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(Image: CATERS)

Russ Bost built the 170mph vehicle from scratch in his garage and takes it for a spin around the streets near his home.

The petrolhead even takes the twoseater through his local McDonald’s drive-through to the dismay of wife Elaine. But now Russ, 59, has put the F1 copycat on the market – and it could be yours for £24,000.

Russ said: “I wanted a new, exciting car, but I couldn’t find anything on the market that I liked.

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“I just decided to build my own. I’d been thinking about it for years, but when I finally did it, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the result.

“It takes about three months for the parts to come – and then it took me about three months to put it together.

“The top speed I’ve had is around 140mph, on a track obviously. It is geared for around 170mph, but I’ve never had the opportunity to approach those speeds and I’m not sure I want to. “My family think I’m fairly barmy, they don’t understand the fascination.

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“But to me, it’s a hobby like any other and one that actually makes a small amount of money, when I sell my homemade motors on, rather than just costing money.”

Russ has taken all three of his adult children for a spin in one of his homemade creations, but none have been tempted to join him at work.

Russ said: “They’ve all been out in the car and enjoyed it but none of them have the slightest interest in them.”

He claims long-suffering wife Elaine, who drives a Vauxhall Corsa, doesn’t bat an eyelid when he unveils his latest creation from the garage.

Russ first got to grips with goings-on under the bonnet when he worked as an engineer for Ford Motors, before setting up his own motor business dealing in car parts and doing MOTs.

Russ said: “If someone wanted to build it themselves then it would cost from around £14,000 to £16,000.”

(Image: CATERS)

The cost of putting each car together varies, largely due to whether they are bought for the road or strictly for track use. To meet road legal demands, many parts need specially ordering. There are other problems too.

Russ, of Benfleet, Essex, added: “At motorway tolls I couldn’t reach the tills so I had to jump out to pay.

“Lots of people were taking photos, even a Porsche driver.”

Russ will build F1-style cars to order, through his company Furore Cars, or simply supply kits and parts to people wanting to do the work themselves.

Insurance for his Red Bull monster is not as high as for some traditional road cars – he says it will set the owner back around £200 fully comp, but is limited to 3,000 miles a year.

Russ said: “Although the cars are fast, insurance firms tend to take the view that as you built it, you’re less likely to risk trashing it!”