Brief History

Registered in March 1962, this BMC works rally car was the first car used by the then newcomers Rauno Altonen, and Timo Makinen (the original Flying Finn) in the restructured BMC Competitions Team under Stuart Turner. Turner was to push the development of the recently released Mini Cooper, and 407 ARX was driven by Timo with a 997 engine to a Touring class win in the 1962 RAC Rally.

The car's real fame was to launch Paddy Hopkirk's career in 1963 when entered in the Monte Carlo, where he finished 6th overall and 2nd in class to the class winner Rauno in 977 ARX who came 3rd overall.

The mini also competed in a number of other events, with predominantly a 997 engine-based set up, but also with a 1071 engine in the 1963 Tour De France, from which it sadly retired. Its last outing was with a 970 engine for the 1963 RAC Rally being driven to a class win. It was eventually sold to Peter Riley.

Phase 1 - Bodyshell Preparation

The 407 ARX, now owned by Brian Pears, was entered into the 2004 Top Gear competition to restore a famous British car. After various visits to a number of mini restoration specialists, Brian chose minimaster to do the restoration, and negotiations started with the BBC.

Eventually, the project was authorised, and in April 2006, the body shell was stripped down, sand-blasted, and all rusty parts removed. Panels were replaced with authentic new ones, and the shell was carefully sanded down ready for profiling.

Chippy used every part of his skills to ensure the panels were perfectly positioned, and all repairs and welds were perfectly done to the original specifications using traditional techniques. All of this is a difficult and long job requiring talent, concentration and an astute eye.

Also, much investigation and study was done to determine all the modifications required to the front, rear and interior, and a hole drilled to replace the roof navigator's spotlight. This was done before the bodyshell was profiled and painted to ensure full coverage of the paint (and therefore less chance of rust reappearing).

The interior, in particular the seats, were removed and sent to Newton Commercial for complete refurbishment.

DJ then prepared the shell for painting. Prior to painting, he prepared the body by sealing joints with sealant. He then profiled the body by repeatedly spraying the body with undercoat and then rubbing it down to a smooth finish. This process is repeated until the body lines are as perfect as possible. This stage is also extremely time-consuming, and requires great skill and patience.

The interior, underside, boot and engine bay were sprayed first to ensure colour fastness and finish. The remaining body was then painted and checked for finish. For a deep colour, the painted shell was rubbed down, and painted again, repeating as required for a perfect deep colour and shine. Once satisfied, the shell was polished and minutely inspected.

The Next Stage

The bodyshell is now ready for refitting and reassembly. In this case, the custom dash, which has already been measured and pre-fitted, is installed for wiring up. It is then ready for the custom loom to be fabricated and fitted. Stan Chalmers, who worked for Lucas as part of the original BMC/Abingdon team, is employed to do this. The fitting out is described in the next installment, together with details about the dash and how it was fabricated. Much investigation was done to determine how this dash was created, each one being unique to the Works Mini it was created for.