Minijem Plus

Mini Jem Chronology

1962 to 1975

by Colin Wrigglesworth

with 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).
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.

  1. The moulds would have been made from a buck designed along the lines of the DART.
  2. The results of the 1966 Nürburgring 500km race were:
    No. 21 Jeremy Delmar-Morgan, 18 laps, 2nd. in class, 18th overall;
    No. 23 Ron Parkes, 6 laps, did not finish;
    No. 22 Mike Walton, 0 laps, did not finish.

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Last updated 28th July, 2021