The Doppelganger
Bastardised Rating : 9.5

They say that everyone has a look-alike somewhere else in the world, and the same apparently applies to cartoon logos! If you are a member of the BMC then you'll know what I'm talking about, otherwise you'd better have a look at the BMC T-Shirt logo here.

Owner & builder, Paul Lopus, from New York, USA, has built himself a Minor that is as close to a Bastardised Rating of 10 as I've yet seen. I can't give it a ten because the bodyshell is still predominantly Minor-like, but that is small beans compared to the changes the rest of the car has undergone.

It started out as a 1960 Morris Minor 1000. Four years work (so far) have got it to this stage. And what is it made of? Well, it starts with a 2" x 3" tube chassis with a 10 point roll cage on top. Then there's the Chevy 350cid V8 with Weiand blower pushing in the air. Behind that there's a Turbo 350 auto 'box with a 2800rpm Stahl converter and, further back still, the rear end is a Ford 9" with 3.70 gear ratio and a 4 bar suspension to hold it in place.

And that's just the running gear. Then there's the stainless steel gas tank, wheelie bars (which I'm sure they will be needed!), front independent suspension, engine mounts, transmission mount, and too many other parts to mention, all fabricated and built by Paul Lopus, who is also part owner of Metal Parts Manufacturing in Remsen, New York (that's handy). It doesn't stop there either. Add to all that the tilt steering column, race style bucket seats and a Simpson 5 point seat harness and you've got yourself a bonafide Pro-Street Rod Minor.

And you thought the logo was just an artist's wet dream .... :)