About Us
The early beginnings of 25/7 Race and Restoration started when, as a child, Andrew Willis went racing with his Dad, and also with his brother when he raced karts. Andrew began his own racing journey when he started oval racing at age 15 in the Ministox class in 2011 at Hednesford Raceway in Cannock.
With a Love For Classic Cars
Aged 18 Andrew decided to build his own Classic Hot Rod. “I didn’t want to build an Escort or an Anglia like everyone else had, as I couldn’t afford them and I really wanted something different because I like being different!” he said. One day, whilst out collecting parts with his Dad, a little black Austin A30 caught Andrew’s eye. His Dad told him that an A30 was the first car that his own father gave to him so with that historical connection, and also being heavily inspired by legendary Aussie Peter Brock and what he did with his A30, naturally the car became the favourite to build. Just over a year later, Andrew had built his own bright yellow A30 (yellow being the racing colour of Andrew’s family, that his Dad has used since he himself was 19 years old) and it was ready to race. Clearly a natural talent, in his first season Andrew won Oval Racer of the year award. He campaigned the A30 for three seasons in total, achieving two wins and a handful of podiums.
Andrew decided to start circuit racing in the Ginetta G40 one-make series. Before his first race meeting, he had never been round a circuit at all, not even on a track day. His first event was at Thruxton on 8th May 21 having collected the car only 8 days prior and first driving it a mere 3 days before the race, he achieved a very credible 2nd place in this, his first ever event! After a few more meetings his driving skills were apparent and by the end of the season, he had narrowly missed out
on winning the championship by just 15 points having achieved 5 wins and 10 podiums over 18 races as well as achieving 3 fastest laps.
The Year 2021
The Next Year
Ginetta decided to drop the series, but the experience had given Andrew the realisation he needed to take his next steps. When it came down to it, the Ginetta was basically a space frame with a fibreglass body that had been assembled in kit form alongside a few bits from other cars and Andrew knew that he could build something along those lines. That coupled with the thought that ever since he’d started racing the A30 back in Classic Hot Rods, he’d always wondered what it would be like to build an all-out racer version of the A30 with a space frame and a V8....
Andrew started cutting up another A30 destined for this new build on 2nd May 2022, worked solidly on the project for the next year and three weeks, until he achieved his dream of having built his own all-out race car. The whole car was built in-house and 99% of the work was Andrew’s own; designing the car, the thoughts and workings out, building it and problem solving along the way. Sure, it was tough, but it was finally worth it when the car made her debut on 3rd June 2023.
And That's Exactly What He Did
The First Race
The first race for the A30 was in the Classic Sports Car Club Special Saloons series on 4th Jun 23 at Brands Hatch where Andrew got 2nd place in class. In his first season with the car, Andrew scored a handful of class wins as well as an overall 3rd place at Silverstone racing with the Historic Sports Car Club.