These days, there are so many infinitesimal niches in the new car market that carmakers can sell you virtually anything you could possibly want. From urban-SUV crossovers to four-door coupe-cum-saloons and drop-top off-roaders, one thing for which the new car buyer is not wanting is choice.
But there's never been a car designed to appeal to both track-day kit car enthusiasts and sandal-wearing environmentalists. Until now, that is...
This is the iRacer, a do-it-yourself electric racing car developed by Birmingham City University in association with Westfield Sportscars, and it's yours for £13,999.
For that you get all of the bits you see in the photo above, plus some suspension, steering and braking gubbins. What you don't get, however, is an engine.
Westfield has designed the iRacer to be compatible with a range of different powertrains, leaving it up to the customer which method of propulsion to choose. You can fit a petrol engine, a hybrid powertrain or a fully-electric system.
If you plump for the latter, Westfield suggests fitting a brace of YASA-750 electric motors, which will send 132bhp and 550lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels. With the iRacer weighing 771kg, this means that 0-62mph will take less than five seconds and flat out the car will do 115mph.
The only downside to the iRacer's electric powertrain is that, at track speeds, it will run out of juice in just 25 minutes. This makes the iRacer sound suspiciously like one of those radio-controlled cars you owned as a child which flattened its batteries in about ten minutes and took five agonising hours to recharge.
So, do you fancy building your own iRacer? Leave your comments below.
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