BACK IN 2005, A VAST NEW SWATHE OF car enthusiasts became aware of the Radical brand for the first time when the firm’s SR8, driven by Michael Vergers, set a new Nürburgring Nordschleife production car lap record of just 6min 55sec. Four years later, with evo’s own Roger Green riding shotgun, Vergers drove a 460bhp SR8LM from Radical’s factory in Peterborough to the Ring and lowered that time to 6min 48sec, a record that would stand for eight years (evo 136). It was a contentious record because the SR8LM – and the SR8 before it – were road-registered via the UK’s single vehicle approval process rather than being fully type-approved production cars. But as a means of promoting the Radical name, it worked a treat.
Formed in 1997 by two enthusiasts, Mick Hyde and Phil Abbott, Radical is still tucked away on the same industrial estate in the north of Peterborough in the East Midlands,
