“The original intention was to put a few grand into it and do it up, but it snowballed and I decided to do it exactly as I wanted.” Basically, this was to be a once in a lifetime build, and Peter was determined to get it right. This meant a lot of hard work, seven-day working weeks and saving before Peter had the money up front to pay for all the bits needed for his dream build. “The main idea was for me to build a car I could use,” says Peter, “something I could give a good thrashing and represent what I stand for. I thought I’d do it once and do it well. And I always wanted the Vauxhall engine, basically because I know everything about them.”

Out Of The Vaux

The engine in question is, of course, an absolute screamer, tuned to within an inch of its life to provide a dyno-proven 249 bhp and monster 204 lb.ft of torque. Based on a John Cleland championship-winning grasstrack engine, the 2-litre lump has an Ultra-lite all-steel bottom end, heavily-worked, big-valve QED Coscasttype head with hydraulic lifters, Anthony Hawkins-spec pick-up hot rod cams, heady 12.3:1 compression ratio and a pair of Weber 45 DCOES. A glorious custom-built for the engine Simpson manifold hangs off the side which Peter’s begrudgingly had to heat-wrap, and feeds into a stainless-steel exhaust. Which means the XE sounds awesome even on tickover.

“The rev range of the cams is 4000-9000,” says Peter. “The limiter’s set to 9 and it’s been there! We played around with the cam timing a fair bit so they’re coming in at about 3500, as it just wasn’t driveable as it was, especially with the on-off, triple-plate sintered clutch. I never thought it would be as smooth as it is, I couldn’t believe it really for the spec.”

Massive Props

Drivetrain first: the twin-cam up front is mated, via an Ultra-lite steel flywheel, to a Tran-X four-speed straight-cut box using an alloy bellhousing, through a heavy duty RecoProp 4-inch propshaft to a five-linked strengthened English axle complete with Panhard rod. Fully adjustable TCAs and compression struts are used, along with eccentric top mounts to mount the Koni 2.25-inch coilovers, and a 2.25-ratio quick rack fitted with custom-made lowered steering arms. “I went to Rally Design for the crossmember with lowered rack mounts,” says Peter. “I’ve also had to bend the steering arms to accommodate bump steer as I wanted the car to run so low. There’s a 2.4-ratio quick-rack, but since the rack’s been lowered and the arms adjusted it’s about half a turn from lock to lock! You’ve got to really know the car or it’ll just spin out.

“I had to make the pedal box too, as the starter motor had been in the way I’ve had to move the clutch pedal across for the steering column to pass where it needed to — then the gearstick’s been made as I’ve pulled the steering and pedal box back and didn’t want to be reaching for the gears.”

It’s all about weight distribution, and the race-bred touches don’t end there: how about the removable footwell panel which means the gearbox can be accessed and removed in no more than 20 minutes? Or the work-of-art historic-rallying-spec roll cage? Peter’s not been afraid to build his car his way, without worrying about winning ‘scene points’ or earning plaudits on forums. Everything’s been meticulously planned to ensure ease of maintenance and reliability in the future — make no mistake, Peter gives it plenty of beans, but hasn’t cut corners on quality of finish.