Prototype Hornet

Hi Guys,

Hope you are all keeping well.

Just wanted raise an old query which I had on the previous forum as we now have some new members.

Does anyone have any details on the Supercharged Prototype hornet which was apparently last seen at Mini In the Park a few years back as a barn find restoration project?

Any info or pics would be great.

Cheers

Olly

hornetob wrote:Hi Guys,

Hope you are all keeping well.

Just wanted raise an old query which I had on the previous forum as we now have some new members.

Does anyone have any details on the Supercharged Prototype hornet which was apparently last seen at Mini In the Park a few years back as a barn find restoration project?

Any info or pics would be great.

Cheers

Olly

Wayne's satin black Elf (Ace) Roadster has a Supercharger - as I'm sure Wayne will tell you! And very snug it looks too!!!!

Jase

I think this is the Earls Court show car - if it is then it is currently under going restoration by a dedicated enthusiast - unfortunately in the name of privacy, since the person does not tend to shout about ownership, etc, I won't to give any further current details. But saying that i can't wait to see it on the road. There is a bit of history to it, but I will have too dig deeper into the grey matter as I can't remember at the moment, suffice to say that it is one of the first half dozen chassis numbers and after doing the show circuit went into the owner ship of someone big involved in BMC who had the super charger fitted

Gordon

One of my club members has supercharged his MK2 mini. Thought this might help.
http://www.miniaddicts.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2197

Just joined up as a member to the new forum.
I know of metallic gold Elf which was one of the first 12 produced in 1961. It was owned by one of the BMC directors and was used by his wife. It was a Mk 1 with loads of hand made trim and dash panels and was fitted with a Supercharger early on in its life. As with most development cars, it was abused and was re-trimmed in about 1966 with the then standard interior. A great pity as the original trim was half leather half cloth, with matching door cards and rear parcel shelf (very rare). The Supercharger was retained and the car was in regular use for some time.
I saw the car at Mini in the Park in the Cotswolds about 6 years ago and it was up for sale for £5000.00. The car was a total wreck, needing a complete rebuild. The car hadn't seen any life for several years and had been stored either in the open or in a damp garage. There was plently of interest but no takers.
The car was again at Mini in the Park at Silverstone and again for silly money.
The car was purchased by a Mini enthusiast in Scotland and is currently being restored. I can find out more if anyone is interested as I know the owner quite well.

I don't know if this answers your question as this is an Elf and not a Hornet but it may be of interest.

Elf Service wrote:Just joined up as a member to the new forum.
I know of metallic gold Elf which was one of the first 12 produced in 1961. It was owned by one of the BMC directors and was used by his wife. It was a Mk 1 with loads of hand made trim and dash panels and was fitted with a Supercharger early on in its life. As with most development cars, it was abused and was re-trimmed in about 1966 with the then standard interior. A great pity as the original trim was half leather half cloth, with matching door cards and rear parcel shelf (very rare). The Supercharger was retained and the car was in regular use for some time.
I saw the car at Mini in the Park in the Cotswolds about 6 years ago and it was up for sale for £5000.00. The car was a total wreck, needing a complete rebuild. The car hadn't seen any life for several years and had been stored either in the open or in a damp garage. There was plently of interest but no takers.
The car was again at Mini in the Park at Silverstone and again for silly money.
The car was purchased by a Mini enthusiast in Scotland and is currently being restored. I can find out more if anyone is interested as I know the owner quite well.

I don't know if this answers your question as this is an Elf and not a Hornet but it may be of interest.

that is certainly the car i saw at mini in the park a few years ago with an enormous price tag!

Great stuff, thanks for that.

I had been told about it by a friend who was at mini in the park at the time but never saw it myself.

I didn't realise that it was an Elf, not that it matters anyway.

Thanks for the information, anything else you know would be of great interest as I supercharged my hornet last year and like the idea of somebody doing back then.

It would be great to know the spec of the engine and what charger was fitted, I was told it was an old Bentley or Merc 'Blower'