A long time ago, before the Mini was even invented, John Cooper started his Works putting motorcycle engines into miniature Grand Prix chassis to produce some of the most entertaining little racing cars ever made, and a number of top British drivers cut their teeth on them.
It's nice to see that such cars are still being made, although both racing chassis and motorcycle engines have come a long way since the early 1950s.
This is the new entry-level sports racer from Peterborough manufacturer Radical, the SR1. Designed by the same team that built their SR9 LMP2 endurance racer, it's intended to look like a Le Mans Prototype racer, and at 1340cc, it's eligible for two-litre club racing at most circuits, as well as for track days.
It even has two seats.
So it can be used as an instruction vehicle at track schools or, or just for fun with a mate on track days.
But it's where the SR1 gets those 1340cc of engine from that makes this little white roller-skate so radical (pun intended): it's powered by a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle engine, converted to dry-sump lubrication and tuned by RPE to deliver 157kW at 10 500rpm, using the original Suzuki unit clutch and sequential gearbox, and a chain-driven torque-biasing Quaife limited-slip differential.
And the whole car weighs just 480kg, so it's not surprising that it goes like a scalded cat - 0-100 in 3.6 seconds and 220km/h flat out.
FULLY ADJUSTABLE SUSPENSION
It's built on a tubular-steel chassis with a built-in roll cage and fully adjustable Nik suspension - unequal length top and bottom wishbones and fabricated uprights front and rear, with forged-steel centre lock hubs and interchangeable anti-roll links.
Braking is provided by 240mm ventilated discs with Radical four-pot callipers, and it runs on 13” alloy rims - 180mm wide in front and 230mm wide at the back - shod with specially made Dunlop slicks.
NO PADDING WHATSOEVER
There's a 44-litre, foam-filled aluminium fuel tank inside the safety cell behind the driver, two fixed high-sided racing seats with no padding whatsoever, a fully adjustable pedal box and a Radical instrument display unit incorporating an LED analogue rev counter, gear indicator, shift light, four LCD displays of engine parameters/speed and warning lights, mounted alongside a brake bias adjuster in a carbon-fibre dashboard.
The four-piece composite body includes a rear wing, rear-view mirrors and brake and fog lights, and Radical claims it develops sufficient downforce for the SR1 to pull 2.3G of lateral forces - enough for some hair-raising cornering.
The Radical SR1 which, may we remind you, is not street-legal, sells for £29 850 (R393 000) ex works.