Another Mini that has had the Bill Richards Racing touch applied is the Superb Arden 8 port Fuel injected Mini Cooper owned by Simon O’Sullivan. The car is a multiple National Concourse winner and a star of the Ultimate Mini Mayhem DVD. Described by Bill Sollis and Ian Stent as “perfect” the superb Mini has been built by Simon over a 12 year period having had a complete nut and bolt rebuild it has now covered 2900 miles from new.

The car has a Bill Richards Racing built 1380cc engine with an Arden 8 Port head fuel injected with Jenvey throttle bodies all controlled by an Emerald K3 ECU producing over 120 bhp at the wheels. Simon spent time with Bill Richards Racing in the workshop during the final assmembly of the engine as all customers are welcome to do. The car also features superb 10″ MB split rims, a unique side exit under floor exhaust, carbon fibre front end, boot floor, boot lid, custom trimmed leather seats and interior, rear alloy beam axle, KAD radius arms, rear anti roll bar – this list goes on. For further details of this superb machine click here .

My mini started to play up a bit as mini’s do, so i paid Bill Richards Racing a visit to see how i could improve the car. Bill and Lee were so helpful. The work started off with having a set of new Hi lows with red spot cones, GAZ shocks, KAD rear camber set up fitted so it would get round all of the twisty bits on rails. Then the engine began packing up so i had a good chat with Bill to say what i wanted out of the car. He set about building me up a 1380 track day engine  twin HS4’s big piper BP 300 CAM.

It works fine until you hit the loud peddle then it pulls like a train from 3800-7000. With the straight cut drop link gearbox fitted twin pin diff. It purrs with the power on time.

Everytime it makes me and Karen smile, everytime we take her out it’s as though she isn’t so humble anymore, it’s a bit of an eye opener.

Many Thanks to Bill Richards Racing Team for the good friendly advice every time

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.

This is my Mini that I bought as a Mini City, it was an MOT failure. After talking to Bill it was decided to make it into my own project so it was stripped and Bill Richards Racing had the job of re-building it. All rotten panels were replaced and the shell was upgraded to take the engine that Bill was putting together (one of Bills 1380 fast road engines). Before the engine was fitted the shell was sent to Bill Richards Racing sponsors MC Motors to be sprayed Alfa Yellow with a black mirror roof – what a job!

With the paintwork complete Bill Richards Racing reassembled the car not over looking anything. It looks great with a retro dash, has a very comfortable interior and it runs superbly. What a car! A big thanks to Bill Richards Racing, it’s a great car -even better than expected!

After a five year lay off for work and a re-shell of the previous car, we are back sprinting in both the ACSMC Central Southern Sprint Challenge and RAF Sprint Challenge at Barkston Heath in Lincolnshire. Along with the replacement shell, the new car now sports Hoosier Sprint slicks, electric water pump, programmable ignition timing and blue flames down the side!

Our first outing at Rushmoor Arena near Aldershot resulted in a third in class, with times dropping consistently throughout the day as I got used to the new car and slicks. The engine was as solid & as reliable as ever, I am hoping to rediscover my driving skills to cope with the power advantage the Bill Richards Racing engine seems to bring!

The body was completely stripped down to a bare shell and all rust removed with some new panels being used. The car was then sent off in for a respray inside & out in a BL’s 1970’s Pageant Blue with a white roof. Grille was straightened, cleaned & repainted mat black.

The old rubber cones were discarded & new Spax coil-over shocks and springs fitted. Negative camber arms & brackets front and back, new copper brake pipes & stainless steel goodridge flexi brake hoses, Mini Sport Superfin alloy brake drums & Mini Sport 4 pot alloy calipers and grooved discs fitted to take wood & picket aches & wheels fitted with Yokohama Tyres – 165/60 R12 – A-539.

After speaking to Bill Richards at one day at Brands Hatch the original engine was taken off to Bill Richards work shop for a good overhaul. This was stripped, cleaned and rebuilt with new parts. Head skimmed, ported and hardened vale seat added, new valves, guides & a 1.5 full roller rocker. The block was skimmed, Piper cam kit (265), +60 pistons, new crank. The gearbox was recondition and heavy duty differential used. Arden Distributor & Aldon Electronic Ignition fitted, a full stainless steel exhaust systems (RC50) & a stainless steel Maniflow LCB manifold wrapped in Copper Exhaust Wrap. Alloy inlet manifold and HIF44 1.75″ SU carburetor fitted. The remote servo was replace with a new on as the old was unrepairable (this was originally fitted new 8 months after when the car was originally bought back in 1975).

After the car was finish it then taken down to Bill for the final turn up and setup.

My thanks to Bill Richards for an excellent job well done.

Kim Wratten is another satisified Bill Richards Racing customer whose car is very close to their heart: “This is my mini special ‘Piglet’, Piglet is the name she came with and we kept the name as it suits the car, the colour is raspberry red (pink, not that my husband will admit it).

We bought her about a year ago as a nearly finished project, she has lots of modifications including a 1320 cc with an uprated cam, a lovely sounding dtm exhaust and new herritage shell, roll cage, wood and picket dash, front nudge bar with spotlights… The list could go on, she is my little project and has some small finishing touches to be completed. Thank you, Kim.”

Mary Grinhams car is a Maguire Mini and is one of the first of the space frame Minis built by John Maguire. The car was acquired by Mary in 1987 and had previously been used as a sprint and hillclimb car after its early career as a circuit racer in the hands of Steve Pengally with a Ford twin cam engine.

Since its purchase by Mary the car has been maintained by Bill Richards Racing and it is now powered by a BRR A series engine. Mary has enjoyed considerable success with the car, the reliability and power delivered by its BRR powerplant ensuring strong results throughout the years. The most recent accolade achieved by the car was winning the Class B title in the 2008 BARC Intermarque League with Mary enthusing: “Thanks Bill, your engine never missed a beat.”

Monaco resident Geoff O’Nion is a regular Bill Richards Racing customer – Geoff has a historic specification rally Mini and a ELVA 100 Formula Junior car both powered by Bill Richards Racing engines. The Formula Junior car is pictured here racing around the famous Monaco Grand Prix circuit – Geoff has possibly the most spectacular “home” race of any Bill Richards Racing customer! The engine in this car is a 1098 BMC engine originally from an Austin Healy Sprite, this unit has been race tuned by Bill Richards Racing and the car is a front runner in its class in terms of power and performance.

Geoffs Mini is used in Historic rally events and ‘marathons’ all over Europe, the car has proved itself time and again to be both robust and reliable – a testament to the quality of the build of both car and engine. Geoffs comment on the car: “My utmost thanks on a superbly prepared car the performance of which is credit to your workmanship.”

In addition to his own cars Geoff can regularly be seen at the wheel of the Bill Richards Racing 5 Port Hire car, jetting in to compete alongside Bill at SEMSEC meetings before dashing off to catch the return flight home! A truly committed racer!

The car was bought two and a half years ago as a rotten Mini City E. Since then it has been completely stripped down and rebuilt, with new wings, doors, bonnet and boot. The car then had a bare metal respray in Volkswagen Satin Silver. New front and rear subframes have been fitted, new metal brake pipes, goodridge flexi brake hoses, Tarox 6 pot callipers and discs, new steering rack, Gaz coilover shocks and springs. The suspension, front and rear is fully adjustable, camber and castor. The car has been fully rewired and has 16 fuses and 8 relays internally fitted, with the addition of a one off dash/console custom made for the car and Demon Tweeks gauges fitted along with a shift light.

This left the car in need of a suitable power plant – in the form of a Mini Cooper engine and box. Bill Richards brought it back to life and it is now a 1380 engine, 105BHP with a straight cut box which is awesome! The mini has a flowing union jack airbrushed on the front nearside and has split rim Minilite wheels 7×13 and fibreglass arches. Bill Richards described the Mini as ‘an animal with polite manners’ and this suits the car perfectly. My thanks to Bill Richards for an excellent job well done.