"You can forget Enzos, you can forget Koenigseggs, this is in a different league!"
- Jeremy Clarkson on the T1
The Caparo T1 is a British rear-wheel drive, mid-engine supercar produced by Caparo Vehicle Technologies, which was founded by design director Ben Scott-Geddes, engineering director Graham Halstead and marketing director and financier Sean Butcher, with both Scott-Geddes and Halstead being formerly involved in the development of the McLaren F1.
Caparo began producing the T1 in mid-2007, which was intended as a street-legal race car, with an estimated number of 25 cars being produced per year. However, only 15 T1 cars were sold before the Caparo company went into administration in 2015 and subsequently dissolving in 2019. This is one of the fastest cars to go round the Top Gear test track, with the Stig setting an astonishing time of 1:10.6.
Unfortunately, it was also unreliable, even potentially dangerous when parts failed to work. Prior to Clarkson's driving attempts in the 5th episode of series 10 on Top Gear, a Dutch journalist veered off a racetrack when a part of the front suspension came adrift, the throttle stuck open at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and most infamously, BTCC champion and Fifth Gear presenter Jason Plato was driving it when a faulty oil-sealing component caused a fire in the cockpit, causing third-degree burns all over his body. It wasn't particularly reliable for Clarkson, either. The cabin floor fell off, with the fuel injection system failing shortly afterwards. Clarkson further criticised the T1's price of £235k and its steering, further complaining about the lack of grip when it goes around corners.