BMC – ABINGDON COMPETITIONS DEPARTMENT 70TH BIRTHDAY – 13 JULY 2025

2025 will see the 70th anniversary of the of the setting up of the British Motor Corporation Competitions Department at Abingdon on Thames, and plans are in hand for a celebration at the BMC & Leyland Show at the British Motor Museum next July for which clubs representing the full range of Abingdon works cars have been invited to join.

The display will be hosted by the Abingdon Works Motorsport Celebration (AWMC) which was set up in 2019 supported by Mini Cooper Register and the Historic Marathon Rally Group. AWMC’s aim is to recognise and remember the success of BMC and British Leyland rally and sports cars across three decades and has put on a display at the show every year since.

The first event entered by Abingdon-prepared cars was the 1955 Monte Carlo Rally with three MG Magnettes and three Austin Westminsters taking part. Austin Healeys also had great success in the early 1960’s. The Mini Cooper did not come along until later, famously winning the event in 1964 when Paddy Hopkirk and Henry Liddon enhanced the car’s growing reputation still further.

The display will feature cars and support vehicles, together with memorabilia, from Abingdon and the plans to commemorate the 70th anniversary of BMC establishing a competitions department have been welcomed by Bill Price who was involved in Comps throughout most of its existence. Bill was Deputy BMC Competitions Manager throughout the 1960s, Manager of Leyland ST in the 1970s and finally BL’s Competitions Manager in the early 1980s.

As well as being the author of the definitive book about the BMC/BL Competitions Department, Bill was the guiding light behind the 50th and 60th anniversary celebrations.

‘We are very proud to contribute to a display marking the 70th anniversary of the BMC Competitions Department said Mini Cooper Register’s Chair, Peter Barker.

“The Mini and Mini Cooper models were the most numerous cars used by the team to dominate international rallying and saloon car racing during the mid 1960s. It is great that the Mini is to be represented once again in 2025′.

CONTACT

For further information, please contact:

David Hucker, Public Relations Officer

T: 01789 459411 M: 07860 115481

Email – pr@minicooper.org