Genuine original Minilite wheels were absent from the market from around 1982 until 1989 and sadly missed. By early 1989 I had many samples of my own plus customers original Minilites wheels in magnesium and alloy so I started the pursuit of getting the old 10″ ST wheel with the wide flat face outer edge rim remanufactured which everybody decided had looked the best and was also adopted by Leyland Special Tuning. There were only a few alloy wheel manufacturers available and fewer willing to take on the project but Frank Williams the owner of Two Gates wheels who manufactured the original Mamba wheels in the 80’s agreed but said it would need slight modifications from the 20 year old original wheels to get it through the tough safety approval requirements and certification required for a wheel of the late 80’s when the wheels are made in the UK. All the latest Minilites made in the UK are slightly different to the 60’s originals for this reason. Unbeknown to me Minilite under new ownership would make a brief start producing wheels in 1989 but collapsed in December 1992 owned by the late David Lee who held the Trade Mark 1415893. After much deliberation I decided to call it Minilife and had it drawn up by Two gates so the emblem would look like Minilite when viewed quickly on a wheel although it was promoted as a Minilite replica. Naughty ? or not so clever. The wheel was originally cast with a rough finish to represent the original look of the magnesium finish but during wheel production it gradually started to obtain a smooth cleaner look of the modern day wheels so I decided to convert the tooling to smooth in 2004 for C-21A1968 all silver wheel and its options with diamond cut outer rims.

RUBERY OWEN were the main wheel test technology division and manufacturers of the Rostyle wheels as used on the Mini derivatives plus other cars. The name originating from their initials RO and their own STYLE style even though the design originated in the USA for their muscle cars. Rotech Laboratories Ltd., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rubery Owen.

When Mini Spares new wheels were first used by some racers and road users we had reassuring reports that when they burst a tyre after hitting something the wheel got them to safety without shattering or disintegrating like some other wheels available on the market. The wheels used by appendix K car racers do not require wheel arch extensions and a special feature added was the tapered washers and nuts for better centralising of the wheel although it adds to cost as they are now made in stainless steel. I only opted for alloy wheel production, as magnesium although lighter was not only very expensive but had limitations to life as they deteriorate with low corrosion resistance and require crack testing after certain usage or time. To make our wheels special for arduous use we use the special tapered washers for better centralising of the wheels along with the domed nuts in stainless steel hence making them better but more expensive than our competitors versions. The original magnesium Minilites were used by Special Tuning on the Minis as they were a stronger wheel and cooled better and homologated in 1967 mainly for the Monte Carlo rally cars. The first 5.5″x10″ Minilites used by ST were gold. ST also used the “knock on” Minilite wheels with a peg system to gain advantage on tyre changes sometimes on front wheels only. The wheel shown below used a single octagon nut but some types had 2 or 3 wing type spinners.

Originally known as the “Minilife wheel” Mini Spares were forced to change the name by BMW even though we proved we had started the name and product before they ever got involved with Rover in January 1994. To save a long and lengthy legal battle which we could or should have won our solicitors advised against taking on the power and assets of such a financial monster. After signing a BMW co-existence agreement between us in Dec 2014 they eventually came out with their own “Mini Lifestyle” range of parts and accessories but they could not stop us selling Minilite wheels which had the trademark 1415893 existing. Mini Spares are the sole authorised dealer for the new genuine Minilite company 10″ and 12″ mini size wheels. Previously in 1995 Midland Wheel Services owner Chris Brown tried to revoke the trade mark Minilite saying the term or word had become generic with many people and companies calling their wheels Minilight, Mini-lite or Superlite etc. The court case finished 17th Nov 1998 so my naming it Minilife had avoided any confusion until BMW made us rename it or stop manufacture. As our new current wheel is a copy used by Leyland ST and BL Heritage owned the trade mark I was allowed to use the ST logo. Hence, it is now sold and branded as the ST wheel since December 2014 and the company Minilife Ltd which was registered in 1990 was closed in January 2015.

It appears that the 8 spoke Rose Petal wheel from 1959 as used on John Cooper’s T51 Formula 1 type might well have been used as a basis for Minilite wheels and the sleeker spoke lines and especially around the bolt holes was probably where the science and use of metals was probably applied as seen evident on the original 1960s Minilite. The Formula 1 wheel might well have had to manage more stress with rear end drive plus a 2.5 litre 4 cylinder race power engine. We believe the Minilite wheel for mini was looked at in 1961/2 by John Ford who helped in the design of the 649 mini race camshaft under Eddie Maher and Derek Wooton from Vandervell the engine bearing manufacturers along with Derek Power the owner of Minilite.

All Cooper and Rose Petals are very similar to original Minilites and by use of materials and design Tech Del produced his own lightweight wheels. Tech Del also produced racing parts such as Magnesium bell housing gearbox casing for U2 racers and Vandwall F1 team. Tech Del Wheels were gravity die cast in Magnesium Alloy in the Sterling Die Foundry,Nuneaton near Coventry. They first started with Mini wheels and went right through the range of wheels for cars and motor sports. At that time Tech- Del Ltd. were located in Chiswick, London and Sterling Metals were part of the Birmid Group in the Midlands and massive producers of engine blocks, cylinder head castings, plus alloy products and other parts for BMC.