Wednesday 29 June 2011

Unique DART pictures found

Thanks to Stef Wray, who rebuilt the one-off Mini based DART (for Dizzy Addicott Racing Team), some unique pictures that show the DART being built, have been unearthed from the collection of Desmond 'Dizzy' Addicott's family. Fighter pilot Addicott built the car in 1963 as a prototype to market fibreglass monocoque shells that could turn an old Mini into something far more sporty. Jem Marsh was contracted to do the shells, but when Addicott had a disagreement with Marsh over the quality of the first few fibreglass bodies he got so fed up with it that he sold the project to Jeremy Delmar-Morgan who turned it into the MiniJem in 1966. By that time Jem Marsh had allready launched his own take on the DART: the Mini Marcos. That means the DART is the spiritual father of both the Mini Jem as the Mini Marcos, as well as the Kingfisher Sprint that evolved from the Jem later.
Stef has been researching the DART ever since he bought the remains in 2008 but never knew pictures of the actual building existed. "I love them!" he writes. So do I.

UPDATE 25 August 2023. Original premises of Dizzy Addicott's workshop found! Click here.


The famous DART under construction in Addicott's workshop in 1963
Picture courtesy Jane Addicott-Jones



 Addicott preferred aluminium but the Morris Mini van based body is all steel
Picture courtesy Jane Addicott-Jones


DART was turned into Mini Jem when Addicott got fed up with the project...
Picture courtesy Jane Addicott-Jones


...while mould maker Jem Marsh developed the Mini Marcos from this base
Picture courtesy Jane Addicott-Jones


MiniSprint avant la lettre: the finished DART body next to an Austin Seven
Picture courtesy Jane Addicott-Jones

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