ROAD 17: TIM SCHRICK TURBO TV SPECIAL

Mad mini at manby Manby Motorplex (www.manbymotorplex.com), near Louth in the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds was th first Tim test... and what a perfect introduction to crazy British engineering it was, setting the ideal to of mental motoring ahead. Manby’s wide expanses of ex-military asphalt gave Tim the chance to pro beautiful, outstandingly rapid Z Cars Mini, brimming with character and oozing fun. The car is one of mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive bike engine conversions, “bringing the Mini bang up to date” (in a goo BMW MINI!). Z Cars offer Minis with Honda Civic Type R Vtec engines as well as turbo or non-turbo Y GSXR1000 or Hayabusa motorbike engines (chain-driven). This 575Kg Mini has a 197bhp, 1.3-litre, 1 turbo Hayabusa unit with sequential gearbox – all set-up and re-mapped to suit the Mini in-house by engineers. The car itself might look like a classic A-Series Mini from outside, but, unsurprisingly, it’s n lies Z Cars’ critically acclaimed, precisely engineered bolt-down roll cage which, at the rear, locates t rose jointed Protech adjustable suspension, drive shafts, brakes, engine and transmission. It’s a work is blown away by. A self-taught, but highly proficient engineer himself, born into the Schrick Camsha of admiration for the concept and application of the Z Cars philosophy. He loves quirky, insane British and is in his element in the Summer sunshine, on the airfield, chatting away with Simon from Z Cars,