Like a creation from a gourmet chef. Can the d'hote cuisine Ascari KZ1 reach V Max, or does fish and chips batter them.

PRICES FROM £235,000

Reported by Nathan Millward

Newton got it all wrong. With not a hint of equal and opposite reaction in sight, I prod the tiny slab of aluminium with my right foot and recoil as 1380kgs of British supercar explodes towards the horizon. Two miles later we rip through the timing lights at 189mph and coast to a stop. Red faced and white knuckled, a pinch isn’t enough; I’m going to need a great ruddy slap for this one to sink in.

We’ve been dispatched to a secret location deep in the heart of the Leicestershire countryside to test drive the Ascari KZ1, the new British supercar with the jugular of its established rivals firmly in its sights.

But this isn’t any old test drive, oh no. The Banbury based outfit has been invited to take part in VMAX, a clandestine event for supercar owning petrol heads with a license to protect. Speed is the name of the game, and with several of the contenders touting 200mph potential, it looks like there’s going to be plenty of it.

It’s not every day you catch sight of a fleet of Ferraris, a pair of Lamborghinis, a smattering of TVRs - pre and post Russian invasion - and a rather tasty 8-litre Dodge Viper, which just so happened to be supercharged and churning out close to 1000bhp. Blimey! But it wasn’t all about million dollar cheque books and ‘more money than sense’ mentality.

Every sector, class and price brand was there, even a Mini Cooper S to fight the corner of the Joneses. In total some 30 cars turned out, unfortunately only 29 returned. The sight of the oil smeared Lamborghini Diablo as it limped off the start line was almost too much to bear.

And then we get to our set of wheels for the day, the Ascari KZ1, a car so cock sure of its own ability that it’s taken its name from a legendry F1 racer. Still, with more power than a nuclear reactor and a price tag to match, you can forgive its valour. At £235,000 it isn’t cheap, but then again, this is one of the most perfectly formed supecars this side of an Enzo. Best of all its as British as a union strike, and if that’s not enough to agree finance terms, then surely the 500bhp and 3.6 seconds sprint to 62mph will seal the deal.

Now you might be thinking, why spend nearly quarter of a million pounds on a KZ1 when I can get similar kicks and greater recognition from more established rivals, and at half the price. The answer is simple. With only 50 KZ1s ever to be built, prospective buyers are as likely to spot Lord Lucan riding Shergar on the charge for Democracy in Iraq as they are to be sharing the same patch of road with another KZ1.