Spaceframe Mini

Space r e e n Pio
T

Words and photogra

phy James Wenban

n, just two g si e d i in M e m a fr e oldest spac Believed to be the built, and only one survives intact. re Gomshall Minis we
d d that if he bolte rimenting foun pe d ex ul co it x, in garage the gearbo ucked away in a a strong plate to e on s rk lu mounting onto n ge ai lla m vi a a small be used as t os m assis. of the rarest and a spaceframe ch er ev ning the car is in M set about redesig e revolutionary H loon d ire has insp up, as a Super Sa made, a car that om the ground fr ge hu ed w ojects. Its a per Saloons allo countless Mini pr second of just two racer. Su acturers e from the manuf th i, ns io in at M l vi rs al de sh om e G in th scrapped the ca Tony Chamings inal design, so he ig g in or ac pl re e built by the late e, th be ue structur sign thought to en entire monocoq th d an e 1970s to a de am fr l lar stee rame Mini. it w ith the tubu e very first spacef inventor an of ght Mini-lookalik e ei ng w hi ht et lig m a g tin sit ak m Tony was so e to th ed wanted Minis. He invent over the top. He dy t bo bu , nt ay ri when it came to w isp k e a Min created as a quic e body lower, lik th lt. cu Hi-Lo, which he ffi s di hi e ere mor suspension on here the rules w g of adjusting the ed a long us n r Saloons look in sig pe de Su is ep H i. ke To see ht ig hillclimb Min af t, ng you m st the central sh ely like somethi gu va or do d A llen key to adju an to s area ly sold the right e road, w indow and he eventual omshall on th G to their or iginal e pt th ke o, be i-L to H d e th ha s ke ht Li ig d. he ed ee sp R ip so, he still manag piece of lateral dimensions. Even lf inches from the Mini was a clever case he was a ha this to take four and thinking, but in ild bu g away anything to r ca cu le ho dy s height ttin bo e rethinking the w iv tit pe so the sills have d more com below the doors, a lighter, faster an y, along w ith eared completel pp sa di Big racing Mini. low the bootlid. e when he took e rear valance be o, th to Inspiration cam ne go e ar l arches e w recked shel rts of the wheel pa to d re a close look at th fla es ny ch ng ar ter a crash. To w ith the remaini of his ow n car af th of the ng cing wheels. re ra st e e id th w e by d th r cove was impresse of t bi a ith w d ings, an gearbox mount

oper The engine is a Co , cc 93 12 to t ou d S, bore gas-flowed, ported and polished.

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Spaceframe Mini

from , e d a m d n a h is t Every par e to the fuel tank, the gear linkag car is priceless so really the

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Spaceframe Mini

Face off: which ones your money on?

Pedal power: where the magic happens.

Gearing up: every part is handmade.

Coming up with ideas, sketching them down, and maybe even fabricating a few bits and pieces is one thing. Turning these ideas into an actual car, however, takes a lot of time and money. Through one of his motorsport contacts Tony managed to get a commission to build a car for the Gomshall Motor Company in Surrey, which is why it became the Gomshall rather than the Chamings Mini. The build took 15 months, and on July 26, 1974, the car was revealed at the Racing Car Show. Fitted with an aluminium and glassfibre Clubman body the total curb weight only came to 425kg, making the car very light, with a top speed of 155mph. For a photoshoot the car was fitted with a dummy Gordon Allen Ford engine, but the finished car would be powered by a Peter Vickers-built 1293cc A-Series. Suspension was Rose-jointed and included Hi-Los (of course) with inboard Spax dampers. An inboard gear linkage was handcrafted for the car as well, and it had a fully mechanical clutch. It cost about 4000 to build, which works out to a little over

30,000 in todays money. The car was competitively raced in the Super Saloons, as well as other hillclimb and track events across the country for six years. On its first track outing at Brands Hatch, driven by Gray Street, the car had issues in practice, putting it at the back of the grid. Due to the cars unique suspension design and setup, however, while other cars were spinning their wheels off the line the Gomshall never lost grip and shot from last to third place before the first corner. In 1988 Adam Lesnenski bought the car to race in the Special GT series. Along the way the steering was customised and the engine rebuilt by Bill Richards, but in 1990 the steering failed at Lydden Hill circuit and the car crashed. It was dismantled to assess the damage, and is still waiting to be rebuilt.

Gomshall twin

While the first car belonged to someone else, Tony intended the second to be his own to race privately. When he finished it, however, he ended up selling it to his old friend Bob Kemp. Bob ran his own garage

in Kent and, like Tony, raced Minis in track and hillclimb events. When Tony created his clever adjustable suspension it was first marketed and sold through Bobs business. There was no doubt it would be a hit, but it wasnt highly appreciated, Bob says of the original Hi-Lo system. But I dont believe he should have sold the patent to Ripspeed. Sitting out of its garage is Bob Kemps pride and joy, unchanged since Tony Chamings finished building it in 1975. While the first Gomshall Mini lies in pieces in a lock-up in south London, Bobs is still running on its original Avon tyres as this car has never seen a track or even a secluded piece of tarmac. It seems Bob spent lots of time and money on his sons karting, but not so much on his own fun. That has, no doubt, helped preserve this example of such an important car, unlike its crashed twin. While Bob wont say how much he paid for the car in 1975, he is completely aware of its value. The car was a labour of love, every part handmade from the gear linkage to the fuel tank, so really the car is priceless.

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Spaceframe Mini

High or low? This original Gomshall beauty is unchanged since 1975.

External kill switch on the scuttle..

The fuel tanks filler neck.

The cabin is dominated by the thick steel tubes of the ground-breaking spaceframe.

As Bob fills the car up so we can move it for some photographs, he explains the modified and bored 1964 Cooper S 1275 engine cant run on unleaded, only Castrol racing fuel. He fires the car up and Im taken aback at how loudly it clears its 130bhp throat. It sounds more like a historic Formula One engine rather than the familiar A-Series. The Mini definitely goes, although its not so good at stopping. Bob tells me to run along with the car as its brakes dont work, and it isnt fitted with a hand brake, so I may need to act as a sleeping policeman if things get out of control. (The

car still has its original brake pads.) Keeping the car in first gear, Bob sets off filling the crisp autumn air with the smell of burnt racing fuel. He drives around the big duck pond in the middle of his amazing garden, the car bumping around on the worn and rutted concrete path, and we arrive safely at a good photo location. The warm yellow light reflects onto the white shell of the Mini and reveals the weaves of the glass-fibre. Lightness was always in Tony Chamings mind when designing the shell, so the whole body is made out of glass-fibre and the windows

are polycarbonate. We lift the front off, revealing the engine. With no inner wings the radiator has been moved to the front of engine for extra cooling, with the extra radiator for cooling the engine oil attached on top. Behind the engine is the alloy plate that attaches the gearbox casing to the space frame chassis the simple idea around which the rest of the car grew. It plays off the strength of the A-Series gearbox, which it is directly bolted to, explains Bob. It also serves as a mounting for the front suspension and steering rack, and connects

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Spaceframe Mini

To say th Mini is orie Gomshall ginal is an understate ment

Dropping a Gomshall: it sounds more like a Formula One engine than an A-Series.

TECH SPEC
BODY Fibreglass body built by Jerry Hawks using the Leyland body mould, base primer with white paint, over tubular steel spaceframe, removable front-end, polycarbonate side windows, sheetmetal floor and bulkhead, alloy plate as mounting for engine/transmission assembly, fixed via gearbox mounts.

to the spaceframe without the need for subframes. Next to this is one of the oldest examples of Hi-Lo suspension. With Patent Pending stamped onto it, this Hi-Lo kit must have been built before the patent was verified in 1970.

Thats just Chamings

While the bodys profile and mechanicals maintain the essentials of a Mini, the story changes when you get inside the car. As I drop myself into the drivers seat I find Im sitting lower and further back than in my Mini, and the steering wheel is also lower. There is no original instrument binnacle, and all the dials and switches have been mounted in a huge pod fixed to the top of the steering column. The top half of the cabin is still definitely Mini-shaped, with familiar shapes to the screen and windows, and even the top dash rail, but there is no mistaking that this is a plastic replica of the steel original. Small shapes differ, while in nooks and crannies, such as the inner

surface of the doors, the glass matting has been left visible and unpainted under the coats of clear hardener. The cabin is dominated by the thick steel tubes of that ground-breaking spaceframe, which give the car its strength and the passengers protection. Of course nearly everything has been designed and built by Tony Chamings, and then cared for by a good friend who knew exactly how much hard work went into every last detail. To say the Gomshall Mini is original is an understatement. Over the years Bob Kemp has treasured this unique piece of Mini history, wrapping it up in three layers in his garage. Some may say the car was built to be driven, but considering the only other example of Tonys genius lies in pieces, maybe its best that this car was never thrashed and crashed. Sadly, Tony passed away in late 2010. Thanks to a good friend, however, this truly historic Mini survives as a tribute to his technical genius.

ENGINE Cooper S bored out to 1293cc, gas-flowed, ported and polished, 649 camshaft, valve gear modified using Weslake parts, 45 DCOE Weber sidedraft carburettors, car tuned to run on 105 octane racing fuel, electronic ignition with competition plugs, competition radiator and electric fan, oil cooler; straight-through racing exhaust. TRANSMISSION Straight-cut gearbox with Salisbury LSD, competition clutch, lightened flywheel. SUSPENSION Based on the Formula One chassis design, by using the engine as the main structural point and not the subframes, original Hi-Lo suspension all round, all suspension parts handmade. BRAKES Two master cylinders, with inboard balance bar, brake bias is set more to the front. Front brakes: Formula Two racing discs and callipers. Rear brakes: racing aluminium drum brakes, standard brake shoes and cylinders INTERIOR Corbeau competition bucket seat, Momo steering wheel with JPS insignia, four-point harness, visible spaceframe, untrimmed GRP panels, bare metal plate for floor and bulkhead, lowered and extended steering column, sports steering wheel, dials and gauges in custom pod fixed to steering column, no provision for passengers.

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