8 minute read
EVERYDAY HEDONISM
Custom carbon dash and a teeny-tiny steering wheel!
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Cunningly integrated bike controls
five years, but it by no means makes this heathen of the classic culture easy or comfortable to comprehend.
NEW BEGINNINGS
The story here really starts twenty years after the car left the factory, with an extremely vibrant MOT report, where the car acquired more failures than advisories and was described as ‘so bad it wouldn’t see the road again’. Too attached to send it to the scrappers, the owner left it outside, seemingly only cementing its fate of cola cans and oven trays. Cue Craig Painter’s entrance in 2015, an old racing friend of the owner. The plan all along was a Z Cars conversion, so when Craig was shown the rotten boot f loor, he assured “That won’t be an issue - I need a hole there anyway.” What followed was a meticulous process of removing anything with a hole, making way for new parts and panels everywhere. The intention was that the shell remained metal, rather than giving way to a fully fibreglass solution. However, the Z Cars conversion meant that it wouldn’t be the usual shell restoration, with f loors being cut to give way to where the spaceframe would go. Being one of the precorporate rebirth kits, this was going to
‘Woo! Get you some of that!’
Minimalist seats suit superleggera vibe be undertaken by Craig himself. For those that are immersed in Z Cars history you’ll note that 2015 was the wrong time to start a Z Cars build; Craig had already placed an order and paid for the kit when the company ceased trading in the later months of the year. Following a phone call direct to the company owner Chris Allanson, the kit was collected from the now bleaklooking warehouse and, fortunately, most of what was needed was there. The spaceframe kit runs from the front of the car all the way to the back, and once all built it’s slotted in from the back forwards. “Once it’s in, it’s in. If I need to work on it, I can go through the windows,” and Craig is right. The rear windows are all easily removable Perspex, and the boot is easily removed too. What at first appears to be a claustrophobic job reminiscent of an MPI engine bay suddenly becomes a fairly open space. The top half of the bulkhead also pops out, allowing for further access. The suspension, provided by Z Cars as part of the kit, is fully adjustable. After setting it up to the best of his ability, Craig then outsourced some help to perfect the setup at Martin O’Connell Racing. Seeing the car set up, even they struggled to comprehend how this 608kg spaceframe piece of racing equipment would ever be roadworthy, but after an MOT in 2019 it was officially ready to go. However, the story doesn’t end here. The car spent the next two years in primer due to that little thing that happened in 2020, and
Quaife Z Cars ‘box is a tasty bit of kit
only managed to be fully painted in 2021. That brings us to the current look. Quantum Grey, an Audi colour, covers the body with exceptions to arches, roof and side vents. The boot, rear valance and bumpers are carbon, giving a depth of texture, and purposeful hints to the guts of the car. These hints continue, with the quick-release vented bonnet, one of my personal favourite touches due to the harmonising of both form and function.
FIT AND FINISH
What you must realise is that beneath the brutal façade of a chopped-up pitbull of a Mini there is a real sense of quality.
No front engine means superior cooling opportunities
No part of this car has gone without immense thought, and as Craig explains this to me there’s proof in the pudding, from the alloy Kirkey bucket seats to the immaculate faces on the wheels. While on the topic of the wheels, the corners are stuck to the ground by a set of Nankang Sportnex AR-1, wrapped around thirteen-inches of Force Racing SLR wheels. The theory here is that it’s the closest thing to a race tyre while still being able to cope with roads, and are described as 90% track and 10% road. After a short, terrifying lap of the block I can tell you that it sticks to the f loor like cooked pasta to a wall. That pasta moves quickly too, with 200bhp of Japanese grunt behind it. The chosen 1300 Hayabusa conversion is rarer, due to having a six-speed sequential gearbox rather than the more common chaindrive alternative. Craig also wanted to retain a lot of the Hayabusa equipment, hence the dials in the dashboard. The utilisation of these is ideal, as the cluster holds built-in diagnostics and warning lights, rev counter and shift light, and original Hayabusa speedo. The speedo
‘If I win, I get a caravan. And the boys get a pair of them shoes...’
runs off the output shaft, making it extremely accurate. The car also retains the mode selector underneath, which has three options: cruising mode, unrestricted mode and rain mode, which reduces output in the lower gears making the car more practical and usable. Usability is something Craig cherishes, and is the reason he has chosen not to chase higher power output figures: “It’s lively, but incredibly usable. It starts every time and I don’t want to jeopardise that by messing with the engine.” When it comes to getting it stopped, the front has the Z Cars f loating 230mm vented disc brakes, clamped in by Wilwood calipers. The back of the car is a different story with a single disc from none other than a Citroën Saxo, but the exciting bit is the adjustable nature of the brakes. Via a dial mounted to the cage next to the driver, you can easily alter the bias between the front and back of the car to suit use. “It isn’t something that gets adjusted often, but it’s great to have the opportunity to if I see fit.” The idea at the moment isn’t for regular track day thrashing, but it’s evident Craig has ensured that if those plans change it won’t require another laborious process of the car being taken off the road for months on end.
FUTURE PLANS
That said, this isn’t the end of the road for the car. The week we met up Craig took delivery of an automatic fire extinguisher kit, which he intends to plumb in over the winter months, as well as looking at fitting a custom carbon undertray to keep the bottom of the car protected. It isn’t large things, but small refinements that will evolve this car into its final stages. He isn’t scared to use it either, and speaks of events he plans on getting it to before the year is out such as Coleshill Breakfast meets, or going further afield for larger events such as Mini in the Park. My tip? Don’t assume you’re about to be passed by a motorbike heading to national events. That screaming noise might be coming from the wrong end of one of Britain’s most beloved icons.
TECH SPEC
BODY Restored steel shell, carbon fibre boot, carbon rear valance, carbon bumpers, removable Perspex windows, Audi Quantum Grey ENGINE Suzuki Hayabusa 1300 SUSPENSION Z Cars fully adjustable setup TR ANSMISSION Quaife 6-speed sequential gearbox BR AKES Z C ar s 230 m m ve nte d disc front setup with Wilwo o d c alip e r s , cus tom single Citro ë n S axo rear disc conve r sion WHEELS AND T YRES 13” Force Racing SLR wheels, Nankang Sportnex AR-1 tyres INTERIOR Alloy Kirkey racing seats, Willans harnesses, spaceframe rollcage, Suzuki Hayabusa dash cluster and mode selector, brake bias adjuster
S P E C I A L E D I T I O N S MINI HOT ROD
1997’s ludicrously expensive one-off was a tuner-flavoured 160bhp headbanger
We’re really stretching the definition of ‘special edition’ to breaking point with this car, as only one of them was ever built so it’s not as if you’re going to see one turn up on eBay. But 1997’s unique Mini Hot Rod is worthy of inclusion in the series by virtue of its inherent awesomeness; while it may look like a high-end aftermarket custom, this was actually built by Jack Knight Developments to Rover’s own brief, at the request of a wealthy client. Under the bonnet was a 16-valve version of the A-series putting out a frankly incredible 160bhp, mated to a 5-speed dog ’box. This served up some outstanding performance – we’re talking 0-60mph in sub-6seconds and a top speed in excess of 120mph. Backing all this up was a stripped and caged barealuminium interior with Sparco bucket seats, an F1-style BRM paint job, and the wheel choice and bonnet louvres could have been lifted from anything in Max Power or Revs at the time. A contemporary road test in Autocar highlighted that ‘torque-steer is rampant, and bumps are a real danger’, but to be honest that just makes it sound more fun – particularly as the power-to-weight ratio was superior to that of a Ferrari F355. As you’d hope, given that it cost £50,000. Adjusted for inf lation, that’s £88,000 in today’s money…
