Mini Jem Chronology1962 to 1975by Colin Wrigglesworthwith some additions by Richard Porter | |
1962 | Dizzy Addicott had an idea to produce a sports car using Mini mechanicals. Using his Morris Mini Van and some sheet aluminium he formed a new body shape. This new car was called the DART (Dizzy Addicott Racing Team). |
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1964 | Jan.: The DART is exhibited at the Racing Car Show at the Royal Horticultural Society's Halls in London. Although some orders were taken, Dizzy decided not to go ahead with production and refunded the deposits. The aluminium body was too expensive to produce, so Jem Marsh suggested that they produce bodies in fibreglass1. This was going to be done at Marcos, and some shells were made by Falcon Shells. There were some problems with these shells and because of other difficulties (mainly financial) Jem Marsh cancelled the project. Dizzy Addicott returned to his career in aviation. |
1965 | Jeremy Delmar-Morgan, who had worked with Dizzy from the start, bought the design. This new fibreglass car adopted Jeremy's nickname, Jem. |
1966 | July: The first three cars were built.
Sept.: Three cars were entered in the Nürburgring 500km race and Delmar-Morgan came 2nd in class 2. |
1967 | Jan.: the Mk. 1 was exhibited at the Racing Car Show.
Mid.: Robin Statham took over production from Jeremy Delmar-Morgan and began producing the bodies with Dan Pearce at (Jem Cars) Fellpoint Ltd., Penn, Buckinghamshire. |
1969 | Jan.: The Mk. 2 was exhibited at the Racing Car Show at Olympia.
Mar.: Production of the Mk. 2 began. |
1969 | John Taylor begins production of the Taylorspeed Jem in Adelaide, based on a Mk.1 shell. The project was abandoned after only four cars were built. |
1970 | Robin Statham raced a few times at Lydden Hill and Mallory park achieving seconds and thirds. He also competed in a Mod-Sports race at Silverstone finishing third behind an AC Cobra and an E-type Jaguar. |
1971 | July: Fellpoint Ltd. went into administration after the financial backers pulled out. The moulds and rights passed to High Performance Mouldings of Cricklade in Wiltshire, and the Jem was back in production. The VW-based Jem Futura did not survive. |
1972 | Mid: High Performance Mouldings moved to Wombwell in Yorkshire and resumed production. |
1973 | Dec.: Production of the Jem at High Performance Mouldings stopped. |
1974 | Sigmund “Ziggi” Kwiatkowski and Neil Murrie rescue the Taylorspeed moulds and begin making kits again. We know of another five cars. |
1974 | Jan.: The moulds passed to Malcolm Fell at Salthouse, Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, who brought out the Mk. 3 with opening rear hatch, front wheel arch extensions and a larger bonnet. |
1975 | April: Malcolm Fell ends production of the Mini Jem at the end of the month. Only nine Mk. 3 kits had been produced. |
Editor’s notes: Colin Wrigglesworth is a former secretary of the Mini Jem Register.
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Last updated 28th July, 2021