Beauty And The Beast

At first, Clare Richardson thought gen 3 MINIs were ugly, but she’s gone on to build one of the smartest F56 JCWs yet.

- Martyn Collins

Ever visit a MINI dealer without intending to buy and come home with a new car? Well, that’s what happened when Clare Richardson bought this F56 John Cooper Works (JCW). “One Sunday afternoon, I went with my good friend Philip Keys for a tyre kicking session to Sytner MINI in Tamworth. I didn’t really mean to buy a new car – it just sort of happened when the figures came back favourably!” Even more surprising is that just 12 months earlier she had said she’d never buy a gen 3 MINI because they’re ugly! Safe to say then that the car had grown on her.

That was June last year and this JCW was nine months old then, with just under 5,000 miles on the clock. “It turns out that I knew the previous owner from a MINI group and he still follows the evolution of FUBAR on social media,” Clare smiles.

So why the name FUBAR? “Naming a MINI is the law, right? All my R56 MINIs had names beginning with R – Ruby, Roscoe and Rudy. So, it seemed right that the new F56 should have a name beginning with an F. I spent weeks trying to think of a suitable name that didn’t seem too fluffy! One day a friend told me that this constant debate over a name for a car, any car, was totally FUBAR (Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition). I joked that maybe I’ll call it that, and it kind of stuck. So FUBAR it is! The name causes merriment, even more so with American MINI groups, but it does sort of encapsulate my sense of humour.”

Sharper mods

The car was standard apart from a JCW Bluetooth exhaust, fitted by the previous owner. Clare’s first change was a private plate, but she had much more serious mods planned for both the exterior and interior. “While I loved the interior of the F56, I wasn’t as sold on the exterior. It just didn’t grab me in the way the old one did, with its cutesy charm and happy face!”