Vor wenigen Tagen wurde hier im Forum ein Bild von einem Mini de Joux gepostet - und jetzt hab ich Blut geleckt.
Wer hat Infos oder Fotos von dieser absoluten Rarität?
Dieses Auto wurde von Ferris de Joux konstruiert und nur in sehr kleiner Auflage produziert. Angeblich sind heutzutage ledigleich noch drei dieser Fahrzeuge weltweit fahrbereit.
ABER: Es soll angeblich noch die Originalformen in denen das GfK Chassis gebaut wurde geben. Und irgendwo müssen die Restlichen ja auch geblieben sein, die Angaben über die Echten variieren zwischen 7 und 30 Stück, dazu kommen dann auch noch einige Replica.
Also wer Infos zu dieser Rarität hat, immer her damit.
dietmar
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http://www.geocities.com/bradbigboy/index_000008.htm
http://www.minis-auckland.org.nz/warwick%20profile.html
Ein Artikel aus dem Mini Marcos Magazin 2000
FERRIS WHEELS
The story of an unusual Mini variant from New Zealand
by Richard Porter
It's funny how one thing leads to another, and before you know it you're hurtling off down a track you'd never thought about exploring before.
Some time ago Tim Neal kindly sent me a photo of a de Joux Mini GT for the Mini Alternatives section of the web site. This attracted the attention of other web surfers from Australia and New Zealand and I soon found myself in possession of enough photos and information for this article.
Ferris de Joux was an automotive designer in Auckland, New Zealand, who had built or been involved with a number of specials and replicas including C- and D-type Jaguars, a Ferrari Special based on an F1 chassis and an MG special along the lines of a K3 Magnette which was built using parts from
a damaged car. He also worked with the McLaren development team when it was
based in New Zealand.
In the late 1960s de Joux and David Wright commenced a project based on the mechanical components of the Mini Cooper. They used the whole floor pan and bulkhead - not just the subframes - and on it mounted a very stylish and well-proportioned fibreglass GT body. This method of construction is currently used for the Paul Banham Sprint frogeye Sprite replica to avoid SVA complications.
The bodies were to be built by South Auckland Fibreglass using a specially
imported fibre gun costing £2,000. Chopper guns, which chop the glass fibre and spray it with the resin onto the inside of the mould, are widely used today for boat building and by some car builders. The result is not as strong, weight for weight, as conventional hand layup using woven rovings or matting. It also takes a great deal of skill to achieve the right
thickness consistently.
The floor pan is modified to form a rigid chassis with additional stressed panels, using a spot welding technique developed by Coopers for their Grand Prix cars (and no doubt picked up from McLarens). A new scuttle is added behind the bulkhead to increase strength. The body is then bolted or
rivetted onto the chassis. De Joux had devised his own method of mounting the body so as to avoid the distortion caused by differential expansion of the body and chassis.
Standing at 3' 7" (1.09m) the car is 9" (229mm) less than a standard Mini,but only 3" (76mm) longer. A power bulge in the bonnet achieves a smooth but low front end profile.
Parts are sourced from a number of cars: the windscreen and interior door handles are from the Austin/Morris 1100, headlamp trims and side flasher lights from the 1800, and door hinges and exterior handles from the A40
Farina. The rear window, which is fixed, is moulded perspex, and the tail lights are from the FIAT 850.
Inside, the one-piece dashboard unit is designed so that the instrument panel can be mounted for left- or right-hand drive. The bucket seats are made of fibreglass with ½" plywood bases. There is a large carpeted area
behind the two seats, with a flap to provide access to the battery, spare wheel and luggage compartments.
The pull-up windows slide in aluminium channels between fixed triangular quarter lights.
Power could be provided by any transverse A-series engine, but with wire mesh air filters to minimise height. A custom-built radiator is mounted at the front. The bonnet is fully detachable and is secured with pins and 'R' clips at the front.
Although it was envisaged that the car would be produced on a production line, it appears that in the end only about 20 bodys were produced by Kestrene Plastics Ltd. in Onehunga and marketed by Fibreglass Developments Ltd. of Auckland.
Paul Wilkinson writes "The original moulds are still in existence and bodies are still available if somebody wants one. There have also been several moulds taken off other cars, cars made from these moulds are
generally spotted by the lack of a proper moulded-in dashboard and often use a standard Mini front valance instead of a fibreglass one.
"There is a lot of speculation and misinformation about how many were built so no one can be certain but is likely that they numbered fewer than twenty.
"The orange car (see photos) was the first Mini DeJoux and was built using a Mini Cooper. It was sold to Japan a few years ago. It really is a stunning little car.
"The blue bomb is my car, which is currently under restoration. It is a car I sold almost ten years ago in good condition and bought back six months ago as a wreck! Many years ago I christened it "Penfold" after the
cartood character Danger Mouse‘s cowardly sidekick, on account of it being blue and looking like a hamster! The body has been separated from the terminally rusted Mini floorpan and a new one is currently under construction."
I gratefully acknowledge the help of Simon Ingram for providing copies of articles from Motorman (August '69 and March '70) and NZ Car, and to Paul Wilkinson for the photographs.
