Morris Minor Nick Mann Hillclimb Special 1989

Sick Cylinder

Sick Cylinder

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Sick_Cylinder
Nick Mann Morris Minor 2.jpg


Genius engineer Nick Mann gradually modified his Mum's old Morris Minor over the years for hillclimb competitions. Eventually it was running a turbo Rover V8 which he developed to produce 600 bhp with a nitrous oxide anti-lag system. As a hillclimb car it was very successful and for many years held class records at tracks around the UK. Even though it was not designed for drag racing it was incredibly successful at sprinting winning the annual street machine shootout and being crowned the UK's fastest street legal car many years in succession.

When Nick had developed the car and engine to their limit he wanted a fresh challenge and sold the Morris Minor and on a budget of just £10,000 home built his own unlimited class UK hillclimb car with 4 wheel drive and a 1700 Ford BDT engine with the turbo spun at full boost by an auxiliary gas turbine. That fabulous car known as the "Mannic Beattie" can also be voted for and now holds the outright course record at several UK hillclimbs.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/mannic-beattie-nic-mann-unlimited-class-hillclimb-car.299951/

Nick Mann Morris Minor 1.jpg



 
I can't believe this car isn't flooded with likes - it must be very well known as it featured in virtually every UK car magazine on a regular basis for about a decade and was many times the UK's fastest street machine as well as course record holder at many UK hill climbs. 600bhp turbo V8 with a nitrous oxide injection anti-lag system, faster than street legal drag cars and faster than specialist built hillclimb race machinery - and all homebuilt by Nic Mann whose current hillclimb car is even madder - a 1700cc 4 pot with a turbo spun continuously at full boost by a miniature gas turbine engine - unlimited class record holder at Shelsley Walsh, homebuilt on a budget of £10,000 using drivetrain parts from a Ford Sierra XR 4X4.

More information on the mad Morris Minor - which still exists - from this link which includes video:

http://speedhillclimb.com/mannic-morris/
 
JKgo
A Morris Minor? With 600 horses? AND a nitrous to boot? :bowdown:
Click to expand...

Yes - that wouldn't be so difficult if it was stuffed full of cast iron Chevy, but to do it with a 3.5 litre all alloy Rover engine which originally produced 150bhp and get it to handle so well that it claimed multiple hill climb records - that's the hard part! The Nitrous system was used for anti-lag: the car had a very large turbo so there was some turbo lag - Nic Mann created a system which injected nitrous when the car was on full throttle, but the boost was low, which helped his times during hillclimb events.

I find it equally remarkable that even though the car was built for hillclimbing so the weight distribution and suspension were not ideal for drag racing this car was the dominant street machine in UK drag racing for nearly a decade!

Nic Mann used to turn up for race events with a roof rack on the car loaded with the racing slicks - swap the wheels, win the event, swap wheels then drive home!

The current hill climb car is even madder - 1700cc 4 cylinder, 4 wheel drive, with a turbo spun continuously at maximum boost by a miniature gas turbine and an F1 style hot diffuser system for the exhaust gases (burnouts are done in 1st gear - 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears are used for racing):

 

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