Mink

[Barry]

Rare opportunity to own the Prototype MINK with Lambretta SX200 engine.
The present owner is open to offers about £20,000+
For further details PM me & I'll forward his details.

Not me!  Me being Ian Frankland on Facebook - Bubbles, Micros and scoots.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000619640860

https://www.facebook.com/groups/181148538580472/

[Bob Purton]

I have always thought this was a fab car. I hope it goes to a good home, preferably in the UK so I will get to see it again.

[richard]

agreed but why was the wheelbase so much shorter than the car ? it always looked unbalanced to me as if it would tip forward on braking . love the lines though , obviously Tourette and Bruetsch like but doesn't quite manage to look as nice as either . i would love to have a spin in it , but perhaps frightened to have a turn .

[Bob Purton]

Yes it has a tremendous overhang doesn't it.

[steven mandell]

A proboscis to be proud of.
To my eye,  from the viewpoint of silly extremes, it out Tourettes the Tourette, and is in a league of its own against the Bruetsch.
With a 200 c.c. ported Lambretta engine in it, Richard, your turn could well result in a spin, or rollover if pushed beyond the limits of its short wheelbase.

[richard]

Much rather have a Rollera or Avolette surely ?

[steven mandell]

Which of these were pronounced unfit for the road as a result of a successful suit against its designer?

[richard]

NEITHER !! you may be very confused . there was certainly an issue over Herr Bruetsch's earlier design , the Spatz which had been sold to others to build and was unroadworthy . The later cars were quite different with no such issues

[steven mandell]

Finding it difficult to imagine the quarter pint sized Rollera being more road worthy than a Spatz.
I think the only reason that they may have been granted exemption from prosecution is that no one in their right mind would actually expect to use them in a normal manner on public roads for regular use in the first place.
From what I hear, it was common for these to have been given over to children to be used as toys, and in at least one case be turned over for long term sand box use!

[richard]

well in one case of obviously a buyer from Bruces first auction having more money than sense but not sure about common . i don't really know how useful the rollera is but they do look the part !

[steven mandell]

The part of a micro choo choo in a sandbox.

[Big Al]

Rarer and more desirable then either Tourette and Breutsch? The engine brings into Lambretta collect-ability which neither of the others offer. Obscure history as it is not part of the official British market Lambretta organization, as far as can be known. Peter Agg knew nothing of it and held the British rights. Part of those rights excluded the use of the engines in other vehicles. If he could have used the Lambretta engines then things like the Tro Bike would have had Lambretta engines, not Clinton. This is a latish machine as it uses the SX200 unit. So what is its history? Why was it built and for what market?
The method of sale is an option for someone to collect a bargain. Most of these rarities go to expensive to enter auctions now, where just to look cost £100's. Pity I have no budget.

On to Tourettes. A complete Tourette Villiers engine drive unit would seem to have come up. The numbering info with it gives Progress as the manufacturer receiving the unit. Got to be a Tourette has it not? Thoughts of a ID based rebuild are already being discussed as its nearer than anything else thats turned up to another genuine example for yonks.

[Bob Purton]

" Got to be a Tourette has it not"

No Al. Its far more likely to be from a Progress Britannia scooter that used that same motor, I'm pretty confident in saying a lot more of those were ever made than the car.


ps Welcome back Al!

[Rusty Chrome (Malcolm Parker)]

A snippet from a report on the NMCR in 1983 (where the Mink first seems to have first appeared) - It dates from 1968 and it is believed the makers were based in Chesham and that the Minx was intended for export to Bermuda. Handling over 40mph is described by the owner as "distinctly odd".

[marcus]

Over 40 mph seems an unlikely event but if so I would expect it to be extremely "odd"! Nice looking though, rare and historically interesting. Hope it stays in UK, goes to events where I see it and have a drive in it, but perhaps not on main roads!