50th Anniversary

On the 26th of August we held our 50th Anniversary party at Dirty Devils car club.

More than 100 past and present members attending the event. 

It was a brilliant gathering of all ages of the club.

A message from Rob Thornton

Well, who would have thought, a car club that had its origins in a loose association of Mini-obsessed guys (and girls) who all got together in the early 1970s to share their passion would still be flourishing today – 50 years on.

During 1971-2 classic Minis cruised the streets of Adelaide in vast numbers. Most, if not all were modified or customised to some degree, reflecting the mechanical skills and personal preferences of their many and varied owners. It was a time when hotted-up production cars ruled the roads, and the Minis were right up there with the big Fords, the ubiquitous Holdens, the Valiants and the VWs in terms of pride of ownership and commitment to improving the driving experience. And who could forget the sight and sounds of a procession of a dozen or more cammed up ‘bricks’ slowly making their way down a bustling Rundle Street (as it was then) late on a Saturday night to the admiration and bemusement of the countless onlookers who crowded the footpaths.

Towards the end of 1972, this growing group of like-minded enthusiasts, decided to get together on a more formal basis. A couple of meetings were held at private residences where the expected attendance of a couple of dozen Mini owners swelled out to almost fifty. In January 1973, the fundamentals of forming a new club were scoped out, a preliminary organising committee was formed and charged with the task of seeking CAMS registration as a new car club to be called ‘The Modified Mini Car Club of South Australia’.

There were many challenges to overcome in those first months, wrought upon us by the complete inexperience in such matters by most of the devotees. Early on we were fortunate to be offered the Prospect Sea Scouts Hall on Regency Road as a venue in which to hold regular monthly meetings. Membership details were worked out, T-shirts and stickers featuring that enduring cartoon-like Mini design were produced through the efforts of a mate of a mate who knew how to do these things, a rather rudimentary newsletter was published, and a committee structure with a club president, secretary, treasurer voted in. Slowly but surely the basics of a proper car club began to take shape.

The other great difficulty that confronted us during those early days was the outright hostility to our newfound club with the word ’modified’ in its title that came from the established SA car clubs who were quick to label us a bunch of hoons and misfits who did not deserve to be credited with attaining the status of a legitimate local motoring club. But we persisted, and in June 1973 a group of us made the trek to the annual National Mini Meeting at Hay in NSW. Where we were greeted by much opposition and suspicion from the interstate Mini clubs - and the established South Australian one - who at first refused to allow us to participate in any of the motoring or social events. I can still remember the frosty reception our members got at the social get together at the Hay Community RSL Clubrooms where we were essentially ostracised by the other club members.

We hung in there, the club went from strength to strength as the membership continued to grow and more and more hot Minis appeared. We obtained CAMS affiliation. We returned to Hay in 1974 and every year thereafter and acceptance followed.

And now, 50 years on, the club has matured and continues to thrive, with a strong emphasis on competition in motorsports and companionship among its members. Like the classic Mini itself, the club has evolved and attracted new generations of dedicated members who all share in what one well-known Victorian motoring journalist famously labelled ‘the Mini experience’.

Happy Birthday Hotbricks!