Both vehicles displayed in celebration of the Royal Automobile Club’s inaugural Historic Awards on Thursday 21 November which recognise excellence and outstanding contributions to the UK’s historic motoring and motorsport industries.
Morris Mini Cooper S (1965) 2019 HERO/RAC Rally of the Tests Winner
Mini Sport’s Steve Entwistle piloted Paddy Hopkirk’s 6EMO to victory over three days at the recent 2019 HERO/RAC Rally of the Tests which included a Thursday evening Prologue to determine the start order, from Torquay to Chester, through rain, mud and snow [evidence clearly seen here still in the clubhouse rotunda!] with only Paddy’s kind words (“They better win!”), and the sharing of humbugs and cherry menthol sweets with co-driver Mark Appleton, to help!
Still owned by Paddy Hopkirk, 6EMO has been maintained and prepared for events at Mini Sport for the last seven years. While at Mini Sport, 6EMO has been fully rebuilt over this time, with period parts designed with modern technology. It has been completely transformed for the rigors of modern day, classic rallying and is now a complete Mini Sport Mini in every sense from the power unit through to the suspension and brakes. Paddy’s Morris Cooper S already had a vast amount of pedigree; it’s been 55 years since Paddy first competed in the Rally of the Tests with the same car. In 1990, Paddy and Alec Poole (who built the 6EMO) won the ERA Pirelli Marathon whilst piloting it and Paddy even lent it to rally greats, Rauno Aaltonen and Roger Clark, who competed in the Rally of the Tests in it themselves; however, only Paddy Hopkirk & Steve Entwistle have won it in 6EMO!
6 EMO, as she is affectionately known, is not an original Abingdon ‘Works’ Mini but is every bit a ‘Works’ Rally Mini. It was built specifically in 1990 for Paddy to compete in the Pirelli Classic Marathon of the same year, with the sole intention of rolling back the years and showing that in the right hands, the iconic Mini was still a competitive rally car some 26 years after Paddy won the Minis first Monte Carlo Rally in 1964. 6 EMO was built to full FIA 1966 homologated ‘Works’ specification, by Simon Wheeler and Alec Poole, and to the very highest standards that the works team of the 1960s would be proud of. With a 1293cc engine, mounted on a straight cut close ratio competition gearbox and fitted with H4 SU carburettors, a power output of approximately 115 bhp was achieved.
Notable Results
1990 Pirelli Marathon: Paddy Hopkirk/Alec Poole – 1st o/a
1991 Pirelli Marathon: Roger Clark/Alec Poole – OTL
1991 Manx Historic: Roger Clark/Alec Poole – 6th o/a
1991 RAC Historic: Rauno Aaltonen/Alec Poole – 4th o/a
2016 RAC: Steve Entwistle/Henry Carr – 1st Class
2017 Vale of Clywd: Steve Entwistle/Ali Proctor – 5th o/a & 1st Class
2017 Northumberland Borders Rally: Steve Entwistle/ Andy Pullan – 1st o/a
2017 RAC Rally of the Tests: Steve Entwistle/Ali Proctor – 1st Class
2018 RAC Rally of the Tests: Steve Entwistle/Ali Proctor – 3rd o/a
2018 Northumberland Borders: Steve Entwistle/Andy Pullan – 2nd o/a
2019 RAC Rally of the Tests: Steve Entwistle/Mark Appleton – 1st o/a
Displayed courtesy of Mr Paddy Hopkirk from Monday 18th November to Sunday 24th November 2019.
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O.S.C.A. (FS372 ) 1955
O.S.C.A. is an abbreviation of Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili—Fratelli Maserati S.p.A. The company was established in 1947 by Ernesto, Ettore and Bindo Maserati — following their departure from their namesake company Maserati which had been acquired by the Orsi family in 1937.
The Maserati brothers aimed to create an automobile that was competitive in the 1000cc racing class. With this goal in mind, production was carried out at the O.S.C.A. factory at San Lazzaro di Savena in the Metropolitan City of Bologna — the home of Maserati manufacturing until 1940 when the Orsi family moved Maserati production to their home town of Modena.
In 1948, Luigi Villoresi drove the first O.S.C.A. automobile, the MT4 (Maserati Tipo 4-cilindri), to victory at the Pescara circuit and at the Naples Grand Prix.
The MT4 engine went through numerous changes. In 1955 the O.S.C.A. MT4 TN, or ‘New Model’, featured the new Tipo 372DS twin-spark, 1491cc engine. This in turn brought a change of name for the model which now became known as the FS372. Only five FS372s were built, including this one.
Sir Stirling Moss purchased the vehicle in 2008; however, it was not his first experience of the marque having won the 1954 12 Hours of Sebring race in a MT4 as part of the Briggs Cunningham team with Bill Lloyd. Sir Stirling has gone on to race this car in numerous other events, including the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy.