A NICE BIT OF KIT
It’s a crisp May morning here at Baskerville Raceway, in Tasmania’s south, as I stand trackside clutching a takeaway coffee, anticipating the arrival of Peter Killick in his freshly restored Mk1 Morris Mini Cooper S. The distinctive whine of straight-cut gears is soon heard clawing at the grey winter air, getting very much louder as the Almond Green S slips into view, barrels down the access road and settles beside me on the track’s start/finish line. A smiling Peter Killick clambers out and immediately confesses the car’s homecoming is fast becoming an emotional one. “I actually started to get a bit teary on the way here. It’s the first time this car has been back to Baskerville in 38 years.”
The Cooper S looks absolutely stunning and, as we slowly walk around it together, I gradually learn more of its fascinating » story. It’s a tale bound by many fragile threads, some joyful, others tragic and some that are incredibly touching.
Rotting away for years as an unsalvageable wreck, this English-built rarity was once owned, prepared and raced by Peter Killick’s close friend, and celebrated Tasmanian driver, Kit Ellis. Were it not for Peter and those who also contributed along the way, the car could so easily have been lost forever. Against all odds it survives, presenting much as it did in its competition heyday.
Constructed on 29 December 1964, this Longbridge-built
