April 2024:  A thermostat controlled oil cooler has been installed. The Mocal  themostat sandwich plate and Mocal 10 row oil cooler were purchased at Merlin Motorsport (UK).  The braided steel hoses were purchased at Hel Perfomance (UK). Oil temperature is perfectly controlled between 90°C and 110°C. See "OUR CAR - UPGRADES".

 

April 2024: An article on Biota 1971-1-15L in the "Auto Heroes" of April 2024 has been added . See "ARTICLES".

 

November 2023: Enjoyed driving our Biota in the summer. Still improving bay adding a low oil pressure warning light and improving the instrument lighting by LED. See "OUR CAR - UPGRADES".

 

March 2022: A change is required according my website provider. The previous design was no longer supported. This is the reason for the new website design. It is not fully completed but the majority is done.

 

February 2022: An nice Biota historic overview appeared in TKC Magazine. See: "ARTICLES - TKC Magazine January/February 2022".

 

September 2021: Our Biota 1971-1-16L has been filmed including an interview with ourselves for Autovisie See "VIDEO GALLERY" Also an article in the "Autovisie" of October 2021 and an article in "De Telegraaf"of 30 Oktober 2021. See "ARTICLES". Before you know it we will be "famous"and thinking of selling autographs. LOL. Weird experience after all these years. 

 

September 2021: Biota 1971-1-15L is now fully restored by René Sontrop. See "PHOTO GALLERY - FRA" for more information on original, previous and present condition.

 

August 2021: Joined the yearly "Heuvelklim Teuven" A well organized small hill climb event in Belgium. See "VIDEO GALLERY", "LOGBOOK" and "LINKS" for more information.

 

 June 2021: Next project. Replacing the magnetic oil drain plug with a magnetic oil drain plug with an oil temperature transmitter connected to an oil temperature gauge.

Electrical kill switch (including 12 Volt/USB port) installed. Just in case, we hopefully will never need it. See "OUR CAR - UPGRADES".

 

May 2021: Finally Zandvoort race track day organized by the Historische Auto Ren Club (HARC) Enjoyed 3 sessions with our Biota. Cornering was great. Top speed a litte less than the other cars. No problems except a for close encounter with the track gravel. See "VIDEO GALLERY".

Got the slide shows presentations working again via Youtube. See "OUR CAR -  Our Car - Events".

 

April 2021: New smaller less heavy and louder silencer installed. See "OUR CAR - UPGRADES" A new page created "PHOTO GALLERY NL /Brother 2 Brother: A sunny Sunday afternoon meeting between 2 dutch Biota's". Corona proof of course!!! A Mk 1 versus a Mk 1.5. Spot the differences.

 

February 2021: It has been quite a miracle. My mother survived Covid-19 without serious symptoms and now lives happy in an elderly care center.

Looking forward to receiving the vaccine and hoping for a wonderful summer driving our Biota. 

Already the 15 year old tyres have been replaced with fresh road/track rubber and we are looking into a new (louder) exhaust system.

 

January 2021: This week a Dutch Biota came up for sale. See "FOR SALE".

Unfortunately our mother (age 89) got infected with Covid-19. and is transferred to a  specialized care center. For the time being this will be our main concern. The Biota will have to wait until better times.

 

November 2020: Addition of a oil catch can connected to the valve rocker cover. See "OUR CAR -  UPGRADES". Addition of a link to "The Motor Brothers" website  with pictures of the Japanese racing Biota. See "LINKS". Updated "PRODUCTION LISTING".

 

October 2020: This week our Biota passed the APK (MOT/TUV) with flying colors.  This will be the last time ever for this car. In The Netherlands cars older than 50 years are considered "Mobile heritage" and do not require a bi-annual safety check. Weird but true.

A new webpage "FOR SALE"has been added. Biota owners can contact me if they want to sell their Biota. The aim is to keep as much as possible the Biota's on the road.

 

September 2020: Original Vitaloni California side mirrors (as used on Ferrari's and Lancia's) purchased cheap. They were used as first install on our Biota. See "OUR CAR - UPGRADES". 

 

August 2020: Another website page added "HYBRIDS". Have a look. The installed Biota bonnets to a Mini and Mini Marcos.

 

June 2020: Time for an update. By luck I stumbled on a spanish collectors website who had a fake stamp with a Biota on it for sale. I bought it for 0.23 € at the auction and made a new web page: "PHOTO GALLERY ESP" have a look. Our Biota is still in working order but is undergoing some repair work. The SU HS6 carburettor has been overhauled. The flexible part of the exhaust is leaking and a new one needs to be welded in. We probably replace the complete exhaust with a smaller damper to get out some more decibels.

 

February 2019: Via the website I was contacted by Japanese "TIPO Dramatic Car Magazine" who requested information about a Japanese Biota Mk 2 in racing outfit. The magazine provided us very kindly with a hard copy of the magazine. In our opinion after detailed comparison this is the original racing Biota with racing number 789. The article and translation of the text is placed in "ARTICLES". Photos are placed in "PHOTO GALLERY JP" Another little mystery solved thanks to TIPO.

 

September 2018: Top cover installed. Small enough to store inside the car and easy to setup in case of rain. For the foto's see"OUR CAR - UPGRADES". Article added from the magazine "Het Automobiel" see "ARTICLES - Het Automobiel December 2010",

 

July 2018: Extensive cracked frame repair performed. This is a structural week point of the frame. The cracks have been welded and on top of that a 4 mm thick steel insert and a frame tube overlay were welded in. For the foto's see"OUR CAR - UPGRADES".

 

June 2018: A new web page THE PROTOTYPE(S) PUZZLE was added with focus on the early Biota's.

 

February 2018: Biota SFR943J: Additional photos added and video from its early days. Thanks to Kane & Carl Short. See "PHOTO GALLERY UK" and "VIDEO GALLERY". A new Biota Mk 2 with license plate XET855K traced back. No knowledge on the current status and location. See "PHOTO GALLERY".

 

October 2017: Installed two hood pins to secure the sub-bonnet. For the foto's see "OUR CAR - UPGRADES".

 

September 2017: Installed two new side rear view mirrors. For the foto's see "OUR CAR - UPGRADES".

 

August 2017: Installed re-manufactured Biota badges on the sides and the backside of our Biota. Also installed a smaller centre rear view mirror. For the foto's see "OUR CAR - UPGRADES".

 

April 2017: Spent a day on the race track "Zandvoort' and were interviewed by "Panorama.nl". For the video see "VIDEO GALLERY".

 

March 2017: The cooling system was improved with a new high output waterpump from "Mini Spares" and silicon coolant tubing from "The Autosport Company". The system was cleaned with "Wynn's cooling system flush" before a refill with new coolant.

 

January 2017: A new web page "PHOTO GALLERY RACE" was added. Enjoy!

 

December 2016: Biota 1971-5-17L / FA-91-80 is sold to Belgium. Biota 16-6-26 / 06-38-XD will be put on sale soon. New photo's are added for Biota GRC188N.

 

November 2016: A new web page was added "OUR CAR / Our car  - History".

 

October 2016: A new web page was added "OUR CAR / Our car  - Events".

 

September 2016: We passed the APK (MoT) re-inspection after failing for the first time and are road legal again for 2 years.

 

April 2016: A new webpage "Articles" was added to the website.

 

March 2016: Biota GRC 188N is sold and has a new owner in the UK.

 

February 2016: Disposable "Fireater"extinguisher purchased from "Pro-Racing" and fitted (see Our car/Upgrades).

 

January 2016: New fuel tank installation finalized. New chairs fitted (see Our car/Upgrades).

 

December 2015: The website was updated with slide shows. Biota TMO 513 with chassis number 71-618-L appeared again in Belgium. Support bars for the new chairs in our Biota are now welded in thanks to the help of a professional welder.

 

November 2015: A new racing Biota in Japan was discovered via the Maximum Mini website. Is this the restored UK racing Biota, a customized Biota or a new built replica? Time will tell. Have a look at the Photo gallery JP.

 

October 2015: A link to a recently posted Youtube video of a Japanese Biota is placed in the video gallery. Completion of the fuel tank installation on our car is almost finished. Preparation to install the new seats is now also ongoing.

Recently purchased in Latvia a Biota badge manufactured in Russia. No idea why anyone in Russia would be interested in producing Biota badges.

 

July 2015: Another Mk 2 Biota NAB867K showed up in the UK. No more details are known yet.

 

June 2015: Upgrade of our Biota has been on the backburner for a couple of months. We both are very much occupied with our jobs leaving not much time. Another Biota owner in the UK contacted us. It is a Mk 1 Biota SFR943J (HC70/4/1) and a photo is added to the website.

 

February 2015: Our Biota; The new frame for the fuel tank is installed and a new fuel cap was purchased. Only the fitting needs to be finalized. Also 2 new seats purchased from "Intatrim" via "Kitcar collection" (see Our car/Upgrades) and now the best fit and attachment needs to be sought out.

 

June 2014: Two photo's added of Biota NWJ482K to the photo gallery. Photo added of Biota MWU IIIK (1971-8-19). Expanded the diashow with more photo's. Another Biota NKO 221M was discovered in the UK. This car is for sale. Photo's are added to the photo gallery.

 

May 2014: Biota's 1969-1-1, 1970-5-3, 1970-9-8 and 1970-8-10 have been sold to new owners in the United Kingdom. Photo's added of Biota WWT 481J (1970-8-10) to the photo gallery. Another Biota showed up via the website: 741218 (GOU 547 N).

 

April 2014: Photo's added of Biota MWU IIIK (1971-8-19) to the photo gallery.

 

March 2014: The "Documentation NL" web page was added with the help of Rene Sontrop. The Biota with registration 45-56-FH turned out to be the same car as Biota with registration 17-30-RL. Registration 45-56-FH is a temporary registration used by car dealers. Supposedly two Biota's were exported to Norway. No information is available. Additional photo's added of Biota GRC188N after respray also the chassis number is identified (37).

 

February 2014: Added the diashow to the homepage instead of a single picture. A "new" Biota was identified in the UK (1971-8-19).

 

January 2014: Added the Bing translator widget to the website allowing on-line translation.

 

November 2013: More details added to the Production Listing: Car numbers 1, 3, 8 and 10.

 

August 2013: We purchased a rectangular aluminium fuel ltank from "obp Motorsport" to replace the ill fitting item from a mini.

 

June 2013: A "new" Biota was located in the UK (1971-9-21).

 

November 2012:  Addition of new web page "Our car - Restoration".

 

October 2012:      Located the where abouts of 5 Biota's this month. We passed the APK (MoT) inspection with flying  colours and are road legal for the next two years.

 

September 2012: Our car in prep for APK (MoT) inspection; minor fixes to be done.

 

August 2012:        Initiation of this website