Bristol unveils ultimate street fighter

Snooty British marque Bristol has unveiled the most powerful production car that money can buy -- the barmy 755kW Fighter T.

Powered by a twin-turbocharged and intercooled 8.0-litre V10 engine, the Fighter T isn't exactly undernourished in the torque department either. How does a quota of 1405Nm at 4500rpm sound? Ludicrous is one word that springs to mind.

Such is the magnitude of the Bristol's power and torque figures that even the mental 736kW/1250Nm Bugatti Veyron starts to look a bit weedy by comparison -- at least on paper.

The Fighter T isn't just a flight of fancy either. UK deliveries of the Bristol bomber will start in September next year, according to the manufacturer.

It will join the existing (and slower) Fighter S, as some customers allegedly expressed interest in a more potent coupe. The Fighter T will "answer these requirements without losing one iota of street level credentials," boasts the carmaker.

To puts its oomph into perspective, the standard Fighter produces a none-too-shabby 712Nm of torque at 3500rpm, but the Fighter T ups the ante to more than 1220Nm at the same rpm, and continues to do so all the way up to the rev limit of 6000rpm.

Exactly how the rear tyres are expected to last more than a week under this abuse is quite beyond us, but we wouldn't mind finding out first-hand. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to ever occur, as Bristol cars aren't marketed in Oz.

In any case, it wouldn't be cheap. Even the 'standard' Fighter retails for the equivalent of around $630,000 in the UK, so the T is unlikely to earn much change from a million.

Incidentally, top speed has been limited to a mere 360kmh, as the Bristol boffins somehow figured that an unrestrained v-max of 432kmh might be a tad excessive for public roads. You don't say...

Bristol bills the Fighter T as a "compact and enjoyable car to drive around town or as an exhilarating track car. Yet it takes two people and their luggage in great luxury and ease for trans continental travel."

The exalted British marque is no stranger to forced induction, as it launched the UK's first turbocharged car, the Beaufighter, in 1980.

Tally ho...