From Mark Janssen (July 2024)
The XR1 was built by Ross Baker in 1988 for a new racing series he hoped to start up for cars powered by Rover V8 engines. The series never eventuated. It had its first race at Pukekohe in 1992 where the car showed great potential and again at Baypark in 1994. I purchased the XR1 from Bob Burns in March 2023 Bob had owned it for 23 years. He had purchased it from Steve Chappel who had bought it from Ross, I believe.

The car was in a bit of a state of disrepair and was not running. The front end needed to be sorted out as this also was in parts. I stripped the car down to its bare chassis, polished all the aluminium monocoque chassis panels etc, and now I am in the process of reassembling it as close as possible as it was originally built in 1988.

My intention upon buying it was to save the car and restore it to its original condition as much as I could without undoing some of the good work Bob had done over his years of ownership. Bob was heavily influenced by the F5000 class so modifications to the rear bodywork were made and the engine whilst still Rover is not the original with the exhaust pipes running up and over the top much like the F5000. The rear body was also modified to accommodate the exhaust setup.

The car is largely back to its original condition with vented 300mm rotors and 4-pot Wilwood calipers on the front and large Nissan GTR vented rotors and 4-pot calipers on the rear. The rear hubs and uprights are still original Heron as built by Ross, but the Skoda Heron 5-speed gearbox has been replaced With a Renault 5-speed gearbox. The original 3.5-litre engine has been replaced with a Rover 3.9-litre engine that had been heavily dusted???? and had to be stripped right down. It is in the process of going back together now. Many thanks to Phil Sheppard for taking on the rebuild. The gearbox is a Renault that was in a terrible state with many cracks filled with epoxy filler for example. Miles at Driveline kindly took on this project and has completely stripped and rebuilt the gearbox to give it another life.

The gearbox is now complete again and awaiting the engine so we can fit them together and put it back into the car.

Once the engine is back in and using the original front engine mounting plate that Ross had used. This plate had been removed but is a vital part of the chassis strength. I will fabricate new headers to drop down and come out the rear as originally fitted by Ross. The wiring and hoses will be replaced and the wiring loom will need to be tidied up.

Then with the engine in, the rear body needs to be rebuilt to get it back to its original shape, allowing the trumpets to come through an opening just how it used to be.

That's where we are at with the XR1 for now and I shall keep you posted as we go with the rest.