[Huey]

Pull to the left, what about the pull to the right




Paul Swift does his thing in a new Mini


See Report at
Pistonheads.com

[karmuze]

Some questions for someone who has seen the act

Has anyone seen the Swifts do this on the left side wheels too? I think it would be more difficult driver side up, but not impossible. Don't they have to modify the differential to do this? At what speed can they travel on two wheels?

[BruceK]

Quote:

Originally posted by karmuze
Some questions for someone who has seen the act

Has anyone seen the Swifts do this on the left side wheels too? I think it would be more difficult driver side up, but not impossible. Don't they have to modify the differential to do this? At what speed can they travel on two wheels?

I saw Russ Swift at the Mini40 Birthday Party at Silverstone in 1999. Of course he and his team were driving classic Minis at that time - but I think I remember seeing him only driving with the driver side down - I'll have to rewatch the videos I took. I did see him randomly take 3 people from the crowd, install them as passengers and put then his Mini up on two wheels with them aboard like there was no difference in how the car balanced at all. Amazing! I'd say with classic Minis, he never went more than 20 mph, but that may have been limited by how close the audience was to the stunts.

Also, he did confirm that the stunt Minis needed locked differentials to go up on two wheels. Since the MINI does not have a LSD, I'm sure the same applies.

[karmuze]

BruceK Thanks for the info

I sure would like to learn to handbrake parallel park my MINI without having to use reverse. I wonder if Russ gives lessons?

I checked the Russ Swift website to check if there was a specific date listed for his US appearance and found this:

FOREIGN EVENTS:
19-25 February Mini Launch San Francisco

When I checked previously, he had March listed for his US appearance with no specific date noted. I thought that was interesting, because in the Coming to America thread, someone reported a March 3rd MINI sales convention in SF. Hmmm, I wonder if MINI USA threw out a red herring to keep the rif-raff out of the way, and the US MINI press launch is scheduled earlier than previously rumored?

Does anyone in SF know what the likely location might be for the MINI press launch?

[karmuze]

Since Mr. Swift & Co are going to be in San Francisco next week for the MINI press introduction, I was thinking that it would be a good opportunity to recreate the chase scene from the Lt. Frank Bullitt 1968 film. Only this time use the new 2002 Bullitt Mustang and the MINI Cooper on the streets of S.F. That could create a (choose one) neat, far-out, cool, phat film clip that could be used in a MINI T.V. spot. And Mr. Swift's ability to drive a Cooper on two wheels would add more excitement than even the original chase scene displayed.
So make a Bold Statement or be Politically Correct--which will it be MINI USA?

[karmuze]

Checked the Russ Swift website just now and found the S.F. appearance for last week had disappeared. To be replaced by:
Future engagements include:
March 26th- Mini Launch - New York
Does anyone know if this is a private MINI people only affair or is it possible for the public to attend as well?
I find it hard to believe that RS would take three weeks to ship his cars over and back, and not schedule any public shows while here. I might like to see his MINI show if it is available for public viewing.

[Apial]

Just to confirm that Mr Swift does use a modified dif-locked MINI, 45 lb psi tyre pressure, drive on the RHS wheels, and take 4 passengers, the 4th being installed in the boot (trunk) head facing down. His handbrake had sticky tape wound around it, presumably to prevent his hand slipping off.

The gearbox on his car sounds like it has already done a million miles and I wouldn't recommend that you buy his car.