The time has come to sell this fantastic machine that I’ve been fortunate enough to own for the past 9 months. I’ve always struggled to find the time to enjoy my cars and this was my last hurrah before reducing my fleet down to one and picking something more suited to daily life. In all honesty, I expected the hurrah to last longer but with working away it just doesn’t make sense.
I searched long and hard to find a suitable replacement for my road legal Radical SR3 and this was the car I chose, as it could be driven to the shops in peace and quiet or taken to the track and driven in anger where nothing could match it. It really is a work of art, a true no expense spared build by Autograph Cars of Burnley.
The car started life as a stock Starlight Black 2009 Exige S with touring, sport and performance packs until 2011 when its previous owner took it to Autograph for this conversion (one of the first in the world…indeed this car was used by Komotec for their conversions). Whilst with Autograph it had a brand new Audi S3 8P engine, gearbox, turbo and ECU fitted with all new loom, custom driveshafts, mounts, pro alloy charge cooler (fed by twin front radiators), uprated alloy radiator, Sachs flywheel and clutch, Mocal oil cooler with thermostatic sandwich plate and all new related parts as required.
Once the engine had been run in, it returned to Autograph in 2013 to be fully forged and uprated to provide 420hp and 450 lb/ft. The spec list is truly amazing and includes; 11.0:1 WTCC custom forged pistons, custom WTCC I-beam conrods, ARP bolts, CNC ported head with modified chambers, Mahle race bearings, Walbro fuel pump, brand new RS4 injectors and AET hybrid K04 turbo. The car has 7,800 miles on the clock.
I bought the car in June last year and have done 2 track days and very few miles since then. In my ownership it has been serviced by Lakeside Engineering (only 200 miles ago) where the cambelt and water pump were replaced. The car has also been to Back on Track in Guildford to iron out a few niggles I had…both companies would be happy to talk about the quality of this car. Also in my ownership I have fitted a Blitz Sonic Advance air filter, 19 row mocal oil cooler (to replace the 9 row item), Rays TE37s that run 10mm wider track and allow wider tyres (currently on R888s), Difflow rear diffuser, APR canards, carbon seat, harnesses and various other carbon bits. I’m VERY fussy about work done on my cars (ask any of my long suffering friends or owners of my previous cars) and I’ve also been slowly replacing all nuts, bolts and fasteners with stainless items. The car is always warmed up and down before any serious work and spends most of its life in the garage, covered on a trickle charger.
It’s been very well cared for throughout its life with a full history, 2 keys and all original parts (bar engine and seats) are included in the sale (depending on price ofcouse). If you’re a Lotus purist, this car is ofcourse not for you…but if you want something different that goes as fast as it looks and sounds (oh the sound!!) like nothing on earth, then this could be the car for you.
The car is MOT’d till June and comes with 6 months tax. I’m happy to answer any questions on the car and provide further pictures if required, but due to the fact the car only has a single seat (I never got round to buying a second carbon one) test drives can only be arranged with a suitable deposit as this car can bite. The car is going to DMS Motorsport in a few weeks for a rolling road and remap as I want to make sure it’s right before it goes to its new owner.
£35,000 ono.
