The “100mph Pair of Shades”: Wood & Pickett Margrave Mini Cooper S

No sooner had we written about the cars favoured by The Beatles, including John Lennon’s particular preference for Wood & Pickett Minis, than one comes up for auction at Barons’ Yuletide Classic sale at Sandown Park on 18 December. And not just any one, either...

This might not be the exact Mini that Lennon once owned, but it’s only one step removed. This is the unique 1969 Wood & Pickett Margrave Mini Cooper S (note the S: it’s believed to be the only one that Wood & Pickett ever built) that was bought three times by the same person – John Hammel, long-time guitar technician to Paul McCartney, among others. Imagine the rock musicians who must have travelled in its leather interior: Steve Marriott (of Small Faces and Humble Pie fame) is just one that we know about, and he was so impressed that he described the Mini as “a 100mph pair of shades”. 

But even he did not have quite the affection for the little Mini that John Hammel had. Having first acquired the car in 1973, he sold it a few years later to Denny Lane (of Moody Blues and Wings), but after just eight months bought it back. In the early 1990s he sold the car again, but asked the buyer to give him first refusal should he ever decide to sell; and bingo, a few years later Hammel bought the Mini back for a second time.


According to Barons, the car has since been the subject of a full nut-and-bolt rebuild and is in “quite superb” condition, carrying a not-unreasonable estimate of £27,500-£35,000. Just make sure you still have enough cash left over for a Les Paul guitar and a pair of flares. And remember… only six careful owners; three of them the same man.

Text: Charis Whitcombe
Photos: Courtesy of Mini World magazine

Charade news

Le  circuit historique situé près de Clermont-Ferrand a évité la fermeture définitive grâce à la mobilisation de nombreux fans et enthousiastes.

Il y a un an, Octane rapportait la menace de fermeture qui pesait sur le circuit de Charade. Officiellement, le problème émanait des nuisances sonores dont un collectif de riverains s’était plaint. Officieusement, la spéculation immobilière faisant grimper la valeur des terres aurait attiré l’appétit de quelques promoteurs. Ces gens étaient encouragés dans leur action par des années de gestion désastreuse du site qui semblait alors sérieusement sur le déclin. Ils n’avaient pas anticipé en revanche le formidable élan de solidarité au niveau national que leur action allait provoquer, avec la création d’ « Agissons pour Charade ».

Résultat de cette mobilisation, l’Automobile Club d’Auvergne, sous l’égide de sa fédération locale, a pris en main la gestion du site et a plaidé pour l’amélioration des équipements. Le problème sonore semble avoir été résolu par un usage plus restrictif du circuit. En 2013, Charade n’accueillera que trois compétitions : deux épreuves du championnat historique en Mai et Septembre, et un grand Prix de camions de course en Juillet.

Les trophées historiques du 29 et 30 Septembre 2012 ont rassemblés 230 concurrents et l’on a pu observer quelques autos impressionnantes. Le groupe 1 voyait s’affronter des BMW 635 contre des Camaro, entourées d’Alfa, Golf, Simca et même une Volvo 122S. Le challenge Asavé a donné lieu à une compétition fantastique entre la 911 SC de Patrick Andréoli et l’Escort MK1 de Claude Boissy alors que de Mini et des Alpines se tiraient la bourre derrière.

Ouvert en 1958, Charade accueilli le Grand Prix de France de F1 quatre fois avant que ce dernier ne choisisse d’autres circuits au tracé plus synthétique. Dans les années 80 la coupure du tracé de 8 à 4 km lui redonné un peu d’élan.
Charade est vraiment un superbe circuit avec un dénivelé important et une ligne droite principale terminant en épingle particulièrement intéressante.

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Spencer Evo: Action muscling in with a one-​​off

Written by Gary Inman for http://www.influx.co.uk

The Spencer Evo XR1157R is a pure muscle bike. It is tense. Taut. Gym-​​honed to the point it could star alongside Jason Statham. It is, as a friend of mine used to say, very light on its wheels. Like it’s gently bouncing, Bruce Lee-​​style, on the balls of its feet, ready to round­house a lightning-​​quick kick to crack some unsus­pecting goon’s jaw with a collection of titanium metatarsals wrapped in a espadrille.

Flick the ignition switch (nothing as ‘street bike’ as a key on this beast) and watch the World Superbike/​ WRC-​​spec MoTeC dash – that alone cost more than my last three bikes combined – scroll the message ‘Hello Freddie’. This is, after all, the evolution of the bike a young Spencer raced in the USA. Huge slide carbs, not prolet­ariat CVs, are primed with a couple of twists of the quick-​​action throttle. They snap shut like Madame Guillotine.

Press a discreet button and a tiny lithium ion battery girds its loins to turn over the 1157cc inline-​​four. When it ignites, birds fall from the trees. The exhaust, as stunning as any I’ve seen on a motor­cycle, was made to the owner’s specific­ation by Racefit of Darley Dale, Derbyshire. It’s tailpipe angle is too steep for my tastes, but it is worshipped as a symbol of fertility on an island in the Indian Ocean. And its sounds is like an echo of Krakatoa.

I swing a leg over the low seat, put a foot on a high peg and click into gear. I love these engines, I always thought they had the best gearboxes in the business too. Some see inline-​​fours as the soulless heart of UJM – Universal Japanese Motorcycle, but to me they’re the lead instrument in the orchestra that plays every summer Sunday’s concerto, The Bypass Howl.

Though this is from a Suzuki GSF1200 Bandit, it’s really an oil-​​cooled GSX-​​R1100 motor, and they were the engines that democratised real speed, 160mph speed, for the working man. They have a sumo’s flab roll of torque from tickover and things keep happening till 11,000rpm. I change at 6K, in the middle of the torque curve, short-​​shifting, clutchless, moving my wrist just five degrees, back and forth. A hundred comes in a blink. Everything is composed. The sound of the exhaust is left behind.

The first thing that is apparent about this labour of love, this hyper-​​exclusive collection of parts, the cherry-​​picked finest components from around the world, is how much it feels like a standard bike. This, bizarrely, is just about the highest compliment I could lay on it. It is an exotic special, but no one really wants to ride an exotic special. They’re a ball-​​ache. They over-​​fuel, they’re too high-​​geared, they have no low down go and barely any steering lock. This thing is civilised. Not boring, but neither is it memorable for the wrong reasons. It is a brutal, if somewhat dated, inline four with a power-​​to-​​weight ratio supercars can only dream of.

‘As long as it handles as well as a standard Bandit,’ was the modest aspir­ation of the owner, but he’s been in the special-​​building game long enough to know how difficult that is for a bike created from nothing but thin air. When it comes to riding unfamiliar bikes fast I’m more Frank Spencer than Freddie, but I know when a bike feels right, well put together, set up to ride, not sit on a show stand and pout. This bike made more of an impression on me than any other because on paper it was so extreme, but on the road had real civility. Then the owner jumped on it, stuck it on its back wheel, toed the gear lever, and wheelied up to fourth gear then allowed the front wheel to drop with a screech and a puff of grey smoke. Yes, it’ll do that too.

MARIA DUCATI 750 SS

Portugal, crippled by the GFC, is not a good place to conduct business at the moment. But nobody told the Lisbon-based custom workshop Maria Motorcycles, which is turning out some very sharp bikes indeed. Like this latest build, a 1994 Ducati 750SS called “Italian Sniper”.

According to Maria’s main man, Luis Correia, working with a modern style of bike was a challenge. But he relished the idea of turning it into a smaller and more aggressive machine, and giving it a distinct personality—“a simple look, almost like a classic street racer.”

The biggest change is the more powerful engine, which is from a 900 SS. It’s torquey, with 80 hp and plenty of low-down grunt compared to most sportbikes. Maria overhauled and repainted the motor, polished the covers, and cut the clutch cover in half to partially reveal the interior.

Maria then shortened and simplified the lines of the standard 750SS tank, to better fit the lines of the frame. The wiring was completely revised, and fitted into a box under the tank. The rear subframe was shortened, and despite the single seat, it’s possible to transport a passenger after removing the rear fiberglass section.

Adding to the aggressive look are a Firetrap exhaust system and Avon dual-sport tires—with Brooks leather tape on the grips adding a touch of class to the thuggishness.

Head over to Maria Motorcycles’ Facebook page to follow their works in progress—a website is coming soon.