The British motor industry is not the giant it once was, but the number of specialist builders in the country is growing and innovative designs are emerging.

Arash Cars is one of those builders and the AF-10, the sports car they have been working on since the company was established in March 2006, is ready to roll.

At their factory in Sawston on the outskirts of Cambridge they use a blend of modern construction techniques to create the car. The vehicle body and chassis are made from carbon fibre and sandwiches of carbon and aluminium honeycomb or nomex are used on areas that bear heavy loads.

Lucky number 13

The chassis made of 13 parts is assembled into a jig and bonded at temperature. Arash says the design of the front and rear sub assemblies provide excellent protection from crashes. There are also rear impact bars and side, rear impact struts and side panels of the chassis are overlapped to build up strength.

The rear window and driver-to-engine compartment window are made of shatter- and scratch-resistant plastic. Front and side windows are laminated glass.

The lightweight body rests on 19-inch alloys with 265/35 ZR19 tyres in the and 20-inch alloys with 335/30 ZR20 rubber on the rear.

GM power

Rather than design an engine from scratch, Arash uses hand assembled, all-aluminium engines from General Motors USA that are strengthened with titanium conrods, forged pistons and crank shaft.

This dry sump, seven-litre unit pumps out 376kW and 644Nm of torque.

The engine and gearbox are mounted on rubber bushes to dampen vibration in the cabin. Pedals are floor-mounted to allow ?heel and toe' control and create good foot spacing.

More rubber on tar

Arash has designed the AF-10 with what it describes as "super-long front wishbones" and a wide wheel track to place more rubber in contact with the road during cornering. The design avoids the use of pushrods in the suspension to reduce the number of moving parts and so reduce friction and wear.

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