Yesterday, myself and Rob loaded up our gear bright and early after helping out on the live draw of our BMW M3 and headed an hour south to go and catch up with the team at MK Sportscars. Last Friday, we had a chat with the MK crew at the NEC Classic Motor Show and hatched a plan to come down and see what they’ve been up to and we certainly were impressed.
MK bespoke build these cars with 3 main models. The Sprint, the Cup and the RX-5. With a choice of engines, seats, colours, finishes and even some one-off builds – the team turn out some exceptional work. Immediatley, Rob and I were drawn to the Cup200 car that we had seen at the NEC, which is also signed by Chris Hoy as part of a project the MK team had done with the Olympic champion. The engine for this particular model is sourced from a 2nd generation Suzuki Hyabusa but reworked for the demands placed on it. 200+ horsepower, little to no weight and a bespoke chassis to get the most out of the platform. There’s also a choice of a 1.8-litre 2nd generation Mazda MX-5 based engine and running gear in the aptly named RX-5 and a 2.0-litre Durapower in the Sprint 185.
What began in 2014 with Shaun and Neil has since grown from strength to strength. The team have developed everything from their own suspension system (a beautifully fabricated in-board cantalever set up) all the way through to adapting one of the cars to meet the mobility challenges with a customer of theirs while also retaining the performance and feel that you get from one of the MK cars. Each of the cars is built by the team but is endlessly changeable by the owner with the almost every system allowing some form of adjustment to meet the customers need. Such as the absolutely insane, 380BHP+ build which will be coming up very soon.
Just like our team here at Bridge Classic Cars, the MK team have the same pursuit of excellence, fit and finish as well as understanding that if it can be done better, it should be done better. Rob was taken out in both the Sprint 185 and Cup 200 cars with co-owner Shaun at the wheel. I’ve known Rob for quite a few years by this point but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him come back from a test drive that excited.
In their workshop of 13 technicians, parts warehousing, build bays, test bays, customer centre and storage lies a team with passion truly at their hearts, much like we have here at the Bridge Classic Cars HQ.
We’re excited to follow along with what the MK Sportscars team are up to in the future – but before then, I’ve got a video to edit…
