The last BMC Works Mini
1970 Austin Mini Clubman/Cooper S Group VI Rally Car

• Originally prepared as a Group VI rally car by the factory
• Competed in the Motoring News Rally Championship and Welsh International Rally
• Restored in 1995 by specialist Dave Gilbert
• Eight port cylinder head

Driven by Pat Moss, Paddy Hopkirk and 'Flying Finns' Rauno Aaltonen and Timo Mäkinen, the Mini Cooper developed into the most successful works rally car of the 1960s, belying its small size and apparent fragility. Its ultimate expression - the 1,275cc 'S' - had won first time out in the 1964 Tulip Rally and became the works' frontline car from 1965 onwards, winning the Monte Carlo, Circuit of Ireland, Geneva, Czech, Polish, 1,000 Lakes, Munich-Vienna-Budapest and RAC rallies outright, a quite outstanding achievement. With victories on four occasions, Aaltonen became European Champion. Today, benefiting from 40-plus years of technological advances, the Mini remains a popular choice among devotees of historic rallying at all levels.

Offered here is the last BMC Competition department Mini built. The original buff logbook supplied with the car confirms British Leyland as the first owner. This car was despatched on 15th June 1970 to British Leyland's competitions department where it was converted into a lightweight Group VI (the group for prototype and highly tuned versions of production cars) rally car with the intention to be used on the Sherry Rally in Spain in September of that year. However, sadly for 'YMO 886J' following the competition department's closure in August 1970 the Mini was sold privately before it had a chance to compete in the Spanish rally. The file contains a shot of 'YMO 886J' at the competitions department before it was shut down.

'YMO 886J' was sold and by 1971 belonged to a dentist and racing enthusiast, Malcolm Patrick of Stratford-Upon-Avon (Buff log book on file). According to our vendor the car then passed to the Forbes family of Berwickshire and was used in at least two rounds of the Motoring News Rally Championship and also in the 1971 Welsh International Rally. By 1975 the car had changed hands again and belonged to Patrick Birt in Tenby.

In the mid-1990s the car was restored by Dave Gilbert, a noted owner and restorer of works Minis. Our vendor, a BMC Mini historian and fanatic has had the privilege to talk to those who remembered the Clubman when it was new. There are many photographs of 'YMO 886J' throughout the years within the history file.

In 2006 the current owner had the car resprayed (some bills are available). In 2011 it featured with our vendor in a large feature article in Mini World. Offered from Long-term ownership, this heroic Clubman is the last BMC competition car to derive from a golden era of motorsport where "race on Sunday, sell on Monday" still very much applied. Certainly, an example for the cognoscenti, this Group VI car has a purposeful stance. Most interestingly it was fitted with a 1310 Cooper S engine, a Weslake eight-port cylinder head with twin Weber 45DOCE Carburettors. Further competition department modifications were extensive and included increased cooling, and a limited slip differential. Being Group VI specification, the car was lightened (fitted with Perspex windows, aluminium doors, boot lid and fibreglass bonnet), it also had both front and rear subframes strengthened. The car runs on Hydrolastic suspension.

The car is offered still on its original shell, and with its original engine. Included in the sale is a full set of spare Minilite wheels and some other spare parts, including the limited-slip differential and original cam shaft. Accompanying paperwork includes some history, a Heritage Certificate; the original old-style logbook; and a V5C registration document.