Twin Turbo P100 - Storm Brewing (Part 2)

Top job

Two days later and the P100 was on the back of a trailer heading to Top Boss Performance's HQ in Derby. With the P100 unloaded (and the now defunct 100E loaded back on) Ray told Fitz what he wanted and the project was finally underway.

The first job was to strip the car back to a bare shell. Everything came off - brake lines, wiring, glass, all the clips and bits and pieces that hold everything together - the lot. The shell was then prepped for paint and painstakingly given a fresh coat of custom color. "It's Mercury Grey, but several shades darker," Ray informs us, "I think it looked too light as standard so I had a local paint company make this color up specially for me."

Racing Hart alloys are usually found on Japanese cars - One of the two Garrett T3/4 based turbos

The freshly painted P100 looked stunning upon its return to Top Boss, but before Fitz could install the new engine, he needed to sort all the foundations for it to work - namely the transmission, suspension and brakes.

The gearbox is now a hybrid affair, taking the front half with the V6 bell housing from an XR4x4's MT75, and coupling it with the rear half of a 2WD DOHC 'twinky' Sierra's MT75. Throw in some uprated roller bearings to replace the needle rollers, and the result is an incredibly strong 'box that bolts directly up to the Cossie V6. It's a direct fit to the P100 shell, and is solely rear-wheel drive without any of the 4x4's center diff weaknesses. Oh, and Fitz has also played around with the gearing (fitting a modified Transit 5th gear), so the P100 can now comfortably cruise at 90mph at 'off-boost' engine speeds, and has the gearing to do a theoretical 200mph.

At the back the standard rear axle was duly binned for the much beefier Atlas unit from a Capri 3.0. That's been modified too and is now converted to a Gripper limited-slip diff, with Scorpio Ultima rear discs cleverly grafted in place. A custom two-piece prop joins it all together.

Interior benefits from Saph Cossie Recaroes and late-spec dash

Inside, a pair of leather Recaros and late-spec dashboard robbed from a Saph Cos give a sense of purpose and a degree of comfort, while the Racing Hart wheels that used to be fitted to Fitz's own three-door now have a new home. The external styling has been kept deliberately low-key and remains un-Cossiefied to keep the P100's identity, and you have to admit it works well. Although with two decent sized turbos lurking within, there's no getting away from the fact that a vented bonnet is a requirement.

With everything else taken care of, the motor could finally be mounted. Then it was just a case of wiring up the Gotech ECU and fitting the custom exhaust system (which is actually made from a modified Audi A5 stainless system).

When the key was turned for the first time it soon became clear that 'Storm' is the perfect name for this engine conversion - just the sound of it is enough to make most men run away and cry! The car had been back with Ray for just a few weeks prior to the photoshoot, and is still in the process of running the engine in before the 370bhp 'base' gets significantly beefed up.

Twin tailpipes are the only giveaway that this R100 is a bit special

However, the car's already made a big impression and Ray describes it as "Lively but controllable." With the running-in mileage nearly complete it won't be long before the motor can be tweaked for maximum performance - and Ray is looking at the very real prospect of 500-plus bhp.

He's already surprised a few (hasn't he Mr. Mercedes Estate?) but with supercar levels of performance Ray and his P100 will be the cause of some more raised eyebrows over the coming months. Listen out for it at this year's shows - there's a storm brewing!

P100 tech spec