I have to admit I wasn’t too sure what to expect because, to be quite honest, I had never before seen a Mini Jem. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised when I spotted this superbly restored example sitting in the pits at Taupo Motorsport Park.
Before we got started talking about the Jem, I had a wonderful conversation with Tim and Lis about their other Minis, and it didn’t take too long before I realised that this couple is deadly passionate about all things related to the marque. Between them they own five Minis (down from seven), including a 1966 Austin Cooper 998 – nicknamed ‘Tacious’ –which Tim has owned since he was 15 years old, for about thirty-three years.
Lis owns DC6, the former British Embassy’s Mini, which she had stripped and rebuilt 10 years ago by Laurie and Tony Axcell. Lis’ Mini sports a 1275cc engine and brakes, plus an interior from an MG Metro. The car was originally black and was nicknamed ‘Darth’ but, during its eventual restoration and after she decided to repaint the car in Knightfire Red, her Mini was renamed ‘Anakin’ – yes, she’s a science fiction fan!
Also included in their collection is a 2000 Rover Cooper S Works Touring Mini (nicknamed ‘Maggie’), which Tim and Lis purchased new in the UK directly from Cooper. From there they were fortunate enough to participate in the Italian Job Rally that year before touring the UK, Ireland and parts of Europe, and shipping Maggie home to New Zealand in 2001. Then, of course, there’s the Jem and a low mileage 1966 Austin 850 called ‘Donna’ to round off the collection.
Motor Sport Enthusiasm
Tim and Lis moved to the Manawatu on their return from Europe to be closer to the things in life they value most – motor sport, and good friends Laurie and Tony Axcell (and their partners). Tim believes Laurie and Tony are the best Mini men in the country when it comes to restoration and race preparation. The Mini Racing Drivers’ trophy for most reliable car of the season is, appropriately enough, called the Axcell trophy.
As an indication of their enthusiasm for motor sport, Tim and Lis were volunteers at racing events for many years, including at the MG Whittaker’s race meeting for nearly 10 years with Lis as timekeeper and Tim as the pit guy, on hand to help sort things out for entrants. Tim was also involved with the Wellington street race and was a leading voice behind the Save Our Street Race Campaign – an effort that worked for one year until sponsorship funds dried up.
Tim admits to having a bit of a laugh these days to see council members of that period who were once so against the street race, trying to get on the bandwagon as they attempted to promote Wellington as a venue for the Aussie V8 Supercar street race which, of course, ended up in Hamilton.
Now living in the best of both worlds, Tim and Lis reside, quite literally, right next door to Manfeild on a 15-hectare block of land, which they organically farm. Tim also runs a small catering business called the Potato Guy, and Lis crunches numbers for a local waste disposal company.
Little Jem
Tim and Lis discovered this little Jem – a Fellpoint MkII car – 15 years ago, behind a shed in Karori in Wellington with a tarp over it. At that time they couldn’t afford to do much more than buy the shell and some parts, and put it into storage. So for 10 years the most the car did was get trailered from lock-up to lock-up.
Alex McDonald of Almac Cars in the Hutt Valley carried out some remedial repair work to the car’s nose cone before the money ran out again, and a decision was made to return the Jem to long term storage.
The car remained undercover until around six years ago when Laurie Axcell took over the project, using his knowledge and skills to not only project manage the restoration, but to source trades people with the necessary skills to finish the car to the highest standard possible. Work began by stripping the fibreglass shell, removing the floor and making a new one – the original being badly cracked. After that, the entire shell was blasted with baking soda so as to keep the original gel coat in good repair. This work was undertaken by Darryl at Supreme Sandblasters. It then went back to RMH Fibreglass to repair fine surface cracking and get a general tidy up.
The next task was to remove the inner sills and take out the 50mm by 25mm timber, which was originally used on these cars. Tim is amazed to think that the manufacturers believed wood wrapped in a sheet of glass-fibre would actually do the job. Tim at Octane engineering fitted a full roll-cage – probably best described as a space-frame built inside the shell – before the bodywork was completed and painted by Roydon, formerly the owner of Advance Panelbeaters, a rare breed of man who actually enjoys breathing in fibreglass dust, according to Tim.
Still under the watchful eye of project manager Laurie Axcell, the next items on the agenda were the engine and gearbox. All machining on the 1380cc powerplant was carried out by Lynn Rogers and Motor Machinists in Manawatu. The unit was fitted with Omega forged pistons, a Lynn R special crank, and a mild street cam for added performance. What with the limited space, the interior proved to be a tricky exercise and specially made seats were made by Dave Black of Race Tech. Standard seats fitted, but the wings hung out of the back window – which wasn’t the look that anyone, particularly Tim, would have gone for.
Because the interior was so narrow, Dave Black started with a jet sprint seat base and grafted on FIA-specification backs with the head wings shortened to suit. Ross Pickworth from Auto Marine Interiors in Foxton carried out the dash and interior upholstering.
Writing the Cheques
Tim reckons he’d like to take credit for the finished car but knows that all the accolades must go to Laurie, as Tim basically just wrote the cheques. Often Laurie would say to Tim ‘would you like to do this or that thing?’ and Tim would just look back at him and say, “Pretend it’s your car and money didn’t matter to what would you do.” And that’s exactly how Laurie handled the restoration. The detail he has achieved in simple things like the hand-made cowling around the front-mounted radiator is amazing – not to mention the hand-fabricated exhaust and manifolds. In Tim’s mind, Laurie would have to be one of the finest restorers of anything Mini in the country, and he cannot express his appreciation enough for a fantastic job.
The goal was not to build a concours car, because Tim reckons a component car could never be that, but to try and build a ’60s-style classic British race car. Mission accomplished, I reckon.
Tim would also like to thank the following people for their part in this fine restoration – Laurie Axcell, project manager and spanner man; Roydon Crossland, body and paint; Supreme Blasting, which stripped the old paintwork by blasting with baking soda; Motormachinist, Palmerston North for prepping the block; Lynn Rogers for his skilled work on the crank and other engine components; Ross Pickworth of Auto Marine interiors in Foxton for the leather dash and hood linings; R&H Fibreglass in Palmerston North, which did a lot of structural repair work to the fibreglass; Tim at Octane Automotive for the roll cage; Ewan from Fielding for the cylinder head; Neil Allport, who sourced the Minilite-style alloy wheels; and last but not least, his partner Lis, who let him loose with the cheque book. Now that’s commitment!
Words: Ashley Webb, Photos: Dan Wakelin
For more photos and full specifications, visit the Classic Car website.