Keith Ripp (1947–2020), the 1981, 82 and 83 hat-trick British Rallycross Champion with Ford Fiesta 1600, started in a small shop in Pinner green before moving to Hertford Road,
Enfield Wash specialising in tuning parts and accessories for
Minis as
Ripspeed International in 1973. The
motorsport and road car tuning and accessories side progressively grew over the years. By the 1990s, Ripspeed's main rivals were
Demon Tweeks and
Grand Prix Racewear, both owned by racing drivers,
Alan Minshaw and
Ray Bellm respectively. In 1996, Ripp sold Ripspeed to Tony Joseph. He then relocated the store from its original premises to a large one on Fore Street,
Edmonton, London, One of the biggest changes was discarding the motorsport retail side of its business to concentrate on the lucrative
boy racer market. Ripspeed itself has had only a limited number of demonstration cars out and about at shows and events. It started with a 1999 Vauxhall Corsa C SXI, which was followed in 1999 with a
Ford Focus Ripspeed's current project is a 1991
Nissan 200SX turbo which is a drift car project and has been seen in action at
Santa Pod raceway in 2007. == References ==