New one from germany: Hrubon Schmitt

[vera-d]

Hi everyone,

we are new to this forum, but not new to the Mini and Moke scene. "We", that's Uta & Vera (me) from Ratingen, close to the north of Duesseldorf. Owners of two Minis (dark green 1968 Austin 850 Mk II, orange 1973 Mk III Mini 1000) and a little curio.

Actually, we do no longer own a Moke. One year ago, we sold our long-term project "1966 English Moke Mk I", which had originally been delivered to the USA, due to serious lack of time. From 2011 until Feb 2014, we tried to restore it thoroughly, but it turned out as a complete wreck. Since restoration of such a ruined car would have
overcharged our skills and financial potential, we decided to give it away to someone more skilled. This is where the story might have ended.

BUT: the reason for "being here" is our little Hrubon Schmitt "Pinkie", a "Shorty Moke" like Bart's (racing green) little "Yellow Wonder". We own it since February 2014, and found it coincidentally just 10 km from our home! Even for a VERY reasonable price, it seemed to be almost unbelievable!

The little car is in excellent condition, built and registered 1985 - with only 2.300 km ORIGINALLY on the clock, and with just one previous owner! It's one of max. three Schmitt registered in Germany, although it could not be registered as Schmitt Hrubon, due to legal restrictions. So our's is registered as a self-construction named after
the guy who built it from a kit, using new and some used parts from a crashed 80s Mini.

Since this little midget was initially intended to be a show car / special eye-catcher for a Jag/Mini/Brit-car workshop, it looks VERY strange and features some over-size components. The colour is a bright metallic pink, even with some metal-flake added to the clear coating. The rear window at the hood is shaped as a heart (!), with
another small heart etched to the windshield! Breakes come from an Innocenti Cooper, with a brake booster added - somewhat oversized for a 1000 cm engine in a 540 kg car....

Seats are taken from an old Landy, being far more comfortable than Bart's rigid bench. 5x10 Mayfair wheels with 165/10 tires are fixed, also partially painted pink. When we bought the little car, it was equipped with a tow-bar - we removed it preliminary, since it looked quite strange and made the car longer than necessary. But keep it in store, of course.

Here is where you will find some pictures:

http://www.domnick.net/schmitty/
http://www.mini-forum.de/showthread.php ... quot/page3

Since the time we purchased this very special little jewel, we have a lot of fun with it. Drinving in it is absolutely great, you'll always see lots of smiling faces all around you and the "car". In June 2014, we took it to southern France, also for visiting Mr. Hrubon jun. and his Moke Garage. Whizzing around Provence in hot and sunny weather was so much fun!

So, that's it for now. Hope to meet some of you at some Mini / Moke event, e.g. IMMM 2015 (Switzerland) or IMM 2016 (Belgium).....

Vera & Uta

[Doug G]

Welcome to the forum.

Great introduction post.