Mini Jem

Dizzy Addicott's Mini Dart project was sold to Jeremy Delmar-Morgan who re-christened it the Mini Jem. It is tempting to assume that the name had something to do with Jem Marsh, but this was not the case.

The Jem's career was shorter and even bumpier than that of the Mini Marcos. It was initially produced by Delmar-Morgan's Jem (Developments) Ltd. in North London, before being taken over by Robin Statham and moved to his Fellpoint company in the Buckinghamshire village of Penn.

In 1969 Statham made a number of improvements. The body shape was modified, with the windscreen being set further back and inclined less steeply, with corresponding changes to the door shape, and the roof line was slightly raised to give more headroom. An interesting feature of the Mk. II is the lack of external door handles. Access is gained by lowering the window which is secured by a panel lock, and reaching for the inside handle. The option of opening rear quarter lights on the Mk. II was usually taken up.

Taylor Jems.
Mk. I cars were made under licence by John Taylor in South Australia who sold them mostly for racing.

Craig Williams writes:
"I think that they were more commonly called TaylorSpeed Jems by Taylors as that was their trademark at the time in the late 60s. The particular body shell I have was a very late production model (1969) for Taylors and does vary slightly from the English produced models. The rear window has been trimmed square at the bottom rather than the more rounded look of the English shells. All the locally produced cars I have seen feature this style. The cars were laid up in a surfboard factory in Adelaide called JR's Surf Shop. I have seen some photos of the early cars being built and let's just say that industrial health and safety was not really an issue in 1968!"

The moulds used to produce the Taylor Jems are still extant and could be used to produce replacement panels if needed.

(source: minimarcos)

MINI JEM CARS mini mki 68

Mini Jem Mk I, 1968. (photo source: Minijem)