by: Colin Goodwin Oddball, but fun Up to £30,000 Grinnall's fortes Dry out? Try it out

Grinnall is a bit cagey about the motor fitted to this Scorpion IV. The entry-level Scorpion IV, which will cost £26,000, will be fitted with a 260bhp version of the engine. For £30,000 you get a 300bhp+ motor that'll push the power to weight ratio to a staggering 500bhp per tonne. Within barely 100 metres of driving his new car it is obvious that this particular example has at least 300bhp and probably quite a bit more.

The weather, it has to be said, is really not ideal for this type of motoring. First off, it is damned cold. Second, the roads around Grinnall's Worcestershire farm-based factory are slick with an emulsion of mud, cow exhaust products and water. A mixture that will require Fonteyn-like footwork on the rightmost pedal. Fortunately, Grinnall has fitted the Scorpion IV with a knob that controls boost pressure. Perhaps on a dry summers day one would crank the knob over to full steam and manfully get on with the job, but not today.

Double wishbones up front

Even with the minimum of boost the power is instant and overwhelming. Wheelspin is available on demand with just an ill-advised stab on the gas. Grinnall has manufactured its own steering rack that's both quick and well weighted. Quick is important because there's plenty of steering correction going on.

Obviously, the Scorpion IV is going to spend a lot of its life at racetracks taking part in trackdays. However, unlike ultra-focused track machines like the Radical and Westfield XTR, the Scorpion IV has been designed to also fulfil the role of weekend on-road fun machines. As happy with a 100-mile round-trip B-road blast to a favourite country pub as it will be on opposite lock through Goodwood's Madgewick corner spitting out Ferraris in its wake.