Car review: Wildcat 300 - FT.com 11/09/2012 15:25

December 2, 2011 12:02 am Car review: Wildcat 300

By Rohit Jaggi

The stillness in the car was reminiscent of a massive accident at high speed – a sudden absence of movement and noise. That was not surprising, as the Wildcat had been fully airborne a moment before it slammed onto the ground, launched from its charge up a nearly vertical 15ft slope.

There was enough air beneath me to brace for what I suddenly feared would be a vehicle- bending impact.

But after a moment on the ground to catch my breath, the off-road racer roared off again.

This was the full-strength version of a desert and rally- machine that was extending my definition of a four-wheel drive. Rapid progress through the deep water and rutted terrain of mine-workings in Devon, England was accompanied by a machine gun-like clacking – disconcerting at first, but reassuring once I knew it was the sophisticated suspension working to allow the huge wheels and tyres to follow the ground closely. And cushion landings effectively, as I learnt as the Wildcat absorbed ever more improbable impacts.

This is all the more impressive, given that components from the Land Rover form the basis of the Wildcat. But its maker, Qt Services, has developed the vehicle far beyond that.

All Wildcats that leave the small factory on the outskirts of Slideshow: The Wildcat Plymouth, conveniently located next to the city airport, have a chassis and roll-cage painstakingly built by hand from steel tubing. That means it is light – just 283lb, or the same weight as the front beam axle, which is developed from the one in a Land Rover Defender.

The frame may be light, but it is strong. The only damaged frame There is a range of models. that Qt Services has been unable to repair is outside the factory.

Engine range: Up to 4-litre Jaguar V8 petrol with 275bhp, The car that once owned this chassis went over a 15ft rock ledge in and the Jaguar TDV6 with the desert at 70mph in a competition – and the eventual 245bhp landing sent it cartwheeling down the track. Both occupants

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Acceleration: 0-60mph in less walked away, though. than 5 seconds More usually in big Wildcat race crashes, the thin glass-fibre Price: £65,000-£130,000 plus VAT bodywork, shaped to cling closely to the contours of the skeleton and its major organs, might be sacrificed as the car tumbles, but the chassis and its massively strong components are untouched.

That is a level of toughness highly prized in the world of long-distance off-. For example, 60 per cent of Wildcat’s cars finish the Dakar Rally. That may not sound very much. But these cars are all run by private teams – and the finishing rate for the big factory outfits, with their big budget support, is just 40 per cent.

It is also a facet of the vehicles that is increasingly appealing to road drivers looking for something different. counter to the trend by big manufacturers to make their four- wheel-drive vehicles look increasingly like road cars, the Wildcat looks like a racing beast let loose on the highways.

Rarity helps – Qt makes just a dozen of these vehicles a year, priced from £65,000 ($105,000) to £130,000, plus tax. The road version, which accounts for about 20 per cent of output, may have lower-specification suspension than the racer, but the frame is identical – so any vehicle is capable of being adapted for full-blooded competition.

But the distinction between road and race is blurred by the ability of buyers to choose their own specification. Engines can be diesel or petrol, from 250 horsepower to 400, and up to about 700Nm of torque. Gearboxes can be manua