This is a Furore F1 kit car that was developed to look as much like a Formula 1 car as possible, while still being street-legal and buildable by an amateur enthusiast in their home garage using hand tools.
Any Formula 1 fan will be able to tell you it’s not actually an F1 car of course, but for many casual observers it looks almost indistinguishable – and the sound of the high-revving superbike engine in the back only adds to the illusion. Furore F1 cars have been shipped to the USA, Canada, and Germany, and there are a handful on the road in Britain.
Fast Facts – The Furore F1 Kit Car
- This is the Furore F1 kit car, designed by Russ Bost, it replicates the appearance of a Formula 1 car while remaining street-legal. Built on a tubular steel spaceframe chassis with fiberglass bodywork, it uses parts from a Toyota MR2 and is powered by a high-revving superbike engine.
- Inspired by the Ferrari F310, the Furore F1 includes tandem seating, independent four-wheel suspension, and four-wheel disc brakes. Its lightweight design (560 kgs/1,235 lbs) and Kawasaki ZZR1400 superbike engine (190 bhp) deliver impressive performance and a Formula 1 aesthetic that is convincing for many.
- Priced at approximately £10,000 during production, fewer than twenty Furore F1 cars were built, with units shipped to Canada, the United States, Germany, and the UK. The project ultimately ceased due to limited profitability, making these cars rare collector’s items today.
- This featured Furore F1, built by Russ Bost, is listed on eBay in the UK for £40,000 (~$50,130 USD). It includes an MOT and V5, has been owned for eight years, and was previously featured on BBC’s Panorama, attracting significant attention for its unique design.
The Furore F1 Kit Car
Britain has a long history of men in sheds and garages inventing amazing things. Sometimes they invent remarkable cars, but it’s the Brits we have to thank for a wide array of important innovations including the steam engine, the jet engine, the pneumatic tire, the ATM machine, not to mention the World Wide Web, the web browser, and the first website.
Above Video: This episode from the team at StoryTrender is all about the Furore F1 kit car, and it includes an interview with Russ Bost who does a great job of telling the story of the car.
The Furore F1 kit car was developed by Russ Bost, an automotive innovator and Formula 1 fan. His goal was to build a car that was as close to an F1 car as possible, while still being fully street-legal and offering tandem seating for two – as well as a little space for groceries.
Bost started the project with a Toyota MR2 donor car which provided a few essential parts, including the brakes and gearbox.
He developed a new tubular steel spaceframe chassis for the car and lightweight fiberglass bodywork designed to emulate the Ferrari F310 Formula 1 car developed by a legendary team including John Barnard, Ross Brawn, Gustav Brunner, and Rory Byrne.
The F310 was driven by Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine in the 1996 and 1997 seasons, winning eight races, taking seven pole positions, five fastest laps, and 22 podiums in total.
Unlike the F310, the Furore F1 is powered by a slightly more modest engine, the example you see in this article has a Kawasaki ZZR1400 superbike engine fitted giving it 190 bhp and 104 lb ft of torque – more than enough for the 560 kg (1,235 lb) curb weight.
The car has independent front and rear suspension, and four wheel disc brakes – as you would expect. The driver sits up front and has a steering wheel and shifter, as well as the requisite three pedals.
Here we see Russ Bost, the creator of the Furore F1, with his own example that is finished in Red Bull livery.
If the driver wants to bring someone along they can remove a section of rear bodywork to reveal a second seat in tandem configuration, as well as a little space for carrying bags or groceries.
Once Russ Bost had finished his own car he offered it as a kit car with a cost of about £10,000 or about $12,500 USD. He sold a handful of them in Britain as well as at least one to Canada, four to Germany, and one to the United States. Ultimately it didn’t prove profitable and so production ceased.
There are a small number of Furore F1 kit cars on the road but they only seem to come up for sale very rarely – and no two are exactly the same and only approximately 17 were ever made.
The Furore F1 Kit Car Shown Here
The car you see here is one of the original Furore F1 cars that were personally built by Russ Bost. As mentioned higher up it’s powered by a Kawasaki ZZR1400 superbike engine, making it one of the most powerful examples of the car ever built.
It’s now being sold on eBay out of the UK by its longtime owner – he’s had it for almost eight years and appears to be selling it somewhat reluctantly.
You can imagine how much attention the Furore F1 gets when it’s out being driven on public roads. For many people it’s almost indistinguishable from a real F1 car – particularly when it zips past at speed.
He mentions that this car was previously featured on the BBC Panorama news show on television, and that it gets a huge amount of attention every time he takes it out on the road.
The asking price of the car is £40,000 or approximately $50,130 USD. The car will come with an MOT and its V5, and you can visit the listing here to make him an offer.
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
