Tiny 1970s car sets world record
A tiny British electric vehicle from the 1970s now called the ‘‘Flux Capacitor’’ has become the world’s quickest street legal electric vehicle.
The Enfield 8000, a forgotten city car built on the Isle of Wight in the oil crisis era, stormed through the quarter mile sprint at Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire, England, at the weekend in a recordsmashing 9.86 seconds at an average 194 kmh.
Originally boasting just 8hp, the car now packs more than 800bhp, 1626 newton metres of torque and quietly rockets to 181.8kmh in six seconds.
To put that in perspective, it outpaces modern supercars like the Lamborghini Aventador, McLaren’s 650S, a Porsche 911 Turbo S, Nissan GT-R and even Tesla’s incredibly capable P90D electric car.
The vehicle was customised by self confessed serial car modifier Jonny Smith, who is also a motoring journalist, and snatched the world record, which stood at 10.25 seconds, from the car that inspired him in the first place – an electric converted old Datsun owned by John Wayland from Portland, Oregon, in the US.
‘‘I’m in awe of what this little yellow thing can cope with,’’ said Smith, who has presented TV’s Fifth Gear since 2006 and approached Adrian Flux to sponsor his dream four years ago.
‘‘Originally the car was designed to drive up to speeds of 40mph (64kmh). Now it triples the speed within quarter of a mile without any aerodynamic alterations – which is testament to the original design.
‘‘The car never feels like it is out of its comfort zone. To be honest I have disconnected the speedo, and just drive it by feel. You quickly forget how small it is when the lights go green. The instant electric torque delivery is something I have never experienced in over 15 years of driving and testing sports cars.
Smith rescued the Enfield, then a flood-damaged write-off, four years ago.
The car is powered by 188 lithium-ion battery cells built into enclosures under the bonnet and boot, generating 2000 amps and 400 volts to a pair of DC 9-inch motors to drive the back wheels.