Feature Articles
Back NumbersTo order back numbers of current titles please visit the magazines' web sites listed in the Links section. For space and copyright reasons we do not reproduce large feature articles here unless they are long out of print (we bend the rules a bit for small cuttings and hope it will encourage visitors to go out and buy the magazines for themselves). This section will list significant articles concerned with our club and cars that come to our attention. If you see anything that is not listed here please let us know. Auto News, October 1966“From rust to riches - Build Your Own Marcos GT” - three part series on turning a rusty Mini Van into a gleaming Mini Marcos Mk.III. It's a full blow-by-blow account including renovation of the donor parts, tools and full costings. The whole project came in at under £400, plus another £100 for a set of Minilites and SP3s. Cars and Car Conversions, August 1967“Mini Based Specials” - a review of a clutch of Mini specials. Those pictured (not all with the correct captions) are Minisprint, Maya GT, Unipower GT, Cox GTM, Mini Jem and Mini Marcos. Other names to get dropped include Minnow, Radford, Viking Hornet, Hoopers, Ogle, Fletcher GT, Camber GT and Broadspeed. Sports Car World (AYS), June 1969“A Jem of a Mini” featuring taylorspeed Jem RWW 019 See this article on Minijem Plus. Wheels (NZ), June 1969“The Thoroughly Modern Mini” - Mini Jem. Cars and Car Conversions, July 1977This issue carries an article on Ian Hall's Mini Jem racer. An adapted version can be found in MMOC Magazine number 65 (Autumn 1997). Kit Car, around 1978Robin Bye tells the story of Morten Deenfort's Mini Marcos Mk. IV, number 8081. (View) Car Mechanics, May and June 1979Two-part article by Chris Horton on stripping and preparing the donor parts, and building the Mini Marcos Mk. IV kit. Performance Car, August 1991“True Brits - Culture Shock” - Marcos Mantula Spyder road test. “True Brits - Double Image” - Robert Davies examines Marcos's identity crisis. Top Gear, May 1994“Sweet & Low” - Mini Sprint and Mini Marcos. “Top Gear” is to journalism what Jeffrey Archer is to literature. If you watch the programme you'll know what to expect, but unless you enjoy watching rubber being burned up mindlessly whilst going nowhere in particular you probably won't. Come back Tony Mason, all is forgiven! This article is a shocker. The hack concerned, Nik Berg, obviously doesn't like the Mini Marcos, and makes his feelings plain. In that case why bother to write about it? Save your vitriol for the likes of Ford and Vauxhall! Actually, from a programme that selects as its "Car of the Year" in 1999 one that is absolutely hideous when viewed from any angle inside or out, and then picks and even greater visual disaster in 2000, it comes as no surprise. Berg completely misses the point about the Mini Marcos, reviewing it as a £14,500 production car not a cheap and cheerful £3,000 kit car. The higher price is what Marcos charged the Japanese for a fully built car with brand new Mini components and air conditioning. He also missed the interesting connection between the Mini Sprint and the Mini Marcos - Rob Walker - and he can't spell Corsley anyway. Mini Magazine, January 1998“Streamliner” - Feature on David Pounder's 850cc Mini Marcos Mk. 3, DYD 661J. Excellent photography by Martin Vincent. Classic & Sportscar, April 1998“Buyers Guide - Mini Marcos” - two page feature with photos and artists' impressions. Inset item on Mark Nolan's Mk 1 racer for sale at £8,000. Fact file gives prices, checklist and club information. Also mentions Mini Jem - “infinitely prettier than its Marcos half-brother”. A good article unfortunately spoilt by factual errors. Mini Magazine, June 1998“Slippery Customer” - Feature on Owen (“Ogg”) Smith's Mk. 1/4 Mini Marcos, HFO 710, formerly Roger Garland's "DOG". Kit Car, July 1998“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed” - eight kit cars compared at Llandow Circuit in Wales, featuring Colin Hedgcock's Mk. 2 Mini Jem, Q296 JTA, aka La Crème Anglaise. Old Timer Magazine (Belgium), Augustus 1998“Op Randje van Regelmatigheid” - Article by Maarten Krikken on historic rallying in his Mk. 3 Mini Marcos. Some nice colour photos accompany the article, and there's one on the cover. Mini Magazine - November 1998“Alto Ego” - Feature on Geoffrey King's Alto Duo, Q250 GFV.
Practical Classics - December 1998“Buyers' Datafile: Mini Marcos and Mini Jem” - featuring Richard Porter's Mini Jem Mk. 2, TMJ 147K. Mini Magazine - June 2000“Fruity Fibre”: Iain Ayre features Peter Hanman's former modsports Mini
Marcos (CFH 651G) which has just been fully restored for road use.
Mini Magazine - April 2001“Plastic Surgery”: feature article on Ian Johnson's Gulf liveried Mini Marcos Mk. III, YTF 713J, by Zoe Harrison. This car which made it's debut after restoration on last year's London-Brighton Mini Run, was also featured on Mini Magazine's 2001 poster calendar. Classics - December 2001“Plastic Surgery”: (so much for originality!) Martyn Jones compares Dave Pounder's Mk. III Mini Marcos with a GTM Coupé. This issue also features other variations on the Mini theme. Which Kit? - April 2003“Classic Kits - Hamblin”: Martyn Jones tells the story of S.E. Hamblin Limited, one of the pioneers of fibreglass bodied kit cars. As Martyn explains, there is a Mini Marcos connection: “Some [Hamblin] Cadets were sold by a young Jem Marsh (of Marcos fame) through his company, Speedex Accessories, in Luton.” ... “Visitors to the company over the years would have witnessed the production of a great variety of GRP products including ... in the mid-sixties, the Mini Marcos! “Due to the success of the Mini Marcos in the 1966 Le Mans 24-hour race, increased demand for this 'pocket rocket' meant that Jem Marsh had to farm out the manufacture of the body shells to other companies. Bearing in mind their previous business relationship, Jem Marsh looked to Hamblin for help. Hamblin had the ability and the capacity to take on this work, and actually produced quite a large number of shells for Marcos.” Two of Martyn Jones's photos of Hamblin's can be found in our
picture gallery. Buy the magazine and read
the whole article which describes a fascinating slice of kit car history!
Classics - March 2004“Marcos of Respect” - feature article on Goodwood Revivial hero Rae Davis and his Mini Marcos Mk.III by Andrew Charman. Read this article on Rae's web site.
Mini World, November 2004Report of the Mini 45 Races at Silverstone, which grudgingly acknowledges Ollie Howell's victory in the "Fastest Mini In The World" races with Pete Crudgington's Mini Marcos. They seemed to be a bit upset that a 1380 5-port A-series car had beaten all the Vauxhall-engined, space-framed, twin-engined, supercharged BMW stuff, not to mention Bill Richards's Metro. Not worth the bother of scanning. See also Sport Scene. Mini Magazine, December 2004“On Your Marcos” - feature by James Ruppert on Rae Davis's Mini Marcos Mk.III with photos by David Wigmore. This one has obviously been in the can for quite a while. It refers to the car competing in the Le Mans Classic later this year when that meeting in fact took place in July. The pictures show the car carrying number 15, which it carried at the Goodwood Revival Meeting in 2003. The racing number at Le Mans was 17. Incidentally the car didn't get a respray in Gulf colours and that was not what the 1966 Le Mans car raced in anyway. But apart from curling up round the edges the article makes good reading and includes specification details and a list of supporting firms. The Daily Telegraph, 26th March 2005“The Comeback Kid” - Paul Chudecki on the relaunch of the Mini Marcos by Marcos Heritage. Which Kit Car?, February & April 2005“Early Days - History: Marcos” - In part 1 Martyn Morgan-Jones describes the marque's origins and its progress through to the late 1960s. This includes Jem Marsh's early racing and stunt driving days, Speedex and all the Marcos cars from the gullwings up to the 2.5 litre Triumph engined Mantis and Coupé. Of course, the Mini Marcos and its Le Mans success are not forgotten. Part 2 takes us through the troubles of the early 1970s, the Mini Marcos Mk. IV and V, LMs and Mantises, right up to Tony Stelliga's TS0 launched in May 2004. Which Kit Car?, May 2005“Exclusive: Back to the Future” - Martyn Morgan-Jones gets a test drive in the new Mini Marcos Mk.VI demonstrator and produces another seven-page epic extolling its virtues. As always with Martyn's articles this one is liberally sprinkled with historical information, and of course there are plenty of photos. The car is also shown on the outside and inside of the front cover, and the club gets a mention too in Club Chat. This issue is essential reading for all Mini Marcos enthusiasts. Mini Magazine, June 2005“Mini Marcos: National Treasure” - It's that man Jones again, with a somewhat more condensed version if his Which kit Car? article that's also slanted more towards the Mini enthusiast. There's the potted history with some pictures that might look familiar to visitors to this site, plus the ubiquitous Rae Davis in his white and blue bombshell, then a three-page review of the Heritage Mk.VI with pictures by Andy Snell. Kit Car Magazine, July 2005”Power Struggle” - Robert Hawkins compares the front wheel drive Mini Marcos with the rear wheel drive RAW (née Sylva) Striker, with our own Pete Crudgington at the wheel of Granny Smith and the Striker demonstrator. Verdict - Pete's Mini Marcos represents about as far as you can go with FWD whereas the Striker was set up to provide safe handling characteristics for a novice driver and has a lot of potential for development particularly in the suspension department.
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Kit Car Magazine,
October 2005
Mini World,
November 2005
Kit Car Magazine, November 2006
Complete Kitcar, February 2010
Last updated 27th December, 2011