Engineering students from the University of Hertfordshire have turned an electric children's car into a fully functioning mini-McLaren.
Students studying MEng Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the Hatfield university spent just over a year building the mini supercar.
Their passion for cars and working on small-scale engineering projects led the group of students to start Sneaky Pikers Garage, renting out a garage space to work on a variety of projects.
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Jeremy Camilleri, a third-year student said: "I started Sneaky Pikers Garage back in 2019 with two other engineering students, Mircea and Louis.
"We decided to rent out and utilise a one-space car garage with no electricity, lighting, or running water. Since then, we've taken on more members and there are now twelve of us taking on a wide variety of projects, one being the mini MacLaren project."
The passionate group of students scoured Facebook Marketplace and Ebay to modify motorised bicycles, restore classic French mopeds, service and repair their own cars, build mini-bikes and now create a miniature McLaren P1 - using the chassis off a mini quad bike and a water-cooled 80cc engine from a Midi Bike.
Ignoring the scale, Jeremy says "this mini-McLaren has hydraulic scissor doors and a single-centred exhaust which when running can get quite loud, much like the real thing".
Speaking about the challenges they faced with their latest project, the final year student added: "Adapting the body to fit the frame was our first hurdle.
"The car was originally an electric children's ride which had to be completely gutted and modified to accommodate the quad bike frame.
"The main challenge was to try and create a space within the cabin to make room for a person to actually drive it."
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The team are excited to show-off their creation at the Herts Auto Show taking place on Sunday, May 21, at Oaklands College.
"We have been incredibly excited to show off our hard work and passion at this year's auto show," Jeremy added.
"Many of these projects spend most of their time locked away in a garage and it will be nice to finally get to show them off to other vehicle enthusiasts"
For more about the group and their projects, go to google.com/view/sneakypikersgarage/home?authuser=1.
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