Legendary Car: The Reeves Mk1

The Brits sure know how to build some amazing track day vehicles. Why? Not sure. Perhaps it has something to do with the 29,000 or some odd number of racing licenses held by in the UK. (I think I read that somewhere) Perhaps it has to do with the seemingly simple process of obtaining one of said licenses. (Really. Check out the website for Motor Sports Association, the governing body of the UK.) The prospect of building a car and hitting the track seems far more easy than it is in the states. Jealous? I know I am. With all the separate sanctioning bodies in the states, like the SCCA, NASA, IMSA, NASCAR, Rally America and so forth, it seem even more complex than it already is in comparison!



What does this have to do with anything you ask? Well it's just something that occurred to me when I was skimming the Club GTI forums the other day and happened upon The Reeves Mk1. Owned by a chap named Maurice Reeves, (sometimes driven by Trevor Reeves?) it's quite the car, and although I could try and get into a bunch of technical stuff based around guesswork, let's just let the pictures and videos speak for themselves.





After all, when a car is known simply as "The Reeves Mk1" on pretty much every video on Youtube and posting on the internet, it's got some cred. The end product is more than the sum of its parts. Just watch it disposing of everything else on the track at Belgium's Spa Francorchamps, leaving Porsches and anything else you can think of in it's wake. A Mk1 should not be able to perform like this, but it does, and in commanding style.



It's absolutely unbelievable. And nothing, I mean nothing, like this has ever been built in the USA as far as I'm concerned. If I'm wrong please do let me know, but it would be news to me...





The long and short of it is that it's 1.8t powered, has trick suspension parts, and is probably one of the most potent Mk1-based track cars in the world. (Along with the Berg Cup Group H cars of course)



This latest incarnation came as a result of a brake failure which had the car crash heavily into the barriers at the UK's Castle Combe. Luckily there were no injuries, but the car was written off. It was from this point that the widebody chassis was developed, after all if you're going to rebuild, you may as well upgrade at the same time.

Check out the full build thread for all the details.



So, anyone have any challengers they'd like to submit? Until we see a more impressive build or better footage, I'd say this is the top independently built VW in the world.

_WRS

-Most Pic Credits: Chris Eyre on Club GTI UK.