Mad Richard is my bestest mate in Yarmouth. I've known him for years. The first time he came round "Desperates", he was riding a bicycle. Not an ordinary one, he'd put a hinge in the rear downtube, and could get the rear wheel to overtake the front one. Then he arrived on a kiddies scooter. It had a chainsaw engine in the back. Later, he put a hinge in that too! He sold it to a "PaperBoy". The poor lad broke his leg first-time-out. Then came a shortened Mini, painted in "Noddy" colours. Richard was wearing a Noddy outfit, and his passenger was dressed as Big Ears. Another time, he arrived in a little Fiat 124 he'd built. He was sat in the back seat, as he'd fitted a Rover V8 in it, and it took up most of the car. I had a race with him up Yarmouth seafront. I was in my V8 Austin Devon. We were neck-and-neck, doing over 100mph! Naughty boys!!!

Finally, he turned up at my house in a Model "T" Ford Hotrod he'd built (not the one above). His was powered by a 2 litre Ford engine, and was horrendously fast.

I was building a Morris Minor for Lynne at the time, and had a Minor Pickup as a "Donor" Vehicle. I gave Richard the bodyshell. Next thing I knew, the body was off the "T" and the minor cab welded on. But he also channelled it and chopped the roof. I helped out a bit with the roofchop, and here's the result. Now you know why I call him "Mad Richard"!