I know you probably hear this as well, but it keeps coming up,
"your car is nothing more than a kit car". I can live with it, and
actually when I first bought the Mini Mark I had suspicions it was as
well. The more I researched the car and its rich history I learned
otherwise, a factory or "coach built" car.
Original factory pictures discovered show around thirty five
different Bremen cars coming down the line. Of those thirty five cars, a
mixture of Creightons, Sebrings and Mini Marks, I can count around fifteen Mini
Marks just on the day this picture was taken.
Coach-building goes back to the 1450’s when wagons were
built. In fact there were so many coach-builders that almost every city
had one. In the late 1800’s as horseless cars came to life,
coach-builders began to customize the frames and engines coming off the
assembly lines. From those beginnings until around 1920
coach-builders bought artistry to the square boxy cars coming off the
evolving assembly lines. The more the assembly lives developed: thanks to Henry
Ford, and cars started to have curves and character,
coach-building diminished. By the war years only the rich could afford the
work of a coach-builder, and car companies were not willing to sell frames to
coach-builders. They were designing their own stylish bodies during those
years. With the end of the wars, most of the coach-builders had
disappeared, and only the assembly line designs were available.
This brings me to Bremen Motors. Although they were not known as
traditional coach-builders, they took a chance to bring artistry to a simple and
plain Bug type Volkswagen. Their cars were not cheap by any means, actually
around 9-10 times what the Beetles were. If you purchased one of the original
300-400 factory built Mini Marks, you had to like the design and be able to
afford it, around $15K, expensive for the day.
Here is a list of some of the documented coach-builders in
the USA, Brewster & Co., Brunn, Budd Company, Derham, Earl Automobile
Works, Fisher, Fleetwood, KEM Motorworks, LeBaron, Locke, N2A Motors Inc.,
Murphy, Rollston, Willoughby, SSZ Motorcars. Some of you may recognize the Earl
Automotive Works, it was the company of Harley J Earl of GM and Corvette fame.
I am not putting the Mini design in the same league of the Corvette, but it is
stylish and innovative. It didn’t copy the much duplicated MG design of those
years, that many “kit cars” did. It had a character of it’s own, and yes it did
borrow other car designs, but have you seen a "new: design in any car
brand or design?.
There was a “kit” option for the Mini Mark, and I found the factory sheets on
assembled and kits. I was told that at least up until the 80’s when ownership
changed hands, not many, if any kits were sold. If you notice the date on the
"kit" paperwork it is 1981, near the end of production.
So you decide, there are probably some hints in craftsmanship on what you have,
but with this many coming down the line, chances are you have a factory built,
let someone prove otherwise, and many will try.
It has been a while since I have posted, and it is in the middle of winter here. The car has been waiting for warm weather to come back out and show off. Not really exciting though when it is below in the single digits for days and weeks. The deep of winter does give me a chance to continue a few more custom features on the Mini. This year, the shifter has been the focus. When we originally did the carpet and interior, we had just put a boot together and put it in place. Actually the original wasn't very much different than what we had made. It just didn't look sporty though. There isn't much area on the tunnel so I fabricated a wood riser on the tunnel and under the carpet. The riser has a flat top, and large enough to work with. I took some measurements and went about making an aluminum trim ring, polishing it, and fastening down with chrome screws. Here is the finish look. I think it gives the car a very sporty look!
