The car is a Parradine Pegasus V12, 1990. Launched at Geneva Show with a price tag of £92,000. 19 built at magny Cours f1 circuit in france before French government panicked at start of Gulf War in 1991 and pulled plug on project. I have chassis number 5, road tested at 167 mph (275kph) and 0 -100kph in 5.1 seconds at Magny Cours. I have much information and photos on this car if anybody needs they can contact me on +44 (0)1633 411891 - are there any more out there?
Terry Houghton
This looks to be right:
"Probably the ultimate British classic sports car, chassis number 5 of 19 factory produced cars and as far as is known, the first road car ever with Carbon Fibre/Kevlar composite body - hence the original £92,000 price tag.
In 1990 "The Sunday Times Magazine" wrote about these cars:
"BRITISH BUSINESSMAN JOHN PARRADINE PRESENTED HIS SPORTS CAR AT THE GENEVA MOTOR SHOW THIS SPRING; AND ENCOURAGED BY THE RESPONSE HE EXPECTS TO PUT THE JAGUAR ENGINED 170 MPH MACHINE INTO PRODUCTION BY THE END OF THIS YEAR. PROBLEMS WITH INVESTMENT HAVE LEAD TO THE PROJECT BEING BASED IN FRANCE, AT MAGNY-COURS. THE CAR WILL PROBABLY COST ABOUT £90,000 AND DELIVERIES SHOULD BEGIN IN A YEAR."
Equipped with 6 x Weber 40 DCOE carbs, manual Getrag 5-speed box, lightened and balanced flywheel, crank and clutch assembly, new alloy rad, recent £5,000 recommissioning spend, Italian saddle leather and suede interior (by Callow & Maddox), new MoT, currently SORN'd. Originally road tested at 173mph and sub 5 secs 0 - 60mph. Beautifully balanced chassis with 50/50 weight distribution. Rebuilt Compomotive three-piece wheels with new "W" rated tyres
Generally excellent condition, but needs new carpets and some minor paint scuffs touched in. Full provenance since new, with only three owners and stacks of history and original marketing material, including the above Sunday Times article and road tests. Many other photos and history available for genuinely interested enthusiasts.
Prof. Jim Randall, Head of Engineering for Jaguar and reponsible for the XJ 220 project, having driven this car, got out with a big grin and said "a man of my age shouldn't have this much fun - we should have made it!"
This is a very, very rare car and according to John Parradine, the only one known of the 19 he built on the road in the world, the rest being in private collections. There is only one other known car currently being recommisioned in Australia. This is a great opportunity for an enthusiast of rare marques, or would make a suberb track car. I am currently building a 6.0 litre V12 with ported and gas-flowed heads for this car scheduled to produce 400bhp+ and is available by separate negotiation. This should produce a car capable of approaching 200mph.
This is NOT a kit car.
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