The MINI Cooper, both the classic and the new version, have long been considered solid choices for road racing, autocrossing, or even rallying—the classic Cooper was a rally winner, of course, and the “MINI” rally trucks have dominated rally raids for years. The little British coupes, however, don’t have much pedigree in drag racing outside of the occasional Honda or even sportbike-engine swap. However, we’re absolutely stunned by this late-model MINI Clubman that showed up at the NMCA’s World Street Finals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, in late August.
We are working to get more details on Ken Herbert’s car, but the healthy lope and enveloping tire smoke let you know this does not have a whimpy turbo four in it. This MINI has been converted to rear-wheel drive with a big block Chevy making enough horsepower to propel it to a 9.0-second run at Norwalk. While the “stretched” Clubman has a bit more wheelbase—100 inches—than the regular Cooper, that’s still a lot of power in a little car.
Watch a short clip of it that the NMCA posted on their YouTube Channel:
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