Some older readers may recall the amusing late ’60s advertisement for a breakfast drink using World Champion racing driver Graham Hill, which was made while he was out here competing in the Tasman Series
By Quinton Taylor
Photography: Quinton Taylor and Euan Cameron
Drink Brink was the phrase, subtly altered by Graham’s characteristic lisp into “Dwink Bwinkl”, which drew a grin or two.
Southland Mini racing enthusiast Howard Kingsford-Smith has preserved a little bit of Mini racing history when he re-created the ‘Brink Mini’ some 25 years ago.
“I bought what remained of the original car and made a replica, I suppose, or look-a-like of the original Brink Mini from Cathy Henderson about 25 years ago,” Howard explained.
Howard’s skills as a car painter meant the little car is still looking as good as the day it was built, sitting on display in the Bill Richardson Transport World museum in Invercargill. The burnt orange car, along with Doug Erskine’s white Coppertone Mini, from Tuatapere in Southland, are regulars in classic race meetings around the South Island.
“I’ve raced the Mini at six Queenstown Street races too. Doug and I have also joined in Mini 7 races as fill-ins.”
Howard’s car also has something special under the bonnet with an engine built by Angus Fogg, who made a name for himself tuning and racing the little cars.
“It’s an Austin Metro block bored out to 1380cc, with quite a few special internal bits which Angus has added,” Howards explains with a grin.
Impressive performer
He’s also raced the little car at Highland Park Raceway, Cromwell, where it performed quite well against more modern machinery.
“That’s a great circuit. It doesn’t have too many long straights, and it’s pretty quick through those tight corners. It went well up there.”
At the Evolution Motorsport classic meeting at Teretonga in February this year, Howard caught up with Murray Cockburn, one of the original builders and drivers of the Brink Mini.
“In late 1969, Bill Henderson and I formed a company called the Extraordinary Automobile Racers [EAR]. After some research, we bought the 1299cc works Mini from Doc Langley and Angus Hyslop,” Murray explained.
This was the car which had won the New Zealand Saloon Car Championship the previous year, competing in the 1000cc – 1300cc class.
The car was collected from Bill Hanna in Havelock North and trailer to Bill’s farm at Centre Bush, but the pair detoured on the way to try the car out at Levels Raceway near Timaru. Both were impressed with the performance of the little car on the track.
A sponsor comes aboard
With the 1970 season looming, they chased some sponsorship, resulting in the TJ Edmonds company agreeing to sponsor the car in the colours of a new breakfast drink it was marketing, Brink and in a distinctive burnt orange colour.
“I recall when we raced at Bay Park, when Doc and Angus came to the meeting to see how the car would go, they were absolutely horrified with the new colour scheme,” Murray said.
Unfortunately for the pair, the championship rules changed the next season, and they suddenly found themselves in a new class of 1000cc – 2000cc, going from the fastest car in their old class to now being the slowest.
“However, we had a great season competing at Pukekohe, Bay Park, the last meeting held at Levin, Lady Wigram – where we broke Bryan Foley’s lap record from the previous year, Ruapuna, Levels and Teretonga. ‘Never won a race but usually came 7th or 8th in the dry or 4th or 5th if it was wet.”
Handicap races were the most exciting, and amazingly, the pair broke even over the season.
“At the end of the season, Bill then set about selling the various parts of the car. The engine was sold separately to the chassis and body, so that over the years, many have claimed that they bought the original Langley / Hyslop ‘Brink’ car, but that could not have been correct.”
From the golden years of New Zealand saloon car racing, a little bit of history has been created and preserved.
