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DDolfelin
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A nice bit of nostalgia - Abbey Road Studios car park in August 1969, the Mini in the background is Macca's 1965 Radford Cooper S which now belongs to F1 chappie Christian Horner and his other half Gerri Halliwell....

 

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The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III and the Bentley are very likely owned by the group's company Apple Corps.

 

 

Edited by Rugd1022
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36 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Didn't Ringo Starr have a Radford converted Mini with a hatchback to get his drums in at one time? 

 

 

Yes but it wasn't a Radford, the hatchback conversion was down by Hoopers of London.... I took this (awful!) pic of it at a Mini show at Coombe Abbey back in 1994, in the early '90s it was restored and partially deseamed by Nailor Brothers Garage....

 

44708824_RINGOFABSRINGOZ5ScannedImage-5.jpg.664c34b4c3d592c527b9b7bfd86379ce.jpg

 

When Ringo owned it was metallic red all over and has since been restored to (almost) that condition....

 

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I had a good look at it at the Goodwood Revival in 2019....

 

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DSCF6206.JPG.35ba646ad954f8ae644fe28cd52a77f3.JPG

 

 

 

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Thanks, I remember seeing a picture of it in a classic car mag years ago. The VW Beetle rear lights suit it. Not sure about the deseaming job though.

 

When I think of Hoopers, I think of this monster.

 

48_Daimler-DE-36_DV-11-AI_05.jpg.0b832b0e25f56b1baae4a947b6795cd4.jpg

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A quick run down of the other three Beatles' Minis -

 

John - late 1965 Austin Cooper 1275S converted by Radford and registered 'LGF 696D' on 8th February 1966, finished in black with the Austin bonnet badge painted red, black Shadolite glass all round, black painted bumpers, black interior, electric windows, Webasto sunroof, Benelite spotlamp grille, Aston Martin DB4 / 5 rear light conversion, riding on Mk1 Cosmic alloy wheels....

 

619178602_JohnLennonsMini1.jpg.6787152e67859fffa6dae66786e9255b.jpg

 

831009767_JohnLennonsMini3a.jpg.b384dc9d32f74a86df5ab262ee9f1d16.jpg

 

At some point in earlyish 1968 he had sent back to Radford for a complete repaint into two tone cream over green with a hatchback conversion.... there is no trace of it after 1968, rumours about its fate are that it was stolen and written off or given to his housekeeper who crashed it and wrote it off....

 

28645601_FABSJohnLennonsRadfordMinideVilleqq.png.f47ab81441f48114800a75099d1c6662.png

 

Paul - 1965 Austin Cooper 1275S converted by Radford registered 'GGJ 382C' in late 1965, finished in Aston Martin California Sage Green, black leather interior, electric windows, Webasto sunroof, Benelite spotlamp grille, Aston Martin DB4 / 5 rear light conversion, riding on Mk1 Cosmic alloy wheels, in January 1967 it was involved in a very serious accident and was sent back to Radfords to be completely rebuilt using a brand new Mk1 Cooper S shell, it is now owned by Christian Horner and Gerri Halliwell as per Ringo's car....

 

649134066_FABSMcCartney.jpg.e3e8a43943a1134a9db49cc8810e2323.jpg

 

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George - late 1965 Austin Cooper S 1275S converted by Radford and registered 'LGF 695D' on 8th February 1966, the same day as John's Radford, finished in black with black glass all round, black leather interior, a specially modified bonnet with spotlamps built in, electric windows, Webasto sunroof, horizontal VW Beetle rear light conversion, ridsing on Mk1 Cosmic alloy wheels....

 

1789708253_FABSGHRadford1965HammersmithW6.jpg.eb23496a246b04d51c64bb4287fed9fc.jpg

 

1866377950_FABSGHRADFORDCHISWICKNOUSE2005661966_zpspr4bq4vm.jpg.065f562dc0b811cc6de7d1328f5ce604.jpg

 

In the late Spring / early Summer of 1967 he had it completely repainted in psychedelic fashion using images taken from the Tibetan Book Of The Dead, it was also fitted with bespoke bumpers and most of the external brightwork was painted gold, in September of that year it appeared in the Magical Mystery Tour film and at some point in late 1968 he sold it to his chum Eric Clapton, a few years later he bought it back and c.2007 he had it restored at which point some of the psychedelic imagery was changed slightly and a set of gold Minilite alloys....

 

749388212_GHa114a3.jpg.b25ceb94ba0febc55070c14ac2ea49f6.jpg

 

1919750422_GeorgesRadfordCooperSatKinfauns1967b.jpg.c94c598ede4519a71a262a50fbb98f9a.jpg

 

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At Goodwood in 2019 in restored condition....

 

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Edited by Rugd1022
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2 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

 

Yes but it wasn't a Radford, the hatchback conversion was down by Hoopers of London.... I took this (awful!) pic of it at a Mini show at Coombe Abbey back in 1994, in the early '90s it was restored and partially deseamed by Nailor Brothers Garage....

 

44708824_RINGOFABSRINGOZ5ScannedImage-5.jpg.664c34b4c3d592c527b9b7bfd86379ce.jpg

 

When Ringo owned it was metallic red all over and has since been restored to (almost) that condition....

 

georgemini.JPG.0306c45d1a4ad80faca46dad0811000c.JPG

 

I had a good look at it at the Goodwood Revival in 2019....

 

1121827597_RINGOHOOPERGWDSCF6184.jpg.b390db9f0b77f678df61ad6e2aa9cf60.jpg

 

DSCF5885.jpg.38d32493245942a5026b315e16a31b67.jpg

 

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I’ll forgive most things…..but not those rear lamps……must be down to 60’s special intake of substances not sold at the Co-Op 

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44 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

I’ll forgive most things…..but not those rear lamps……must be down to 60’s special intake of substances not sold at the Co-Op 

 

The VW lights look alright, they're much neater than the MK3 and 80s Minis.

I'd agree with you about the Aston Martin lights as probably the bill said Aston Martin lights, but they were also fitted to Vauxhall cars up to 1961, various Rovers, buses, ice cream vans etc etc.

They have a nasty habit of falling off, filling up with rain and either shorting out or rusting away merrily inside the rubber gasket.

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1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

I’ll forgive most things…..but not those rear lamps……must be down to 60’s special intake of substances not sold at the Co-Op 

 

Those rear lights on the green on look like the status lights on radio control 08s!

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In those days firms like Radford would carry out any modification you asked for and could afford, I'd say compared to some cars of the period the Fabs Minis are fairly restrained. A fully loaded Radford Cooper S could have cost three to four grand on top of the purchase price of the Cooper, which in 1965 was £777 18s 4d....

 

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Beatle George bought another Radford Mini ('GUU 707C') in bright orange with matching Mk1 Cosmic alloys for his wife Patti....

 

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He used it himself occasionally, as seen in these two shots taken at Abbey Road....

 

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13 hours ago, russ p said:

 

Those rear lights on the green on look like the status lights on radio control 08s!

Haha true……I still think on the rear of the classic Mini a vertical stacked lamp blends, where as the horizontal lamp looks like it’s been squeezed in to fit, just wrong to my eye and doesn’t flow the vertical cue lines of the design.

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I had a new L reg 214SLi as a loaner car after a non fault collision. I was surprised how quick it was to be honest. Within ten years they seemed to be all gone though. If I remember right, the black box on the left hand inner wing would go bang, a new one was over £600 and of course it was always missing from every car in the scrapyard.

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19 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

I had a new L reg 214SLi as a loaner car after a non fault collision. I was surprised how quick it was to be honest. Within ten years they seemed to be all gone though. If I remember right, the black box on the left hand inner wing would go bang, a new one was over £600 and of course it was always missing from every car in the scrapyard.

I bought a K-reg 214SLi about 15 years ago and I think ran it for about 3 years and 30k miles; bought for £600 and sold for £400.  It blew it's radiator (after plenty of warning) but did no lasting damage and was otherwise reliable and a doddle to maintain.  It didn't like really damp mornings, eventually traced to a main HT lead with poor insulation, and ran perfectly afterwards.

These were the cars that really showed what Rover could do in terms of build quality; the interior was built from good materials and lasted well.  They certainly appeared plusher than their Escort or Astra equivalents.

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1 hour ago, Rugd1022 said:

In the Car Park at Crewe Diesel last night, it's there quite often, haven't seen another anywhere for years and my Dad had two of them in the '90s....

 

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bit slow there nidge, I photted it a couple of months back and put a picccie up in the ‘modern classics’ thread 

 

unsurprisingly being a rover it’s someone @russ p knows! 
 

 

Edited by big jim
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43 minutes ago, big jim said:


bit slow there nidge, I photted it a couple of months back and put a picccie up in the ‘modern classics’ thread 

 

unsurprisingly being a rover it’s someone @russ p knows! 
 

 

 

I've got pictures of that with my collection outside our house 

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50 minutes ago, big jim said:

 @russ p 

 

 

 

Should really be in modern classics thread, but as we are talking rovers. Car show at East Kirkby last Saturdays.  First one I've been in for ages 

20210703_163749.jpg

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2 hours ago, big jim said:


bit slow there nidge, I photted it a couple of months back and put a picccie up in the ‘modern classics’ thread 

 

unsurprisingly being a rover it’s someone @russ p knows! 
 

 

 

Sorry Jim I missed that!

 

Off to pick up all the spares for the Maser tomorrow ;)

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1 hour ago, Rugd1022 said:

 

Sorry Jim I missed that!

 

Off to pick up all the spares for the Maser tomorrow ;)


So you might just be able to get home then changing bits as you go along 

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12 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Just what I like to see - solidarity among men at the front. 

We have to take the piddle out of each other, Heaven knows we cannot of the fairer sex :wacko:

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7 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

We have to take the piddle out of each other, Heaven knows we cannot of the fairer sex :wacko:

 I've tried....many times.....and survived 3 divorces, and heaven knows how many assassination attempts....

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7 minutes ago, alastairq said:

 I've tried....many times.....and survived 3 divorces, and heaven knows how many assassination attempts....

You got lucky……..punk*……:lol:

 

 

* reference Clint Eastwood….for those who thought I was just being rude ;)

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Back home with all the Maser spares and a very nice bonus in the shape of the old dealership sign from Trinity Maserati of Hinckley, it needs a clean up and a small repair but it'll take pride of place on the garage wall. Some of the spares will be surplus to my needs, but I'll clean them up and sell them on one of the Biturbo facebook groups, so at least someone else can get some use out of them.

 

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Amongst all the bits are a pair of fuel filler flaps with slightly different sized trident badges, the small one is chromed metal fixed on with small bolts from behind, while the larger one (the same as the one on my car) is plastic....

 

IMG_0551.JPG.0e47b3c5202151a2d595bb6ca635a9e6.JPG

 

The spare bootlid is a real bonus as it's in very good nick overall, there's a chip or two in the fibreglass spoiler but I've decided to get the whole thing sorted and resprayed at some point and swap them over. The indentation for the trident badge on the spare lid is lower than the one that's already on the car, the higher position of which means the spoiler covers the top part of the badge - another Italian foible no doubt.

 

I definitely need a bigger garage.... :biggrin_mini2:

Edited by Rugd1022
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