Building a rolling cart can become a real headache for those who don't know anything about it, now building a Formula 1 car is certainly an almost impossible mission for 99.9% of the world's population.
Fortunately, there is the other 0.1%… This tiny slice of the pie has played, in recent decades, an extremely important role in the evolution of the automotive world, and that no one doubts, just as no one will doubt the incredible story that I will tell next.
Kevin Thomas, a "simple" car enthusiast, lives in Brighton, England, and is literally making his dream come true: Building a Formula 1 with his own hands! At where? In the back of your house… Put like that, it sounds easy, doesn't it?
The idea came after this English enthusiast saw a replica of the Renault F1 live at a small exhibition organized by the French brand. Needless to say, that brilliant mind went home to fantasize about such a car.
Interestingly, days later Kevin finds the structure of a real Formula 1 car for sale on Ebay. The auction ended without any bid, so Kevin got in touch with the advertiser who a few days later showed up at the door of his house with the chassis of a BAR 01 and a 003. With two «bathtubs» in hand, he decided he had to put at least one of them into action – objective: to create a replica of a 2001 British American Racing 003.
Let it be quite clear, Kevin is not an engineer and neither is he in the habit of building cars, but as the “dream rules his life” nothing prevents him from moving forward on this unforgettable journey through the world of automotive engineering. But as you can guess, in addition to wisdom, you have to have an unusual hand skill. The determination of this «dreamer» and the fact that he could not find original parts, led him to adapt parts from other cars so that it would be possible to fit them into his 003 (for example, the sides came from a more recent Williams-BMW) . Kevin still had to learn to do unbelievable things, like molding carbon fiber.
So far Kevin Thomas has spent close to €10,000 developing this brilliant replica, however, the costs won't stop there... Like any other car, this one too will need a 'heart' to come alive and most likely it will. a Formula Renault 3.5 engine that will do the homework. We are talking about a V6 with 487 hp of power, in other words, more than enough strength "to give your drivers some good scares!"
This is one of those stories that definitely deserves to be shared. If you're interested in this story, then you'll also enjoy seeing how a man built a Lamborghini Countach in his basement.
Source: caranddriver