Working for a company that builds and sells items you lust after is always risky. The employee discount gets raided every month and, once in a while, something special comes along that you know you have to have no matter the cost. 'VX BlackRat' works for Vauxhall, where one of the cars he had drooled over for years recently came up for auction... And he won it!
The car in question is a Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch that raced in the 2005 and 2006 BTCC seasons. It was then used as a demonstrator for 888 Engineering before heading back to Vauxhall to be used as a show car celebrating 100 BTCC wins.
What we know so far is that the car is running its original naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre engine with circa 300hp and an 8,500rpm rev limit. The bad news? It hasn't been started in a long time...
The idea is to get it back up and running for 2018 and take the car to as many BTCC tracks as possible before a trip to Spa. But, as with most finely tuned machines, everything needs to be set up perfectly to keep the car running smoothly. Let's hope the OP gets the car recommissioned soon and the thread updated.
For now, get up to speed on the project here.