On name alone you'd assume the JWF Milano is of Italian heritage. It's not. Instead it was part of an Australian culture that saw a raft of one-off sporting cars built out of fibreglass on a variety of chassis. JWF primarily used Austin Seven underpinnings – but not always. Those not familiar with the JWF name may have heard of others in this same industry, such as Bolwell and Buchanan.
Our featured car is a JWF Milano, although some might recognise it as a slightly smaller version of a Ferrari Monza. How much smaller? Well, it's exactly a 5/7 replica. If you're going to copy a car are least JWF mimicked one of the best with the Milano: the Ferrari Monza was a wickedly beautiful Italian.
Most of the JWF Milano cars adopted not only the Seven chassis, but also the modest Seven drivetrain. What was conservative in the Seven was fairly potent in the small, light body. This car, however, went a little bit further than your garden-variety Milano. Nestled neatly under the tiny bonnet of this 1959 Milano is a Chevrolet 283 cubic inch V8, circa 1955. The rear end is from a Datsun 1600. Front brakes are from a HQ Holden while the rear brakes are from a Nissan 240Z and are located inboard, just outside the differential.
The car is owned by Mark Hinton - who inherited it from his father - and spent six years giving the Milano a ground-up restoration between 1997 – 2003. The end result is there for all to see: a car that is a true reflection of the 1950s. If the greatest form of flattery is imitation then this little Milano certainly found the sweet spot. The only compromise Mark has made with the original Milano design is the bonnet bulge. Even the tonneau over the passenger's seat was a Milano option from JFW.
Grunt is run through a Toyota Celica four speed transmission. The wheels are courtesy of a 3-Series BMW. Mark took mister-cars.com for a run in the car. He prefaced the short drive by saying the car was like a `pussy cat'. He did not state what sort of cat: A suburban tabby or King of the Jungle. What we found was something in between. A cheetah perhaps.
Those side pipes are for real, so the deep-throated rumble from the Chevy is just a few centimetres from where you pour yourself into the tight cabin. This is raw, or maybe raucous, motoring. The delivery of power however is smooth. With 220 hp on tap from the 313 cubic inch engine, and the car weighing 930 kg, there is enough torque to potter around in third gear all day. Mind you when Mark applies some right-foot pressure the Milano takes off like another breed of cat: a scalded type.
All too soon our sortie is over and I half-climb, half-scramble from the cockpit, my hair swept back like Elvis's from the buffeting coming over the long bonnet. The car has been campaigned by Mark for several years at local sprint car meetings: Speed on Tweed, Noosa, Warwick and Leyburn, often winning it's class. Folklore has it that Sam Johnson, the J in JWF, a fibreglass manufacturing company based in Sydney, formed a small replica of the Ferrari Monza about the size of an oversized slot car. He liked this car so much he decided to build a 5/7th size replica, which became the Milano. The body was at first designed to suit wheelbases from 2032 to 2108 mm (80 to 83 inches) with a track width of 1168mm, or 46 inches. These dimension immediately suited the Austin Seven `long' chassis, in particular the 1936 to 1938 models.
The Milano met with immediate acceptance. Australians like to build and tinker with their cars. The fibreglass mini-revolution allowed them to play around with cars that could produce serious performance at a reasonable price. It was one thing to hot up an FJ Holden. The fibreglass cars were in another class. The first body was identified as the Milano 750 and soon after this was joined by the Milano 850 to take a 2248mm or 88.5 inch wheelbase and then the Milano 1000 for 2286mm or 90 inch wheelbase. These editions became known as the Series 1 models. Then came the Series 2 models that used the same wheelbase lengths, but had wider bodies to suit cars with wider track widths, up to 1320mm or 52 inches. This gave the Milano a broad appeal with up to eight combinations.
We noticed in Mark Hinton's garage another Milano, this one a later model from 1962, and called the Milano GT. It this car which makes the performance of the Milano roadster seem like a `pussy cat' according to Mark. We fill feature a review of that car at a later date.
JWF produced a number of Monza Milano cars as well as the GT, GT2 and Italia. The cars had a lot of race track success, both here and overseas. Just two GT2's were produced and used Holden 179 cubic inch sixes from the 1963 EH Holden. The GT often used six cylinder Holden engines which were slightly modified. These cars could cover a standing quarter mile in just a tad over 15 seconds and get to 100 km/h in under seven seconds.
During the mid 1960s JWF production of these classic body shapes came to an end and the company continued to work in specialised fibreglass areas far less exciting than the cars, but more likely with greater profitability. While the JWF cars came and went they left a legacy of many races won – and a fair swag of prizemoney accumulating along the way. These cars are today eagerly sought-after by enthusiasts.
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