
and West Showground near Shepton Mallet. With everyone in one hall there
wasn't enough space for all the club cars but it was at least a bit cosier
than the draughty halls at Malvern. Most of the clubs had gone to some
trouble to decorate their cars and stands and there was a nice friendly
atmosphere. However, as with Malvern in recent years the traders were
thin on the ground and there were few visitors apart from the exhibitors.
As a result the show went very quiet after lunch and wound down at about
three o'clock.
The third show was at the National Agricultural Centre at Stoneleigh.
This was one too many shows for me, but if anyone else went along please
send in a report.
[20011230]
Marcos Euregio Meeting - Concours Results
The official results of the concours d'élégance were:
- Mini Marcos
- Andre de Vos (B) - Mini Marcos Mark III
- Erik Wijn (NL) Mini Marcos Mark IV
- Melanie Garland (UK) - Mini Marcos Mark V
- Big Marcos
- Nico Baas (NL) - Mantaray
- Paul Huberty (L) - Mantara LM400
- M. Vreugdenburg (NL) - Mantula
- Marcos Heritage Shield
Keith and Ruth Rose - Kingfisher Sprint
The event was generously sponsored by Eurotech
and Marcos Heritage Spares. The Marcos Heritage Shield is a new
perpetual trophy, and Keith and Ruth Rose were the first winners.
[20010926]
MarcosCars.Net
Mark Saxby's "Unofficial Marcos Home Page"
now has a new domain name. Mark writes:
"You probably know that I have been running my little
site for about 5 years now, so I've decided to spruce it up a little. First
step along the way is to get it a PROPER domain name. So from now, the place
for Marcos news is www.marcoscars.net.
"In the next few weeks, I'll put in a new splash
screen, with a link to the Xoom and Freeserve mirrors (if you're in the US,
you may find Xoom is the better bet), which will deal with the problem of the
slightly ugly framed banner which my cheap domain name service has resulted
in...
"I'll also be updating the site with news, information
and links in the post Westbury world. Take a look if you've not done so
before, or even if you have."
We'll be sticking to the direct URL for the time being to
avoid the framing. The Mini marcos site can also be accessed via
minimarcos.org.uk.
[20010723]
MMOC Wins Best Club Award at Newark 2001
The Mini Marcos Owners Club won the shield for the
best club stand at the Newark Kit Car Festival last weekend (June 16th-17th).
The award was presented to club Chairman Ian Hayward by Miss Newark who was
not exactly dressed for the windy conditions but was nevertheless enjoying
the proceedings.
Miss Newark returned later for some publicity photos for
next year's event using Richard Drinkell's ABS Freestyle. As Richard's
car didn't have a passenger's seat she draped herself over his toolbox :-)
The weather forecast no doubt deterred a few members,
but we had a handful of cars on both days, and we met several members
who had come using other transport. The weather was generally dry after
early showers on both days, but Saturday was the warmer with periods
of sunshine. The number of manufacturers and traders was disappointing,
but the Robot Wars robots provided a bit of entertainment.
Richard Porter
[20010619]
Marcos Heritage buys up Marcos
Marcos Heritage Spares Limited has announced that
it acquired the assets of Marcos Sales Limited earlier this month.
The Heritage team now consists of all ex Marcos employees:
Managing Director Rory Macmath who has over 25 years experience working
with the marque, former Production Manager Joe Cubitt, Dave Wilkinson
(stores Manager 87-94) and Kevin Andrews (production 97-01). Marcos
co-founder Jem Marsh will provide consultancy. This takeover aims to
ensure the continuity of production, service and parts supply
for all Marcos cars from 1959 to date.
Based at Semington in Wiltshire, Marcos Heritage intends
fully to support the existing dealer network with continued supply of parts and technical backup. All
moulds, jigs, tooling etc. are secure and the team is committed to future
development and road car production albeit on a smaller scale than before.
[20010521]
Stoneleigh 2001, Sunday
As usual, Stoneleigh is the highlight of the kit car calendar
so with the marcos running like a dream and just bought out of
it's winter hibernation we set off from sunny Shropshire towards
Warwickshire. The route we chose was not the most direct but
involved some superb driving roads and the marcos proved itself
100%. We arrived early at the show, just after 9 a.m. where we
had to disinfect before entry. The club stand was in the usual place,
quite well situated for a stroll around the main part of the show,
although it seems that there are club stands much closer in that are
empty year after year, and clubs such as the Italian replica club, who
had a lot of cars on their stand, were stuck out in the middle of nowhere.
A varied array of machinery was on display on the stand
including a few Marcos that I had not seen before, two Kingfishers, an Alto
Duo, a Midas and Allan Brown's Buggy, which he bravely drove all the way
from the South coast (rather he than I). There was also a Lovely Jem in
attendance which when we left was not part of the club display. This car
was painted in a Speedwell Blue and had many neat touches devised by it's
owner. The home fabricated rear hatch was a work of art including home
made hinges and seemed to work very effectively.
Quite a few people dropped by the stand when we were there
including a guy who used to race three Mini Marcos in the late sixties, one
was a Speedwell engined car. Another guy, who worked for Land Rover, was
restoring a Mk.III and was at the show looking for inspiration. He had
already fitted a Fiat Uno petrol tank and frenched in some Land Rover
American issue rear lights, which looked very nice.
As for the main show, I have to say that mysef and my
brother were VERY dissapointed. It seemed to have lost some of it's charm.
The trade stands we're pretty poor, there we're no rows of old boys
with there boxes of bits (à la Stafford). If you we're in the
market for a set of kitchen knifes, a lawn mower, mobile phone covers or a
new pair of fake trainers, then this was the place. It seems that they
have gone too far in trying to please the whole family and it has ruined
the show.
As for the kits themselves, just more manufacturers working
on the theme of trying to produce the cheapest 7 kit, or the most expensive
Cobra replica. We were pleased to see that somebody was making an attempt
to revive the Evante project. A Mk1 and Mk2 were on display as well as a
very nicely constructed chassis assembly. At this stage I think it was
just an idea, and am afraid that in the current kit car market it will not
find many buyers, mores the pity.
Apart from that the only things that caught our eye was
the Ginetta G20 and the Gemini. We have both always liked the Gemini and
spent a long time talking to the guy running the stand who was equally as
frustrated at the situation in the industry. He had on display a customers'
cars which gave us many ideas for our next project, whenever that will be.
We left very early, about 1 p.m., vowing that we would
return next year, but that things must get better, or it will be our last
trip there.
David Evans(Q262 YUJ. MM MkIV)
Richard Porter adds:
Monday was busy and we had some different cars on
the stand. No Jems, but an extra Freestyle and a Sabre Sprint which was
formerly owned by club member Richard Loewenstein and is now in the hands
of Wildgoose Registrar Rachel Harness and her partner.
Allan Brown proved his Freestyle's off-road credentials by
driving it onto the top of a large pile of dirt which had conveniently
been deposited opposite the club stand.
I was a little disappointed by the show, but that's
probably due to the state of the industry. There was little new on display,
though I did find a new Mini based car in the far corner of the showground.
The Camarotta is inspired by BL's ADO35 MG prototype and has a few
similarities to the Berkeley Bandera.
Stoneleigh's brand new exhibition hall is now open, which
meant that the bottom half of the old halls was little more than a car park
and the top half housed some of the smaller trade and autojumble stands.
OK, there was a lot of non-kitcar stuff but the show does have to attract
the paying public including wives and kids who might not be interested in
the main exhibits. Otherwise the traders would have to pay more or kit-car
drivers would have to be charged. As it was, prices were up on last year,
which is a bit worrying as the show could easily get into a downward
spiral.
[20010510]
International Mini Show, Stoneleigh
The club was represented at the Stoneleigh Mini Show
by three Mini Marcoses, one Freestyle, one Alto Duo and a Mini Cooper.
The show was as usual well supported by the trade and there was masses of
autojumble to browse. It was also well attended by Mini owners and fans.
The show was packed around lunch time although it did fade away quite
quickly during the afternoon.
Richard Porter
[20010417]
The Factory Closes
The Marcos Factory at Westbury, Wiltshire shut up shop
on 6th April 2001. All business has been trnasferred to Eurotech in Venlo.
Thanks to Dennis Griffiths for the information.
[20010417]
Calum Lockie - British GT Champion - Race Report
Privilege Insurance British GT Championship - round 1,
Silverstone: 1 April
Calum Lockie turned in one of the best drives of his life
in the opening round of the 2001 Privilege Insurance British GT
Championship at Silverstone on Sunday 1 April. After confusion in the pits
before the race, Calum was forced to start from the pit lane after the rest
of the field had gone by, yet charged through the field to plant the car
firmly in third place before handing over to Cor Euser. "I really enjoyed
it. It's going to make very good television," reckoned Calum on the podium.
Even at lunchtime on Friday, Calum's place in the race was
still in doubt. Somehow, he managed to pull together a very late deal to
get the car into the race and they were able to take part in the Friday
afternoon test session in the Marcos Racing International Marcos Mantara.
"Even by my standards, that was a very late deal," said Calum, who is
working flat out to raise the sponsorship to continue racing.
Calum ran just four laps in qualifying on Saturday, but
quickly proved to be right on the pace in the car proudly running number 1
in honour of his 2000 British GT title. During his laps, Cor had a rare
spin at the high-speed Bridge corner, but managed to avoid damaging the
car.
In the build up to the race there was confusion in the pits
over the timing of the pit open window and when Calum arrived at the end of
the pit lane, he found it had just closed. Frustratingly, he had to start
the race from the back after the rest of the pack had gone through, and
without the benefit of two warming-up laps to get the tyres up to
temperature.
That unexpected handicap proved to be the trigger for a
storming recovery drive that was one of the highlights of the race. Calum
stormed into the race and was soon scything his way through the GTO cars.
In the first two laps he passed 15 cars, and then charged past another five
before his pit stop to hand over to Cor.
The biggest hurdle to overcome was the third-placed
Chrysler Viper of Rob Wilson. With bags of straight-line speed, the Viper
could have been a real problem but Calum boldly dived inside Wilson as they
turned into Bridge corner. As he went by, he was brushed by the Viper,
which caused a major moment at the fastest corner on the circuit. "I was
determined to get by him!" said Calum after the race.
They then had an excellent pit stop and Cor rejoined in
third, with a chance of catching the leading Lister Storm. A major delay
for the TVR Cerbera of Bobby Verdon-Roe/Michael Caine during its pit stop
handed another position to the Marcos. However, coming up fast was Harvey
in the Viper and into the closing stages, Cor found his tyres fading.
Although there was a stage in the race when it seemed that
the Marcos might haul in the Lister, Cor had to ease his pace in the
closing stages and that allowed Harvey to snatch second with seven laps to
run. "That was all or nothing! Along with Daytona this year, that rates as
one of my best drives," said Calum, after overtaking all bar two cars in
the whole field! "I'm really fired up to defend my title. All I need now is
the backing and we can be on the grid at Snetterton in 2 weeks time."
Whether he can now piece together the backing for round two
at Snetterton on April 15th remains to be seen.
All the action from the opening round of the Privilege
Insurance British GT Championship will hit the television screens this
Thursday evening.
As part of Sky Sports' commitment to PowerTour, coverage of
the Silverstone race will first be aired at 18:00 this Thursday, 5 April
followed by three repeats.
A provisional list of Sky Sports transmission times is as follows:
- Thursday 5 April, 18:00 Sky Sports 2
- Thursday 5 April, 23:30 Sky Sports 2
- Friday 6 April, 14:00 Sky Sports 2
- Wednesday 11 April, 11:00 Sky Sports Extra
Melindi
[20010405]
Marcos Cars in Receivership
We are sad to report that Marcos is once again in
receivership. After developing a prototype for their smaller, more
affordable model, the company ran out of cash before it could be put
into production.
This does not affect the race car operation which is
now run by Eurotech in the Netherlands, but unless a rescuer is found
the Wiltshire operation may close after 42 years. We can only hope that
this is another hiccup and not the end of the line.
[20010324]
Carcraft 2001 (Stafford Kit Car Show)
As previously reported we had some difficulty in
obtaining an indoor stand at this show, which we have supported since
its inception. However after some pressure from our Shows Co-ordinator,
Mike Brown, the organisers relented and gave us a spot at the back of
the main hall.
We had room for five cars which, along with our new
"sails" adorning the roof supports, made a colourful display. The centre
of attention (well it was at one end actually, but we won't quibble) was
Mike Shilvock's awesome mid-engined Marcos-Vauxhall racer. It's up for
sale if anyone's interested!
Saturday was fairly quiet, I'm told, but Sunday was one
of the busiest days at this show for several years and we had a constant
stream of visitors to the stand. The trade and autojumble stands were in
now combined halls at one end, where we used to have the club stand. The
hall at the other end of the complex was being used for model nitro racing
which was a first this year.
[20010323]
Carcraft 2001 (Stafford Kit Car Show)
After much humming and harring we have now been
offered an inside club stand at Carcraft 2001 which is due to be held
at Bingley Hall, Staffordshire County Showground on March 10th and 11th.
The show is going ahead as there will be no more
livestock shows during the foot and mouth crisis. Don't bring your
pet sheep!
Anyone wishing to attend should get in touch with
Roger Garland. There is an outside display area for kit cars if you are
not exhibiting inside.
[20010308]
Thames Valley Meeting
Owing to lack of support the Thames Valley Marcos
Meeting at Heckfield will no longer be supported by the MMOC. I shall
try to attend the Thames Valley Mini Club meetings at Twyford on the
third Thursday of the month. The venue is the Waggon and Horses which is
on the A3032 going out towards Charvil, near the River Loddon bridge. RP
[20010306]
Marcos Owners Club Reshuffles
Colin Feyerabend, the long-standing secretary,
editor and organiser of the Marcos Owners Club recently stepped down from the committee.
Paul and Kate Crocker (e-mail) have taken over
the reigns. Details will be on the club contacts page soon.
[20010218]
Stafford Mini Show (the first of the Year)
- by Andrew Fairgrieve.
A pretty naff show really with only two show stoppers and no
Mini Marci to be seen. The first show stopper was the Ex-Ringo Starr car with
an opening hatch, very nice but nothing to get that excited about if you're
not a born in the 60s like me. The second an asolute masterpiece of paint
and body work, with corsa lights and the most impressive checker roof
finish.
None of the big Mini shops were there and good bargins were
thin on the ground, with no massive savings to be seen, and not a lot of
good jumble either, mind you I did arrive late so maybe it had already gone.
The weather wasn't bad considering the time of year but overall so... If you
didn't go you didn't miss anything you won't be able to see in a warmer
enviroment later in the year.
[20010205]
Daytona 24-Hours
- by 'Tad'
Well, it was a long, wet and cold 24 Hours at Daytona but
it was well worth the effort. Both Mantaras performed admirably. Before
the race, we had occasion to see the cars being prepped in the garage area.
Cor Euser is proud to be the latest owner of MARCOS Maniacs T-Shirts thanks
to Mike Denman and his ability to rush me a couple of shirts on very short
notice. Cor was very thankful. The pit road was then opened up to
spectators as the cars were being gridded. It was quite an experience being
able to walk between the 79 cars lined up and just minutes away from the
start of the race.
There was some interesting hardware including the new
Saleen GTS car, the Mosler GT car, two beautiful GT1 Porsches participating
in GTS, several iterations of the prototype cars, and of course the factory
GTS C5R Corvettes. While I may be a bit prejudiced, the two MARCOS Mantaras
were hands down the most aggressive, mean, purposeful looking cars on the
entire grid.
During the first hour of the race, Cor Euser, Calum Lockie
et al in the No.24 machine turned everybodys heads by passing both Corvettes
and a Porsche GT1 to take the lead in GTS. They remained firmly on the
leader board in sixth position overall for quite awhile.
At the 6.5 hour mark, they maintained second in GTS class
following closely behind the eventual class and overall race winning No.2
Ron Fellows et al (Not Earnhart!) Corvette. Total Motor Sport's website
described the Marcos effort by stating that "The Marcos has been the hero of
the race in many ways."
Trouble struck during hour 11, however, when No.24 suffered
a broken power steering pump bracket shortly after a pit stop. Subsequent
repairs put the car well back in the field. By dawn, with the rain still
falling, both Marcos were back out on the track and both were running at the
end. Car No.24 finished fourth in class and 24th overall at 94 laps down
from the race and GTS class winning No.2 Corvette. The No.25 Mantara was
fifth in class and 27th overall at 99 laps down.
While they didn't win, Team MARCOS certainly got everyone's
attention and clearly were able to maintain their own against the factory
backed class powerhouses. I'm sure this was in no small part due to the
wonderfully bright and colorful paint schemes and generous sponsorship,
emblazened across the doors of both Mantaras, of our list's own Hayes Harris
of Wire Wheel Sports Cars. If you have the opportunity to see them race in
the future, take advantage of it. Seeing the MARCOS screaming past at
nearly 200 mph is almost a religious experience.
[20010205]
News from Belgium
- Maarten Krikken reports:
We no longer have an importer as Jos Vandervoort decided to quit.
He sold his demonstrator and has stopped everything officially.
[20010102]
