1962 Ogle SX1000 Factory Demonstrator-Ex-Sir John Whitmore

The Birmingham-built Austin Mini is universally acknowledged as one of the best cars ever created - a ground-breaking vehicle that was the blueprint for virtually every stylish, small and affordable car that has come along since. But the clever transverse engine, front-drive layout, simple floor pan and a wheel at each corner opened up a raft of possibilities for small-batch manufacturers, particularly with the arrival of the Cooper and Cooper S-engined cars from 1961 onwards. A whole host of small GTs, sports cars, roadsters and fun cars made an appearance, mostly disappearing after a handful of examples had been built but a few made a lasting impression, and continue to be sought after today including the Broadspeed GT, Mini Marcos, Mini Jem, Unipower GT, Cox GTM and the Ogle SX1000.

While most companies building Mini-based cars sought to increase performance, David Ogle went in search of luxury. The SX1000 was easily one of the best resolved designs of its niche and used the complete floorpan from the Mini (Van) rather than just the subframes and an independently designed glassfibre body utilising the windscreen from a Riley 1.5 was bonded onto this. The car caught the attention of the Mini’s maker and, uniquely for a 'special', BMC supplied brand new components to Ogle. Whilst the pure conversion cost £550, the price for a complete vehicle was £1,190, meaning that the Ogle SX1000 cost twice as much as a Mini Cooper S and actually weighed a tad more, however, despite this, things were going pretty well for Ogle Designs, with over 60 cars completed when company founder, David Ogle, was sadly killed at the wheel of an SX1000 Lightweight on the way to a race at Brands Hatch. BMC accordingly withdrew its support, and the SX1000 was wound up after 68 cars had been built. The moulds were sold to Fletcher Marine and the project moved on to become the, less handsome, Fletcher GT.

In 1963, prior to David Ogle's untimely demise, he and fellow director, famed racer Sir John Whitmore, decided that a State to State marketing tour of America was the way forward. The car on offer here #MO/62/037 fitted with a 998cc Cooper unit was suitably tuned and prepared for the trip and shipped to the US. Sadly, the trip was a complete failure and Sir John was forced to sell the car to fund his air fare home.

Whilst in the US, #MO/62/037 was used in local sprints and SCCA events, before passing through the hands of a few dealers, and eventually becoming the race car of one Mr and Mrs Gretkorp in Florida. They had a great assortment of race cars, including the Paddy Hopkirk, Sebring-winning Mini Cooper S. The Gretkorps kept the Ogle for over 25 years before it, and the Cooper, were sold to an arch enthusiast in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati owner only wanted the Cooper so the Ogle was sold to its present owner, our vendor who is a UK-based enthusiast.

After arriving on these shores, it was treated to a complete restoration and rebuilt to fully correct, period racing spec with a roll-cage, hi-back drivers seat, extinguisher, etc. and retains, vitally, its correct 998cc Cooper engine. The work and SCCA records, as well as its history and place in the global Ogle register are noted in the history file, along with photographs of it competing in the USA and during restoration.

During his ownership, our vendor has used the car at Castle Combe, Blyton Park and Curborough amongst other venues, and it has been carefully maintained by Acespeed in Yorkshire. One of only a dozen or so left, this is an interesting car with an interesting story, a rare opportunity.