Registration no. 1918 XJ
Chassis no. XXE2D2-463973A
Engine no. 18330
• Twice winner of the British Saloon Car Championship Class A category
• Formerly used for promotional purposes by Patrick Motors
• Present ownership since 2023
• Recommissioned and used sparingly
This Patrick Motor Sport-sponsored Mini 1275 GT is Richard Longman's 1978 British Saloon Car Championship Class A-winning car; in fact, Longman won the Championship again in 1979 driving this same Mini 1275 GT for Patrick Motor Sport, which ran the British Leyland-supported works team. Longman was completely dominant in his class, winning nearly every race two years running in the PMS Mini.
Longman had worked for the famous factory-approved tuning firm, Downton Engineering, in the 1960s, tuning and preparing countless Minis, before setting up his own company, Richard Longman & Co Ltd, in 1971. Not merely a tuner, Longman was also a talented racer and thus ideally suited to spearhead British Leyland's campaign in the British Saloon Car Championship, with sponsorship from Patrick Motors Ltd. Longman's team managed to extract 120bhp from the 1.3-litre A-Series engine but that still left the Mini at a marked disadvantage when facing larger-engined rivals. However, the Mini was far more agile, running rings around the competition in corners. In 1978, Longman took 11 class wins out of 12 races (retiring once) to win the championship in imperious style. Richard's season included Class A wins at Silverstone, Oulton Park, Thruxton, Brands Hatch Donington Park, and Mallory Park. He scored 100 points, defeating runner-up Richard Lloyd (Volkswagen Golf GTi) by 10 points. The car was retained for the following season, which would prove equally successful. The '78 car was supplemented in '79 by a second car prepped to the same specification, which is now understood to be in a museum in Germany. In 1979 both cars were used in racing, with Longman achieving 10 Class A wins out of 12 races resulting in another Championship victory, on this occasion by nine points from 2nd place Tom Walkinshaw (Mazda RX-7).
This car's specification includes a racing engine, slick tyres, roll cage, bucket seat, competition exhaust, etc, etc. Numerous 'trick' parts were discovered by the vendor during the work that has been undertaken on the car. Following its retirement from active competition, the Mini was used for exhibition purposes, touring Patrick Motors branches and attending events, etc. The current vendor purchased the Longman Mini at Bonhams' Beaulieu sale in September 2023 (Lot 505), at which time it was thought to be a replica. Richard Longman has since inspected the car for the current owner and confirmed that this is his actual historic championship-winning Mini. Since its purchase in 2023 the Mini has been recommissioned and has run at a few sprints. Depending on its specification, the Mini should be eligible for racing at the Goodwood Members' Meeting, and many other Historic venues and race series.
At the time of the 2023 sale the car was offered with an old-style V5C document with registration number 1918 XJ which has since been misplaced and will need to be reapplied for, an HPI check shows the car was originally registered SJW 808S.
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Text & Image: Bonhams
