I know I’m not going to figure high on many lists of people to feel sorry for this week, but few things are better at raising my blood pressure than this sort of job. You’re asked to collect a colossally valuable supercar unrelated to any other in your experience and return it a few hours later having fully uncovered its dynamic capabilities and limitations while simultaneously completing a photoshoot without flying off the road once.With the Ascari, things were even worse. Make a mistake even in something as rare as a Ferrari Enzo and on the way to the job centre you can at least comfort yourself with the knowledge that you’ve reduced the world’s Enzo population by just a fraction of one per cent. Had I overstepped it in the Ascari KZ1, that figure would have been rather higher: one hundred per cent, in fact. This car is the personal transport of Ascari’s founder Klaas Zwart whose initials it bears and, a few dog-eared prototypes aside, is the only one currently in existence.
Yet from the moment we rumbled out of the gates of Ascari’s Banbury factory to that when I returned the KZ1 in the requisite number of pieces, the only thing it failed to do was scare me in the slightest. For those unable to have fun without a near-death experience, this will come as a disappointment. But from where I was sitting, it was more akin to a triumph.
You’ll appreciate why rather more when you learn what we’re dealing with here. The KZ1 is a £235,000 supercar, powered by a 500bhp, 5.0-litre BMW V8. This may seem a modest power output and little more than you’ll find in certain Mercedes estates these days, but a carbonfibre tub and carbon bodywork means it weighs just 1275kg, and there are VW Polos that weigh more than that.
Andrew Frankel
Engine
- Layout V8 , 4941 cc
- Max power 500 bhp at 7000 rpm
- Max torque 368 lb ft at 4500 rpm
How much?
- Price as tested £235,000
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