0-60 in two and a half seconds

The Freestream T1 is being hailed as the first car that can create 1,000bhp per tonne. Only 25 of the exclusive two-seater ultra-lightweight sportscars will be built and it will be developed as both a road-approved version and a higher specification track version. The car is claimed to weigh no more that 464kg.

According to its developers, Graham Halstead and Ben Scott-Geddes, an engine output of more than 1,000bhp would have added unnecessary extra weight, which in turn adds cost to the car. At the same time, if they made the car with 300bhp per 300kg this would compromise its crashworthiness because of insufficient structural mass.

'An extremely lightweight approach can cause costs to spiral through the use of exotic materials. And less horsepower means a restricted top speed and aerodynamic performance,' said Halstead.

'Having arrived at the optimum power-to-weight ratio a major engineering challenge was to design a powertrain of around 100kg; without which it would have been impossible to meet our overall design requirements,' added Scott-Geddes.