VAHRYOUS THOUGHTS
This year marks the 60TH birthday of the BMC Mini. Of course, you may ask ‘why am I mentioning Minis in a 4WD mag?’ Do so though and I have a ready answer in the fact that the Mini’s truly breakthrough design inspired the rapid change to front- drive cars and the now ubiquitous mostly transverse-engined 2 & 4WD SUVs you may well be driving today.
And, even though the wee cars sat on tiny 10-inch (yes, a hand-span is eight-inch) wheels with cross-ply tyres the width of a closed hand and ground clearance of the same 10cm under the sump (that also held the gearbox) they were surprisingly competent off-road!
In the mid ‘ 60s 1275cc MiniCoopers absolutely cleaned up the Monte Carlo rally and took the rally scene apart.
OK, that wasn’t really off-road as we know it but the Monte’ was truly mountainous and run in Europe’s winter with lots of snow and ice and hairpin bends.
Minis were conceived to get tiny German bubble cars off Britain’s roads. It worked.
They had to be small, light, economical, cheap, and seat four. To maximise space the cast-iron engine sat sideways ahead of the front axle meaning that, even though the battery and fuel tank were in the boot the car was front heavy. This gave excellent traction at the expense of under-steer when pushed hard.
Tractors, trucks and conventional old cars were my early driving tuition. I quickly learned how to drive off-road as well as on and also how to dig, jack or tow them out of mud and soft shingle, myself being an explorer from birth. One fun day at a car-club grasskhana most of our cars had trouble even moving it was so wet. On that soggy rolling paddock we were trashed by a few Minis.
Next week I bought one – a 1960, 850cc. It transformed my motoring. It got easily stuck but was as easily extracted as long as you could get a jack under it. A resident shovel, wood blocks and a tow rope were essential. I soon became very good at gymkhanas, winning many. Handbrake turns and ‘Hopkirks’ were a buzz. Boy-racers? You bet.
Minis almost never lif t front wheels. Even if the car is bellied on a hump. But they’ll wave a rear wheel in the air anytime. So long as the sump is clear they have traction.
You can change a rear wheel without a jack by backing its opposite up a bank. Rutty offroad sections mean you must ‘ride the ruts’ so dodge from side to side looking always for altitude ( requires attitude).
Around this time I built an offroader out of a VW Kombi. It was minimal and on aircraft tyres and won many mud-plugs before it fell apart. So much for my learner welding!
I still had the Mini which by then had two spare wheels shod with handmade tractor tread tyres. These were taller which improved clearance and were awesome on shingle or muddy back-roads. Understeer vanished. One dryish mud-plug I ran the Mini and got third against RWD vehicles fitted with chains. Sadly, I don’t own a Mini currently...
Recently I took a friend to the mountains. Just a sightseeing trip by conventional front-drive sedan as we’d be mostly on highway and occasionally shingle. This it was, and very pleasant too, apart from some heavily corrugated bits. Views were good, there was ice on some ponds and snow about.
We discovered a new track, that transpired to be a stop-bank with a good wide top. Couldn’t pass that up! It was new and flat and good going for about half a km where it got rougher, muddier and had bigger stones. I knew my front tyres were quite worn and not good in mud. It was too far to risk dodging rocks going backward, and I doubted we’d manage a U-turn without getting stuck so pushed on, fingers crossed.
It worsened, I got worried.
The car was riding rougher with more noise. I wondered if a shocky had come loose but daren’t stop to check. My passenger commented about the ride deterioration. I figured we had to be over halfway and it would probably be open ended so kept on. I was right, we soon reached a good road and stopped for inspection. Left rear tyre was dead flat. Damn!
Changed wheel, all was well again. Next day to the tyre shop – tyre is split, rim is much dented! Modern crap, steel too thin, sidewalls too thin. OK, two new tyres on front, chase around for a wheel, other best tyres on rear. $ 300 later it’s all go, an expensive trip! The Gypsy Rover, resting at home, was grinning from ear to ear!
Back to the top? My next vehicle after the Mini was a 4WD...
Check out the tyres in the photo and you will no doubt work out why!