Ferris de Joux - Mini GT

Mini GT

In New Zealand de Joux is best known for his Mini derivative, the de Joux Mini GT. In 1965 he began the design of his GT, a car he described as "a Mini in a Bermuda jacket". Due to other projects the protoype was not finished until 1971. The Mini GT was a fibreglass sports GT body bonded onto a Mini floorpan that had had extra box-sectioning added on top of both sills and across the back where the rear seat had previously been on the standard Mini. Whilst the standard Mini bulkhead was retained it was also braced to a new bulkhead off of which the doors were hung. This arrangement proved to be very stiff and did not require any stiffness to be added by the body. De Joux personally made the first six cars along with his team; after this his interest was on other things and he subsequently only sold bodies with plans for the chassis. The car was about nine inches lower than the standard Mini, two inches wider, and, thanks to the extended front radiator, three inches longer. Frontal area was reduced by 22%, giving better top end performance. Engines of course could be any A-series. The prototype was fitted with a 997cc Cooper engine, but the potential for a full-race spec 1380cc was enormous. The bonnet was fitted with a power bulge, which provided enough space for fitting twin carburettors. The original door windows were Perspex pull-up arrangement. The door locks from a Mini were mounted on an angle which caused some problems as the Mini locks were mounted vertical.

Less than 30 bodies were made in total including a few illegitimate copies moulded from an existing car - these can normally be identified by not having the proper de Joux GT dashboard. Issues with customers not building their cars properly were among the reasons that Ferris eventually decided to move away from the GT completely. Many owners took shortcuts when having their chassis made – not understanding that they had been very carefully designed. Twenty-two of the original cars remained on the de Joux register in 2006, one of which was in Australia.

Only a few Mini GTs are still on the road, including the original prototype, extensively restored by de Joux in the early 90s and subsequently sold to Japan. John Rush from New Zealand races his car, having had it from new. De Joux was 90% through finishing a new GT for his personal use when he died. That car is now in the possession of his long-time friend and driver Peter Benbrook who intends finishing and racing it to honour his friend.