Mini Clubman
We discover a Belgian-built 1275 GT that has spent most of its life being delayed, from when it was sold brand new to when it needed a restoration.
A glorious Belgian-built 1275GT is restored to Lagoon Metallic perfection.
When a particular model of car has a facelift or undergoes several revisions, such as larger wheels or an increase in engine size, it is rarely a seamless process. After all, old parts need to be used up, so often there is no clear cut- off point. The 1275 GT seen here could be one such example of this blurring of lines. It was registered on 20th December 1974, but appears to have some original pre-’74 features. For instance, it has the smaller 10in diameter wheels, which were replaced in 1974 with the larger 12in items. It also has the smaller 7.5in diameter solid brake discs and two-pot calipers from the Cooper S, which were also replaced in 1974 with the larger 8.4in discs and two-pot calipers that were still being used when Mini production finished in 2000.
Judging by the car’s VIN plate, it was built before the 1275 GT was facelifted in 1974, at which point the chassis code was changed and began with XE2D2. Instead, this car has the correct pre-’74 X-AD2 digits at the beginning, which help to indicate it is a 1275 GT because D was allocated for the Cooper S and 1275 GT, and the number 2 was reserved for the Clubman bodyshell. However, the last digit for the VIN is a letter B, which signifies it was manufactured at Seneffe in Belgium. ( The letter A was for Minis built at Longbridge). So maybe the Belgian production line delayed many of the facelift features on the Clubman that were introduced to UK models in 1974, or perhaps the overseas lines were utilised to clear up any remaining stock of the older components?
However, it is not all old hat! Underneath this GT, there are two exposed gearchange rods. This feature was introduced in January 1973, replacing a solid cast housing. Also, in the boot, there’s a 6.5- gallon fuel tank – the GT’s tank was changed from a 6.5 to a 7.5- gallon unit in 1974.
This GT’s builder and former owner, Jeroen Klomp of 7Heaven Classics in the Netherlands ( www.7Heaven.
nl), has discovered other traits that suggest this Mini may be a little older than its December 1974 registration would indicate and hung around for some time before being sold. For example, the Lagoon metallic exterior paintwork (BLVC 42) was not available in 1974. Of course, all this speculation surrounding this GT’s history could be a waste of time had a previous owner simply fitted older parts, but Jeroen has meticulously checked over the car and found plenty of evidence (such as date-stamped parts) to suggest it was original when he acquired it, and remained original before he restored it. And according to the car’s documentation, it was first registered in the Netherlands and has remained there all its life, so it is less likely to have been chopped and changed.
What is indisputable is the fact that this Mini oozes many of the features of a 1275 GT, which have finally become sought after (the Cooper S long overshadowed its replacement). So when you look at the interior, there are three line- of-sight clocks, a leather bound three-spoke steering wheel and deep vinyl- covered
front seats that are designed to hold you in position under hard cornering. In the boot, there’s a board with spot-welded supports, as in the Cooper S.
Jeroen acquired this GT over 20 years ago when he sold a restored Clubman Estate and accepted it in part exchange. At the time, the GT was in need of a restoration and the previous owner had made a start. 'The years went by and the car stood and stood,' confesses Jeroen. 'It went from storage to storage, always with the thought that some day I’d fix her up.'
The abandoned GT was eventually bought by a friend of Jeroen’s, Martien van den Bouwhuijsen, and in 2008 the restoration finally began. It took four and a half years for Jeroen to complete.
First, the GT was stripped to a bare bodyshell and grit blasted to assess the extent of corrosion. Looking at the build photos, the floors and sills needed replacing, along with most of the front end, the rear valance and the doors.
'The bodywork had corroded from being stood,' Jeroen explains. 'The former owner had duct-taped over the holes, but water still got in and all the edges were corroded.'
He replaced all of the body panels himself at his 7Heaven Classics workshop at Nuland in the Dutch province of North Brabant. He used Heritage panels throughout, and took his time to get the panel fit just right – panel alignment is very important when rebuilding a bodyshell to ensure the shut-lines for the doors, bonnet and boot remain even. He wasn't helped in this task by the discovery that the GT must have had a minor rear- end
shunt at some point, because when he came to refit the brackets in the boot for the boot board, they didn’t quite line up – there was roughly an inch difference between the alignment of the welded-in brackets. Fortunately, his panel beating skills came to the rescue and he managed to re-form the boot area to realign them correctly.
Once the bodyshell had been repaired, a local bodyshop was given the job of prepping the panelwork, applying the primer and finishing off with the original Lagoon metallic paint. Having access to a professional spray booth helped with painting the inside and outside in one go, which took a full 6½ hours from start to finish.
The front and rear subframes were rescued and reused, but the rear radius arms were rebuilt and four new Monroe dampers sourced. New rubber cones were also fitted, although one of them recently had to be replaced. At the front, adjustable lower arms and tie-rods were fitted, and adjustable camber brackets were also fitted at the rear – the camber has been set to half-a- degree negative on the front and rear. The brakes were overhauled and although the GT had originally been fitted with a Lockheed remote servo, it had failed, so a new unit had to be sourced and fitted. Much of the GT’s interior was reused, although the door cards, carpets and headlining had to be replaced. (Jeroen made and fitted his own fabric headlining as he wasn’t happy with the quality of any of the kits available at the time.) The vinyl seat covers were repaired as they had cracked in places, but otherwise they were cleaned and refitted. Jeroen had hoped to be able to reuse the engine and gearbox that were fitted in the GT. However, upon stripping the engine, he discovered that the crankshaft was broken across the middle bearing. A replacement 1275cc A-series block and cylinder head were sourced, and uprated to stage two specification with a Kent MD276 camshaft and Vernier
timing gear.
The GT was finished and back on the road in September 2012, but that first replacement engine only lasted for 2500km before the filter on the end of the central oil pickup pipe fell off and was sucked into the pipe, resulting in oil starvation and engine failure. Jeroen built up a new A-series block, which was bored out to 1310cc and equipped with a Mini Sport stage three cylinder head and lots of new parts – only the gearbox from the previous engine was reused. To date, this engine has survived, although he’s planning to rebuild it towards the end of the year.
On the road, this GT feels lively thanks to the uprated A-series engine, but it still feels and sounds like a GT. The mildly uprated suspension also hasn’t lost the handling characteristics of a 1970s Mini, and the standard seats offer a noticeable amount of side support as you sink into the semi-bucket style design of the seat base. The GT at present is the cheaper successor to the Cooper S, but it’s just as much fun to drive and restore, and this one will have the history writers thinking.