AN ENGINEER in South Woodham Ferrers unveiled his first car built from scratch over the bank holiday weekend.

Dan Carpenter, of Bradwell-on-Sea, is Managing Director at DJC Kit Cars and DJC Precision Engineering. The latter has been operating as metal component manufacturers since 1989, branching out in more recent years.

Mr Carpenter bought the rights to a kit car model six months ago after the model’s company entered liquidation, and has worked tirelessly to redesign and restructure the model into a brand new car, the V-Storm WR3.

Kit cars are sold as a set of parts for the consumer to build themselves, and the V-Storm WR3 features a similar exoskeleton to the Ariel Atom, featured on the BBC motoring show Top Gear.

Kit cars are sold in building stages, with stage one of the V-Storm starting from £12,000.

Mr Carpenter said the task to build up a brand new car from scratch within six months was an ‘extraordinary’ challenge.

He said: “I bought the model last year to build, and then found out a while later that the company had gone into liquidation, so I took the plunge and acquired the rights for the model.

“I knew the National Kit Car Show was six months away, so we set ourselves the challenge of building it up in time.

“I was quite nervous, this was the first time we had built a car up from the ground, and I wanted the quality to be perfect.”

The process of building the car up involved re-sourcing all materials to produce on site, which number nearly 600 individual components.

Despite the huge challenge, Dan completed the V-Storm in time for the National Kit Car Show in Stoneleigh over the May Day Bank Holiday, and has received strong feedback from spectators and interest from motoring magazines.

He added: “It was a tough six months, but the effort really paid off and we’re incredibly proud of the car we’ve built.

“We were alongside other kit cars that cost over £100,000 to fully buy and build, and people were saying they viewed our car as superior, which was amazing to hear.”

For more information about the V-Storm WR3 or DJC Kit Cars, visit www.djckitcars.co.uk.