There is no dearth of petrol heads who would push themselves and their old set of wheels to decimate that extra fraction of a second, or just an added movement of the speed needle. While most of such species generally tend to be young at age, 50 years old Andy Frost from Wolverhampton-England has done something that can be termed no less than ‘extra-ordinary’.
A Red Vauxhall Victor that Andy bought in 1980 for a measly £60 that produced 88bhp in stock form from its 1800cc engine has now been transformed into the world’s fastest-street legal car! Seems hard to believe! Well, here are the figures!
The car in its present form hits 0-60 mph (0-96 kph) under one second! Yes, UNDER ONE SECOND! If that wasn’t all, the car hits 0-220 mph (354 kph) in 6.5 seconds with a top speed of 402 kph. And being that quick, the 1200 kg car needs parachutes to slow it down. The numbers might set your heart racing, but it hasn’t been easy or cheap for the builder.
For Andy, it has been a 29-year project at which he has spend an average of £4,000 a year and an estimated total of £100,000. He sacrificed having a holiday each year to save money to spend on the car. Andy says “It is a bit like Trigger’s broom in Only Fools and Horses – I’ve changed so many parts that it has evolved into a super car from just a bog standard Vauxhall with nothing done to it. It is hardly recognizable from the car I first bought. “
To go alongwith the neck-break speeds, the car also boasts of a (relatively) luxurious cabin with leather seats and electric windows. Andy states that it’s just like a normal car when you drive it on the roads – it handles easily around the corners and isn’t tricky to drive like many people think. The car invites stares from everyone, more for the V8 roar than the styling. But under the bonnet the powerful twin turbo V8 engine it goes like a rocket on the track.
Andy adds “I’ve had the car so long that it has been a part of my life since before my children were born, so it is as much a part of the family as they are. My wife Deb is used to it all as the car has been a part of my life ever since I met her so she didn’t get much choice. But she is a part of my Red Victor racing team so loves the car as much as I do.’
Andy’s efforts attracted the attention of the local council and even Vauxhall who sponsored him in bringing the car to its present condition. Andy says that when he came to know about the sponsorship, he thought it was a hoax until he was delighted on receiving the cheque .
Concluding his thoughts, Andy says “It has been a life-long dream to be able to say I own the world’s fastest street legal car. It makes all the hard work worthwhile, but I won’t stop tinkering with it even now.”
Here’s a small clip of the car in action:
Via: DailyMail UK
Hindustan Motors Contessa was based on the Vauxhaul Victor .Albeit the engine was from the AMBASSADOR initially. Later the ISUZU engine was introduced.