LITTLE RED BOOSTERS

In the November 1991 issue of Mini Tech News, we found ourselves with a half page to fill, and for no particular reason really, decided to throw a picture of our man Phil Oram’s recently departed Riley Elf racer, under the hastily worded banner of ‘Man and machine in total lunacy”.

Much to our surprise no one challenged the rather outrageous claim that this was the fastest road legal Mini in the country, which was just as well, because the deceased Elf was in no position to defend itself.
WE suggested that the Metro engine had been translated into a GTM hillclimber and left it at that.
All this was rather a shame, because Phil’s efforts are definitely worthy of more, so we decided that the balance should well and truly redressed.

Phil Oram is a Welshman who is into hillclimbing in a very big way, which is just as well, because in his part of the world, he is surrounded by lots of very big hills.

A few years ago in the garage at the back of his garden, which sits underneath the inevitable hill in Skewen, near Neath, Phil embarked on a  mind-boggling project which cost him 2,500 hours of his time and serious amounts of his money to complete.

The base car was a strange choice not many people would think of building a Riley Elf racer), but the result was strangely satisfying;  a quirky looking space-framed Mini emerged and answered to the name of “Little Red Booster”.  The booster in question was a Garrett T3 Turbo, which combined with a very special 1293 engine to produce an unbelievable 230 BHP.
When the car was finished Phil felt good.  He also felt an irresistible urge to blow away most of the population of South Wales.  How he was able to do this, in what was essentially a full blown racer, is explained by the fact that Phil’s might Elf was actually road legal – one of the regulations prevailed at the time in Hillclimbing.

It was the changes in these very regulations though, that prompted Phil to abandon the Elf after many years’ service, in favour of a GTM – the Elf was simply too highly modified to compete, and new regulations had made production cars the new order of the day.

The original Little Red Booster 1 is still sitting in Phil’s garage, but is engine has been rebuilt as 984 unit and modified for its new role as the muscle behind Little Red Booster 2 – the GRTM modified Production Sports car.
Number 1 is still alive then, but hardly kicking;  although the work that went into it is still worth detailing, because of the unique and imaginative way it was put together.  You’ll have to forgive my talking in the present tense;  apart from the engine, the rest of the car is still technically present.

Most of what Mr Issignois thought of as a Mini has been replaced by a space frame built from 18 gauge 1’ and 3/4 ‘ square section tube with a 35mm diameter 14 gauge roll cage.  There is over 200ft of tubing in all, with six pick-up points on the front subframe.  All other superstructure has been discarded.

The new chassis is covered in 18 gauge alloy sheet and the fibreglass front has been lengthened by 3’, with a 4’ bonnet bulge and 5’ flared arches from Mini Spares.  Also note the very individual riley Elf rear end – cut up to fit.
Doors are in ally, and come from a MK11, and the whole body is finished in ‘Ferrari Boxer Red’, which is quite apt really, because a Boxer is one of the few road cars that could live with the Little Red Booster up to 100mph – Phil clocked a 14.03 second 101 mph quartermile in a road trial once, but they insisted on the car wearing road tyres, so he had 200 yards of wheelspin at the start, which slowed him down a bit.  On slicks, and in facing trim, that would probably have come down into the high 12’s (with only 50yards of wheelspin!).

To put these times into some kind of perspective, a Ford RS Cosworth, which is generally reckoned to be an o.k. sort of car, gets to 100mph in just under 17 second, while the hottest of the Cosworth conversions (440bhp, and only and extra £8,0000 to you chief) would stil be trailing behind Phil at 14.07 seconds for the standing ¼ mile ..
Inside the car is quite spartan, although there are a pair of Corbeau GT8’s bolted to the chassis rails, together with a 6 point Britax harness.  There are the usual racing gauges and a centre mounted fuse box and battery cut-off switch, while the engine electrics, ignition and lights are all wired to trailer plugs to allow easy access.

The Elf has two different front ends; a light one for racing, and a heavier one with number plates for hillclimbing and road use. Fuel is stored in foam filled 5 gallon alloy tank in the boot, being pumped by a fuel injection high pressure system, on a return. The suspension is made from Mini Spares items, together with Hi-lo adjustable units, and Spax gas adjustable shocks.  The front suspension sits on the original subframe, but the rear end has been built from scratch.  This new set up incorporates many fabricated items such as custom-made swing arms made from, 3/4 “ tube mounted on rose joints with more adjustable coil over shocks. Stopping power comes from 8 ½” discs, with Super Minifin drums at the rear, and yards of stainless aeroquip hosing weaving in and out of the engine bay.
The engine is a teensy bit special, so Phil isn’t keen to give away too many secrets. 

 

HOWEVER Mini tech News can reveal. ..

 

It is a 1293 cc Turbocharged unit containing Omega pistons;  EN40 steel crank;  steel timing sprocket;  thick flange block;  a special one-off camshaft by Kent Cams;  high lift Keith Dodd rockers and turbo oil pump.  The cylinder head is a Bryan Slark item especially designed for this engine, and the carburettor is a turbo Metro S.V. which is highly modified, although Phil refused to tell us the needle and flow jet sizes
He says they are secret.
So there.

The Turbo is a Garrett T3, but again not a standard unit; blown though an intercooler and exiting via 2’ bore exhaust system.  Boost varies, and is adjustable from 151 lbs. upwards.  The horse power at the flywheel is from 186bhp to 230bhp dependant on boost.

The gearbox is dog tooth with a very special SD (out ofTR8), and a 3.9 final drive.
: Putting all this power down on to the road via Pirelli P7 road tyres is a major event, involving much billowing of smoke and melting of rubber.  It seems a lot happier on slicks, but even this it has trouble getting away cleanly.
So 0-60 times are hard to obtain, but then 0-60 times are pretty pointless measurements anyway, aren’t they?  (pub bores please take note).  0-60’s take no account of mid-range power, or torque-tuned power curves, do they?
4 second sound O.K?

Having sat in the passenger seat of the Little Red Booster, (which is quite a novelty in a racer) I can confirm that this little beast is extremely rapid.  The fact that I was experiencing this extreme rapidity through the idle of a  sleepy golf course, added to the surrealism of the moment and confirmed my growing suspicion that  Oram was, in fact quite mad.
You wouldn’t necessarily want to drive across London, let alone a golf course with an engine like this, because nothing really happens until about 3,000 rev and little luxuries like tickover, for instance, become a distant memory.  (in towns, race engines bring a whole new meaning to stop-start motoring).

But as a racer, this Mini delivers shocking and gut-wrenching acceleration that would impress even those who have experienced the very fastest.  (It certainly left an impression on the greenkeeper of the local golf club).  I can imagine this unfortunate man having a Roadrunner/Wily Ciyote relationship with Phil Oram over many years).  (Neep Neep!).
Little Red Booster 1 won 25 awards during its lifetime, which is some testament to the skill of its builder, and for my money, it still wears the crown of the undisputed king of the road;  the fastest road-legal Mini in the country
There, I’ve said it again.

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