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Another one of the very best known 60's tuning firms! Throughout the 60's TAURUS were another of the tuning firms who realised the value of both Advertising and even more importantly Competition success. Their tuning developments were firmly based in practical competition experience. Sadly, almost totally forgotten now, Taurus were one of the genuine prime movers in early Mini Tuning, starting out from small mews premises in Earl's Court (London) it soon grew to offer all the alternatives you would expect including new cars, converted cars and a huge range of high quality accessories under their own name. They even did engine work for the likes of Radford & Hooper. Although relying on 3rd party supply for a lot of their day to day accessories they did introduce a lot of interesting products of their own. Probably the most interesting being the "Taurus Oil Stat" they were the first company to offer a small oil trhermostat suitable for road cars. Details of which can be found further down this page. I hope you enjoy this section because, in 2006 all Mini fans have heard of the likes of Downton & Speedwell, where as the 3rd company of the "Big 3" seems to have gone forever! |
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Memories of Taurus. I have recently been contacted by former Taurus employee Richard Gwynne-Evans who has been kind enough to write down a few of his memories of working for Taurus during their hey day. I am very grateful to Richard for taking the time to share these memories. |
Taurus Sales Brochures
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The New Taurus Catalogue (1965) The introduction to the first Taurus catalogue published in 1965 |
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Taurus Catalogue 1966. Not the most comprehensive catalogue, but this is more evidence that Taurus were the "Funkiest" tuners of the 60's. Check out the crazy 60's artwork. Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, |
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Taurus Accessories The flier opposite falls more into the spars and accessories category, featuring a wide range of "Bolt on" goodies for a whole range of different vehicles. This flier was supplied by AndyB. |
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Taurus Tuning . A full set of data sheets. Taurus were one of the first companies that realised the futility of publishing an all encompassing catalogue. Instead they produced a series of data sheets for their full range of products. Therefore if someone wanted info on a specific item, they could send that or if the customer wanted a full seet they could send the whole lot. This must have saved a heck of a lot of money. Reproduced here is a full set of data sheets from around 1968. |
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Taurus Performance Cylinder Heads. Taurus flier on their modified cylinder heads for A series vehicles. |
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Taurus Mini Conversions. Data sheet on Taurus "Mini Conversions" |
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Taurus Mini Conversion Price List Jan 1963. The revised price list for a range of conversions suitable for the Mini range of cars dated 1963. |
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Performance Engine Services. PES were the Taurus agents in Birmingham, this is a copy of one of their promotional fliers. Their main catalogue was simply a standard Taurus one that had been stamped with the PES details. |
Taurus Reviews
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Taurus Tested A single page review from 1963, this gives a good overview of the products and ideas coming from Taurus in the early days. |
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Taurus Tuned Mini & Cooper. Another later single page review now including modifications for the Cooper as well as the 848 Mini. |
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A Taurus Mini Cooper. This is a truly glowing review of the "new" Taurus Stage 1 conversion for the Mini Cooper. Once again proving that Taurus really were one of the prime movers in the tuning of cars during the 1960's it is a real shame that they have been almost totally eclipsed by the likes of Downton & Speedwell whos products were only marginally, if any better at all than the products offered by this great London based company. One of my real favourites! |
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Taurus Tuned Cooper S & 1100 Another review opf a couple of excellent Taurus converted cars. |
Fliers For Individual Models
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Taurus Stage 1 Tuning Kits. The full specification for the Taurus Stage 1 Kits for 848 engines, from 1965. |
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Taurus "Continental" Touring Conversions. The full specification for the Taurus Stage 1 Kits for 848 "Continental" conversions specifically designed for Motorway cruising. Its hard to imagine now that most cars in the 60's were simply not up to travelling at "Motorway" speeds for any length of time, is it?. |
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Taurus "Special" Products. The early range of "Special Products" including shock absorbers, valve springs etc. |
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Taurus Tuning For Your Cooper S. This is the real deal, all the tuning equipment for your "New" Mini Cooper S. This "No nonsense" flier promotes a whole range of tuning parts specifically for the Mini Cooper S. Thanks to E Preiswerk. |
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Taurus Tuning for Mini Cooper. A similar flier to the one above, only for the Cooper & not the S. A very simple flier, but a surprisingly comprehensive selection of products. |
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Taurus Tuning for Mini Cooper & S. A later version of the flier above. This apears to be a later version of the very simple flier above primarily aimed at the Cooper & S variants. The more sharp eyed of you will notice that the car on the front is however a standard MK2 non Cooper model. The photo is a standard publicity shot from BMC. This picture and the Cheshire address allow us to date the flier to 1969. Thanks to Simon Wheatcroft for sending me a copy of this excellent little flier. |
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MG Range Flier . |
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Taurus Tuning For The "Harry Potter" Anglia. Was it Taurus who made Harry Potters Anglia Fly? Maybe not, but they did make some Anglia's feel like they might. |
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Taurus Tuning For Your Cooper S. A comprhensive review of all the equipment offered for Mini Cooper S's in 1966. This ads up to quite a list. |
Various Taurus Letters & Letterheads
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Taurus Letterhead . Taurus were originally situated in London. This is a copy of their letterhead from that address. |
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Taurus Letterhead . Another Taurus letterhead, this time dated 1966. |
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Taurus Letterhead . Taurus were originally situated in London, but in 1968 they moved the entire operation up to Cheshire. This is a copy of the later Cheshire address.
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Taurus Letterhead 1971. After the mover to the north, Taurus went into receivership and moved yet again to Wimbourne in Dorset, by 1971.
This review gives the DETAILS, and there is another letterhead for this period opposite. |
