Inside The Shop Building The World’s Quickest (& Quietest) Classic Minis

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Nestled in the rolling green hills of Buellton, California, Gildred Racing first caught our attention while we were researching Electric Classic Cars’ bolt-in EV conversion kits — one of which is a perfect drop-in solution for classic Mini Coopers.

As it turned out, Electric Classic Cars had been collaborating closely with Gildred Racing through their “Super Cooper” program, which transforms the iconic Mini by swapping its wheezy original engine for seriously overbuilt powertrains. When your starting point is a 40-horsepower four-cylinder engine, even a 160 hp gas engine feels transformative. A 300 hp Tesla motor? That’s an entirely different animal.

We couldn’t resist seeing it for ourselves, so we drove up to Buellton to meet owner Tyler Gildred. He gave us the full tour through warehouses full of Minis in every stage of restoration and repowering.

The Build Process

Right now, three of the shop’s projects are fully electric. The team makes clever use of the Mini’s rear storage area and front engine bay to house battery packs, while the electric motor lives up front in a custom subframe that also adds critical chassis rigidity to the stamped-steel body.

Step one is always the same: yank the original combustion engine and transmission. From there, the sky is the limit. Customers decide how deep they want to go on the restoration — everything from metalwork and paint to interiors and modern audio.

Once the cosmetics are dialed in, the suspension and brakes get serious attention. Jumping from 40 hp to several hundred horsepower demands upgraded coilovers, bigger disc brakes, and sticky modern rubber to translate all that power into acceleration. We saw everything from tasteful street setups to full race-spec builds. The only real limits, Tyler said, are budget and time.

Gildred has fitted Minis with everything from small Honda four-cylinder engines to high power Tesla drivetrains over the years, but the Electric Classic Cars kit has become their weapon of choice for EV conversions. The front subframe bolts in, the motor mounts directly to it, batteries slot into place, and the wiring ties it all together.

It’s a straightforward process that gives them confidence in the quality of the kits and their ability to deliver an exceptional vehicle when it’s fully built.

Behind The Wheel

We saw projects ranging from rusted out shells in desperate need of attention all the way on up to gleaming, fully sorted restomods that would fit right in at a museum display. Tyler was kind enough to let us drive two of his finished cars back-to-back: a beautifully restored combustion-powered Mini followed by one of his full-electric Super Coopers.

The difference was night and day. The instant torque is addictive, the car feels glued to the road, and the cabin was eerily quiet — no more rattles, just tire noise and wind. Yet it still looked, felt, and (importantly) steered like a classic Mini. It’s the perfect blend of vintage charm and modern performance.

The Business & The Future

Tyler and his crew have been building high performance Mini Coopers for more than 20 years now. That depth of experience shines through in their Super Cooper program. They’ve worked on every flavor of Mini imaginable — hatchbacks, wagons, even the rare pickup variants — and they’ve seen what works and what will stand up to the abuse of adding a few hundred horsepower to the pocket-sized vehicles.

Tyler admitted it would probably make financial sense to standardize both their electric and combustion Super Coopers offerings to drive higher volumes. Locking in on a single engine offering as a complement to their builds with Electric Classic Cars’ EV conversion kit would help them deliver more than the 5 or 6 vehicles per year they’re currently pushing out.

But the addiction to taking builds to the next level and saying yes to crazy customer projects is just too exciting. Tyler said repeatedly that he believes EV powertrains are the future, but for now, customers are still dropping deposits for Gildred Racing’s insane rear-wheel drive combustion builds. With conversion technology maturing and kits almost becoming truly plug-and-play, the timing feels right for shops like Gildred to move aggressively into the EV restomod space.

Pricing & Customers

A turn-key electric Super Cooper from Gildred Racing is listed on their site right now for $130,000, which provides a ballpark price for a fully restored Mini Cooper EV conversion. The biggest variable when it comes to price depends on how much body and paint restoration the donor vehicle needs. Stripping decades of paint, repairing rust, upgrading suspension, and wiring the powertrain are all incredibly labor-intensive, so the cost aligns with any top-tier classic restoration, whether gas or electric.

The clientele at Gildred Racing typically isn’t someone restoring their first classic — these are usually the 5th, 6th, or 10th car in the collection. They’re enthusiast toys, canyon-carving weapons meant to be driven hard and enjoyed. And honestly? I’d rather see these little icons drop their unreliable, low-power combustion engines in favor of a silent Tesla-powered build with more torque than its little tires know how to handle. They were even talking about a dual motor electric Mini Cooper build they’re considering, though that might be too much power for such a tiny car — or is that even possible?

If you’re tempted, head over to the Gildred Racing website and Electric Classic Cars’ conversion kits. The future of the classic Mini is looking quicker — and quieter — than ever.