Le Mans Mini Marcos found

50 Years after its heyday and 41 Years after it went missing, the Mini Marcos that participated in the 1966 Le Mans 24 hours race has been found by Jeroen Booij, author of the Maximum Mini series of books about Mini based cars.


The diminutive 1289cc Cooper ‘S’ powered GT came 15th overall at the French endurance race after an array of Ford GT40s, Porsche 906s and Ferrari 275GTBs. It was the only British car to finish that year and no doubt the crowd favourite, nicknamed ‘La Puce Bleue’ (The Blue Flee). It is sometimes regarded as Le Mans’ most heroic entry. Due to its disappearance in 1975 the car came with enhanced mystery, with several people searching for it ever since.

After a mysterious tip-off Booij found the car in Portugal. Just about all of the Marcos’ mechanicals are gone, but the shell still hides its original blue and yellow paint and the white roundels under several more layers of paint. All the signature markings and holes are still there, too, including the flared arches, holes for added lights and the big 80-litres fuel tank that was made for the car. The body is in a remarkably good and original condition. Booij is planning a full restoration in order to bring it back to its original Le Mans spec.

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