This week is dedicated to one car building partnership who between them have built some really inspiring rides. The Beardmore Brothers, John and Robin, have turned out a fantastic array of machinery, here is a selection along with the reasons they are great.
2000cc Lada : Weblink
Why is it important?
You know when a car is the a joke? Like when Skoda became the punch line on a bunch of Jasper Carrot jokes. Well Lada was one of those. Eastern European built Italian car? Could there be a more uninspiring combination? The Beardmore Bros. saw through that image and looked at the car underneath. Rear wheel drive on a Fiat floorplan? Ideal for a Fiat Twincam conversion then. Which leads directly to the reversal of the stereotype. Suddenly all these hot hatches are getting smoked off the line by a car that is the butt of jokes. This is perhaps the epitome of the street sleeper.
Where is it now?
The car was sold in 1993. I wonder if it is still alive...
Hillclimb Morris Minor : Weblink
Why is it important?
When the UK retro scene was a fairly new thing, or at least when it first got its own magazine and a name to cover a range of spread out people, there was a car that a lot of people were already waiting for. John Beardmore was building another minor, not any old minor though, a mid mounted fiat twincam powered convertible lowlight minor. The result lived up to expectations, fantastic finish, great engineering, all round a quality car. Again though it is more important than just another nice car, the fact that it was built in a garage, a small one at that, the fact that it is a complete home brew project serves as inspiration to all those that lament their lack of space, or money. You can achieve great things in a small amount of space working evenings and weeks, this car is proof of that.
Where is it now?
John still owns the car and plans to do more hillclimbs this year.
V8 Reliant Kitten : Weblink
Why is it important?
If the Lada was the butt of some jokes, then the Reliant Robin was the comedians best friend. The three wheel Reliant Robin was the epitome of the uncool, mainly driven by old people as a mobility device, rather than an actual car. The Kitten was its four wheel equivalent and was for the most part ignored. Whilst it has four wheels it still retained the deeply uncool body shape of the Robin. When the Beardmore brothers decided to build a drag car they picked the Kitten as a base. Whilst it seems like an odd choice they looked at it for what it actually was, a small, chassis built, rear wheel drive car with a very light body. Perfect for a V8 conversion then. Easy to work on and already super light. Once again the Beardmore brothers show that you can look through the perceived image of a car and get to the actual machine underneath.
Where is it now?
John sold the car on and it is being reconditioned and bought back out to play again.
Concours Morris Minor GPO Van : Weblink
Why is it important?
People who modify cars have a bit of a bad reputation within certain elements of the 'classic' car community. The thing is, we love our cars just as much as they do, we just choose to do something different with them. Robin Beardmore owned and modified many Morris Minors, so I'm sure that certain elements of the classic community were dreading to see what he'd do with a very rare rubber winged Post Office van. They shouldn't have worried, Robin restored it to concours condition and has since won a number of prizes for it. It is important as it serves as reminder to the classic car community, that may not appreciate some of what we do, that we do love and cherish our cars.
Where is it now?
As far as we know it still lives with Robin.
Whats next from Beardmores....
Those Beardmores never stop though, Robin is currently building a Minor on an Mazda MX5 floor plan, you can follow the build and get more information about all their cars on their fantastic site : http://beardmorebros.co.uk
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