Britain's sole remaining luxury car manufacturer is set to unleash a 225mph monster on the unsuspecting British public. The car is the Bristol Fighter T.

Despite the already overpowered Fighter and Fighter S models, (with 527bhp and 628bhp respectively), Bristol says its power-crazed customers wanted yet more oomph. Well, they've certainly got their wish; Bristol has strapped two turbochargers to the 8-litre V10 to create a 1012bhp road-rocket. This is certainly an appropriate route to increase power as the company launched the UK's first turbocharged production car in January 1980 - the Bristol Beaufighter.

To cope with the extra performance there has also been minor exterior modifications, such as a new rear diffuser, reducing the drag coefficient to an impressive 0.27. In fact the 225mph top-speed is a bit misleading, as the Fighter T would be capable of around 270mph but for its electronic limiter. Handling should also be improved thanks to a 30 per cent increase in torsional rigidity, a 10mm reduction in ride height and a 25 per cent stiffer front anti-roll bar.

Of course, the Fighter T won't be particularly cheap. A price has yet to be announced but at £256,000 for the Fighter S, this will be a car for the super rich only. Having said that, it's likely to be considerably cheaper than the similarly powerful Bugatti Veyron. Customers also have the added pride that the Bristol is quintessentially British in every sense and it still manages to match up against the big boys in world supercars.

Will Nightingale - 27 Nov 2006