Big Cat Sighting

At first glance it looks like an ordinary Discovery 1, but Big Cat is a mind-boggling beast with a race-tuned 500 bhp Jaguar supercharged engine under the bonnet

Dave Phillips uncovers a mind-boggling beast of a Disco 1 with a race-tuned 500 bhp Jaguar supercharged engine

THIS YEAR’S heatwave has turned the legendary Billing offroad course into a passable impersonation of an arid African plain as photographer Craig Dutton and LRM editor Pat take up position by a hairpin bend, which they reckon is the best place to capture the perfect action shot. They’re here to see a very rare wild beast and the gathering dust storm billowing up in the distance means it’s closing in on them – fast! Suddenly the Bad Cat they’re after roars into view, about 100 yards away, sliding wildly as it rounds a gravelly bend, scrabbling for grip and peppering the trunks of the nearby poplar trees with loose gravel. Now it’s coming at them in a blur as it hits the hairpin at high speed, powering round the 30 degree side slope with the engine popping and snarling as the rev-limiter cuts in. Somehow the driver manages to get it up on two wheels as well as slewing it sidewise – and heading at a very high speed towards Pat and Craig. It’s so fast they don’t even have time to look horrified before a quick flick on the steering wheel and backing off on the throttle gets it back under control. Phew! It was a near-miss, but editor and snapper are safe, and the remarkable images you now see on these pages are in the can. Big Cat slides to a halt in a choking cloud of Northamptonshire dust and three grinning figures emerge from the cockpit of Big Cat: rally driver Nobby Jenkins and petrolhead co-owners Niall Moore and James Woods. So, what is this remarkable feline, I hear you ask. A Bowler Wildcat, perhaps? Nah. You’re not even close. At first glance, this shiny Discovery 1 looks more pussycat than Big Cat. You could be forgiven