So that’s the canvas. And here at Anglesey, it’s one of the most entertaining that we will experience all year. The Atom-Seven-cross personality stems from the Spartan’s light, unassisted steering and housefly direction changes against a backdrop of forgiving handling that lets you bully the controls and enjoy mopping up the resulting lawlessness.
On Yokohama Advan A050s, traction is never an issue (if anywhere, it’s here where the Can-Am cosplay veil slips) and the car’s understeer balance fades into perfect neutrality as the rubber warms up. Of course, as with all top track-day cars, commitment is required to enter the Spartan’s window of adjustability. Yet get into that window and you will find no nasty surprises lurking – only a lovely Quaife diff.
However, just as much as its 1960s-inspired styling, 700kg kerb weight or handling, it’s the Spartan’s hair-raising powertrain that delights. The engine is a 2.4-litre Honda K24 inline four, but in truth only the fundamentals remain, everything else being strengthened. Even at 460bhp, courtesy of a Rotrex supercharger, reliability should be fine. Servicing, too.
“In testing, we had it squirrelled up to about 560bhp,” says Peter. “Yeah, quite the animal,” he then adds quietly, matter-of-factly, apparently reminiscing out loud. Hilarious.