What a great motor industry we have in the UK. Forget the conveyor belts turning out the tedious tin-tops, there are a multitude of small companies out there producing barking mad cars. And there are enough barking mad enthusiasts to buy them too.

Take the Dare DZ. It's never going to sell in quantity, it's just too wild. But Dare have done their sums and if they can sell them at a profit and have a lot of fun in the process, why the hell not?

Pictures courtesy of PikeyNet.

Developed by the Walklett brothers of Ginetta fame, it was first shown at the Birmingham Motor Show in 1998, it created a bit of a stir although not many people took the project seriously and few expected to see any cars making it to the public highways and byways.

However it has made it to the road and Dare have even gone to the trouble of offering two body styles, with a neat gull winged coupe and convertible with titchy removable roof panels. The doors sit quite high up the body requiring a practised entry to the car using the footplate next to the gear lever to manouvre your way in. A simple yet elegant interior awaits with leather seats, harnesses and simple instrumentation.

The power plant is a two litre Ford Zetec available in standard form pumping out 130bhp through a five speed gearbox. For an extra £2,000 you can have a specially designed version of the Rotrex supercharger (as seen on the Turbo Technics Elise) bolted on to take power up to a rather interesting 210bhp. In a car weighing only 680kg this guarantees a grin. Say hello to 60mph in only 4.7 seconds.

With the engine sat almost over the rear wheels oversteer isn't far away for the unwary but this car was guided around the curvy Cadwell Park race track without incident giving many of the more conventional cars a run for their money.

It's very difficult to pigeon-hole the DZ as it has no direct competitors. Event the Lotus Elise looks conventional against the Dare. This car is not for shy retiring types!

The Dare DZ is supplied by Brooke Kensington