33 EJB
33 EJB in 1964
Competition History,
33 EJB
1963 Tour de France Paddy Hopkirk/ Henry Liddon, 3rd overall, 1st class.
1964 Monte Carlo Rally Paddy Hopkirk/ Henry Liddon, 1st overall, 1st class.
Retained by BMC as Display Car, and can still be seen at Gaydon Museum of the British Motor Industry.
Paddy and Henry made a ground breaking victory for Britain and the Mini, fighting off opposition from the Ford Falcon Team with their lightweight and large capacity. They not only beat them on handicap but overall place aswell.
The victory was a popular one, with the drivers and car, treated as celebrities, and appearing on the London Paladium on stage. The Car, and several clones (other team cars from the event with the same numbers) were exhibited in showrooms all over the country.
Under the bonnet recently, as you can see the car remains very original.
This interior shot taken of the car in 1964 shows how different the early cars were with their flat dash panels. Heated screen was Gold film, operating on only the drivers side. Under the magnifying glass was an early Halda tripmeter.
This car has been in continuous ownership of BMC and all its later incarnations.
Steering Wheel Appeal!
It is scandalous that the original 'Les Leston' steering wheel was lost (misapropriated) a few years ago by a particular unscrupulous individual, and is now thought to be possibly in Japan. I hereby appeal to whoever now has it, or if you know of its whereabouts, to e mail me guy@trenchmap.com , with a view to returning it to its rightful place on the car, no questions asked. This is an extraodinarily important car in world motoring history, and the wheel should be on the car, for future generations to enjoy. If you care enough to have the wheel, then surely you care enough to see that it is returned. The car now has a sad looking Mota lita replacement.
I repeat 'No questions asked'!