Mini Marcos Owners Club

News Archive 2004

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7th Euregio Meeting

Despite a handful of competing events another highly successful Marcos Euregio Meeting took place in Belgium on September 11th and 12th. Based at a hotel/restaurant near the Zolder motor racing circuit, the event started off with a visit to a hand-made chocolates factory followed by dinner at the restaurant.

Our guest speaker was Terry Sanger who knew Marcos in the sixties and has been involved with motor sport in general since that time. He regaled us with a whole host of entertaining stories about the factory at Bradford-on-Avon and his exploits on circuits around the world, including the Targa Florio in Scicily and a meeting in Japan where his name was the only thing on the race documentation that was recognisable to western eyes!

On Sunday morning more cars assembled at the hotel before setting off in convoy to the Mining Museum at Beringen which was one of Belgium's last surviving coal mines. It closed in 1988. There was a street carnival taking place in the town and the museum was open to the public, with lots of entertainments, food and drink stalls. The cars were lined up in a reserved area along one edge of the main concourse whilst their drivers and passengers went on a guided tour of the vast complex, sadly now looking somewhat derelict.

We were'nt able to go down into the mine itself although we did see the pit head facilities, and part of a coal seam had been simulated in the basement of one building.

Around twenty cars took part in the weekend though not all were there at the same time. The weather was excellent when it needed to be, and there were a few showers in the evening when it didn't matter. Organiser Maarten Krikken announced that he would not be organising an Euregio Meeting in 2005 because of other committments, but he was hopeful that someone else would be holding an alternative Marcos meeting in the Benelux countries.

See our photos in Show Scene.

RP 20040914


Mini Marcos Revival?

dolly birdFollowing hard on the successes of Pete Crudgington and Ollie Howell in the Fastest Mini in the World races and Rae Davis at the 2003 Goodwood Revival Meeting, we hear that Marcos Heritage Spares (i.e. Rory McMath) is to produce a batch of Mini Marcoses for a budget one-make race series in the UK. They will be fitted out with roll cages and other safety equipment and will use sealed A-series engines.

Rae Davis and his GB Performance team hosted a sponsors' evening at the Ace Café London on 24th August, tieing in with the venue's Classic Car Night. Star of the show was Rae's Mini Marcos, recently returned from the le Mans Classic in which Rae was partnered by itv-f1's Tony Jardine. It is pictured (right) with one of those must-have 1960s accessories, the Dolly Bird.

More photos

RP 20040826


IMM News

The 2006 International Mini Meeting will be held in Poland, about 100km North-East of Warsaw. The venue is an airfield which is equipped for camping and the programme will include some driving activities. This is the first time the event has been held in a former Eastern Bloc country. Poland has now joined the EU and this will be an excellent opportunity for many members to visit the country for the first time.

The 2005 IMM will take place on May 3rd to 6th at Salou near Barcelona. The venue will be a part of a fully equipped camp site that will be partitioned off from the remaining public area. We envisage having an MMOC trip to the event so please contact Keith Rose if you are interested.

The 2004 IMM attracted 2,300 participants representing 175 clubs plus individuals.

See our IMM 2004 photos in Show Scene.

RP 20040823


Mini Marcos Wins Fastest Mini in the World at Silverstone

Pete Crudgington's "Granny Smith Racing" Mini Marcos Mk. IV won the Fastest Mini in the World title this weekend (August 7/8) at Silverstone. Driven by Ollie Howell, the car qualified in second place on the grid, won the first race by five seconds and came second in the second race.

Writing in the Mini Marcos Forum, Pete says "Ollie did an outstanding job behind the wheel. And a massive thanks goes out to every one who has helped on the past couple of months."

PC/RP 20040809


Marcos Euregio Meeting - More Details

This year, the Marcos Euregio Meeting will visit the old coal mine of Beringen in the Belgian province of Limburg. The Flemish Coalmining Museum is located in an old building of the local mine which was closed in the late 1980s. On the same day, September 12th, the Flemish Mine Day will be organised by the museum. This will create a very nice atmosphere, as there will be steet theatre, music, local crafts and the like. More than ever, the Marcos Euregio Meeting will be a day out for the whole family!

To allay concerns about combining the Marcos Euregio Meeting with such an event open to the general public, a supervised parking area will be reserved for the Marcoses close to the museum.

We will enjoy lunch at the museum and have a guided tour (in English) of the museum and the old buildings. Mining was part of almost every family's life for decades. Everybody in the region has family members who worked underground. Visiting the museum and more importantly the buildings which are only open one day a year will be more than worthwhile.

As previously announced (see below), on Saturday September 11th a visit to a local 'chocolaterie' is planned and Terry Sanger agreed to speak on Saturday evening.

As soon as more details are known, they will be posted here and also to the Marcos Mailing List.

MK/RP 20040603


Goodwood Hero Davis to Race at le Mans

Rae Davis who spectacularly trounced much more powerful and expensive machinery at last year's Goodwood Revival Meeting, is to compete in the Le Mans Classic 24 hours on July 24th and 25th. The Mini Marcos is being painted in 1966 Le Mans Mini Marcos colours for the event. We wish Rae the best of luck and I hope lots of Marcos enthusiasts will be there to support his efforts.

It was good to meet Rae at the recent Brooklands Mini Day and I learned that he has a some Mini Marcoses and Jems amongst other intersting machinery. See Rea's web site, GBperformance.com.

RP 20040405.


7th Marcos Euregio Meeting 11-12 September at Hechtel (B)

The first details of the seventh Marcos Euregio Meeting were confirmed last week. This year's meeting will take place on 11th and 12th of September 2004 in Belgium, but near to the Dutch and German border, as one should expect for a Euregio Meeting.

The culinairy experience of last year was welcomed by all enthusiasts so we have looked for another interesting visit. Belgium is best known for its fine chocolate. Anmadis, traditional manufacturer of pralines, is located in the North-Eastern village of Hechtel (Belgium) will guide us from cacao to delicious treat.

The Saturday evening will be a very full evening of slides and stories told by Terry Sanger. Terry played an important role in the development of the original Marcos 1800 and has raced all kinds of interesting cars since. Today, Terry shares his experience with novices as a track instructor at Castle Combe. Normally he has to split his tales in two evening sessions of about three hours each, so no doubt he will be very enjoyable company.

The programme of the Sunday is not yet finalised, but more information will be posted here as soon as we have it.

It is our aim to keep the participation fee at the same level of last year, which was EUR 7,50 for Saturday, EUR 15 for Sunday and EUR 20 for both days.

For more information please contact Maarten Krikken or telephone +32 11 39 25 20.


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