Hier ein Zitat aus dem australischen Miniforum ausmini.com vom User (oder sogar Moderator) Sports850:
After various requests for pictures and info on the Sports 850 , here it is in all it's (dusty) glory , along with some reading material from Motor Sports and Automobiles from when it was released . All those with Cooper's and S's , be thankful the sports 850 was released as BMC weren't going to release the Cooper series down here as they felt it was too advanced and too expensive for our market .... All they did to make a Sports 850 was change the badges , the rocker cover (chrome with sticker) , put an extra left hand carb on a twin manifold (using "w" clips and a rod for linkage) and cut and rejoin the exhaust in front of the muffler to make it come straight out the back rather than the side (woohoo , sporty exhaust ....) . The ones form Peter Manton were given the choice of the white "flashes" front and rear as shown in the magazine scans but the ones from P and R Williams weren't . In standard trim they were a little better than a standard 850 but when they were race tunedd they were fairly impressive . Then BMC decided that there obviously was enough market for the Coopers and they killed off the Sports 850 . Most of them ended up as race cars , either track or speedway , they could be entered in most things with twin carbs and therefore could be tuned for more power than a standard mini . Not sure of exact numbers left , I know of 4 that are supposed to be genuine and one replica .
I've had the car since 1992 , bought it from the 3rd owner who was in Sydney and it came with it's full history and service books . A mate who did his apprenticeship at P and R Williams converting 850's into Sports 850's has looked through the service book and the signatures match the people working their at the time so we are 100% certain this is a genuine Sports 850 . It is mostly original and is unrestored but in roadworthy and running condition . The previous owner had removed the original seats as he thought Clubby ones were more comfortable , I've got some rears in the right material but still looking for original fronts . ALso looking for the rubber floor covering from the front as well . The motor is fairly tired but standard , plans to shortly (when the nota fang is "rolling" and shed can be re-arranged) pull motor out and redo it , warming it slightly as well . The engine bay will also be tidied up in the process . I don't want to do a full resto on it yet as I enjoy using it too much as it is but I'd like to tidy it further . Currently it's midway in my garage , between the moke and the Nota Fang so I have to get the Fang a bit more complete before I can put the sports 850 back onto club plates and use it again . I had it fully road registerred for several years and in constant use but got tired of having to watch it everywhere for people trying to steal the badges . Then it was on club plates for 2 or 3 years and then a rest for a couple of years as I moved away from where the club was .
Und ein Bild dazu hänge ich auch mal an.
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