I’m a big fan of the V-Storm WR3 and it’s hard to believe it’s some 12-years since it first appeared, making its debut under the car’s original creator, Simon Dickens of SDR Sportscars. The design was by the very talented and under-rated designer, Simon Keys.

Originally the three-seat; central driving position exo-skeletal was powered by Aprilia RSV-1000 bike engine but soon changed to Subaru Impreza EJ20 flat-four ‘boxer’.

Dickens was based in Oldham, but after a couple of years moved way down west to Truro, Cornwall, and it wasn’t long before Scoobybits boss, Jason MacDonald stepped into to offer the kit and fully built cars. Jason deserves credit for keeping the project alive when Simon moved onto other things.

The project was taken over by erstwhile, SDR customer, Dan Carpenter of DJC Sports Cars in 2015 and he has continued to develop the product.

I popped over to see Dan’s gorgeous new demonstrator this week and it really is something very special. Standard power for the V-Storm these days seems to be 300bhp, which in a car weighing about 750kg means performance is spirited. Dan’s new demo though packs 500bhp and 666bhp per tonne!

As a result, Dan has created distinct V-Storm models within the range – V-Storm 400 (300bhp), V-Storm 500 (400bhp) and V-Storm 666 Edition (500bhp).

The car features a Scooby engine built by ex-Mountune man, Tommy Field of Field Motorsport. He built Francois Delacour’s WRC-winning engines in 2014, which isn’t a bad thing to have on your CV!

The feature will be appearing in TKC MAG very soon. Look out for it. In the meantime, visit www.djcsportscars.co.uk or find them on the other end of 01245 324 405 ENDS.