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In conjunction with the racing program at the festival there will be a display of some of Dennys cars, trucks, and boats that he owned throughout his life. Being a Mini man, Jim Barclay asked me if I could inspect the Mini that Denny owned, and that had been languishing in a barn near TePuke since 1989. Reports that he had indicated that the car might be past recovering, and that any attempt at removal would result in a large pile of rust sitting on the barn floor.

So having nothing better to do, and with time on my hands since I had stopped writing 'drivel' for the RS, my Wife Judith and I headed off to Kiwi fruit country to inspect the remains. What we discovered wasnt nearly as bad as was portrayed. In fact there was no VISABLE rust, but plenty of suface rust underneath. Even the floors were in tact.....a bit of a surprise as these parts seem to be very vulnerable in all Minis.

The whole car was very scruffy and was surounded by the usual detritus that collects on a farm and that needs storage. Needless to say the tyres were flat and attempts to push the car were not successful. Everything seemed to be seized, or corroded, but I decided nothing ventured, nothing gained, and made an appointment with Anita,Dennys sister to come back with trailer, tools, CRC, towrope, jacks, and drag the car out, and load on the trailer for the trip back to Cambridge. We had plenty of help on the day with Anitas son and her ex husband, Murray, on whos farm the vehicle was located.

While all this was going on Judith had a long and very interesting chat with Anita, and we found out allsorts of interesting things about Denny and the early days. I think Anita was a bit suspicious of us for a start, and it was only the fact that Jim Barclay had assured her that we were not going to rip her off or steal the car, and she warmed to us and our project........which was to present the car in barnfind condition for display at the festival.

The picture that I hope has come through, is of the car as it arrived in my motor-house after it's initial steam-clean.
I will continue this narrative with other pictures, and a history of the car as we know it.