My mini was bought for hill climb and track days and although purchased fully loaded it seemed short on power from the engine specification. After many conversations with different engine builders I settled with Bill Richards who promptly stripped the engine only to find it was just a fast road unit.

So the decision was made for Bill to build me one of his race 1380s, spec to include full race cam, 1.5 roller rockers, one of Bills 5 port race heads and an ultra light flywheel and race paddle clutch.

This was all fitted to my straightcut gearbox to which Bill had added a Quaife diff and a 3.7 final drive to handle the new power. Lee then set about the suspension and expertly dialled in all the correct angles. When the car was finished it was taken to Peter Baldwins rolling road were we saw 127bhp – Bill had suggested that it would make between 125hp and 130hp, good guess Bill ?

The car is great but I think I might need some of Bills tuition with my driving as I’m not quite a racing driver at the moment. I would describe Bill as a can of beans – “you get wot it says on the tin” I AM SO VERY HAPPY – thank you Bill.