Janspeed very much in tune with Mini’s 50th

While Mini nostalgia is enjoying maxi exposure as enthusiasts celebrate the 50th anniversary of the little car’s launch, the team at Janspeed in Salisbury has perhaps got more to remember than most.

But they are as much in tune with BMW’s Mini reincarnation as they are with the Issigonis car and are ready to help any enthusiasts who want to put some verve into Britain’s best-loved small car and its modern counterpart.

“If it had not been for the original Mini it’s doubtful whether Janspeed would ever have come into existence or have managed to last so long,” says the firm’s current managing director Mark Vaughan. At 47, he arrived in the world just as Janspeed founder Jan O’dor’s baby was getting to grips with breathing new life into the Mini and both have never looked back.

O’dor arrived in the UK after the Hungarian uprising and first started working for the Downton concern, itself based only a short distance the other side of Salisbury from Janspeed’s now-famous home at the Castle Works in Castle Road. Downton became a household name through its work on Minis, much of it developed by Jan O’dor.

“In those days it was all about proving yourself going racing and O’dor’s fledgling Janspeed did this with a winning style,” comments Vaughan. “I have many trophies and a few champagne bottles, sadly now empty, that mark the Janspeed progress over the years and of course we went on to develop packages for many other products up to twin turbo Jaguar XJ6s, Range Rovers, and even a very spicy Land Rover 110 as well as quite ordinary cars.

“But we were never left behind with the new Mini, either, and before it ever hit the streets we were involved in work for the manufacturer on the cylinder head to improve the gas flow for the Mini One. Even in the standard form that appeared in 2001, enthusiasts were quick to realise that it was a very driveable bit of kit and I like to think we made a valuable contribution to that.

“We have continued working on Minis as well as everything else and the good news for enthusiasts is that virtually all that we have created in the past we can recreate now. Drivers contemplating going club and historic racing in an original Mini can have all the help they want.

“Getting more from a car has become much easier now that electronic control units can be tweaked through fitting chips but we won’t supply any that we haven’t carefully tested or developed ourselves.

“The good news for owners of the latest performance Mini Cooper and Cooper S is that we can do even more as they are turbocharged rather than supercharged. Turbos have always been our forte so we love the latest car.

“Janspeed has also made its name revising and redesigning suspensions and creating some very bespoke exhaust systems. Just getting the gases away efficiently can do a great deal for an engine’s output without owners committing to huge expense.

“Manufacturers continue to come to us for development work on new models but of course much of it we can never talk about. I’m sure that Janspeed genes have helped tweak the pedigree of many brands and iconic models over the years.

“The good news is that after almost 50 years in the business Janspeed is still here. And what we’ve done is in the back catalogue. Owners who can now afford to live their Mini dream in later life will find what they need right here from the tuning company that was on their lips as a child, whether they are working on an historic or current Mini for road use, competition, or track days.”