Craziest coupé on the road: Mechanic’s full-size replica of classic children’s car does 0-60mph in 17 seconds

Most of us grew out of our passion for pedalling a toy car around the garden by the time we started school. Not so John Bitmead, who has created an adult version of classic children’s car the Cozy Coupé. The petrolhead, 48, his brother, Geoff, and friend Nigel Douglas spent five months converting a Daewoo Matiz into the oversized toy.

‘I love setting myself a challenge, and once I’d got the idea in my head, I was determined to see it through,’ he said. ‘We were chatting one day about how more people have probably driven a Cozy Coupé than any other kind of car – and it snowballed from there.’ He has copied every detail on the coupe from the yellow roof to glassless windows and oversized drinks holder. It cost a total of £35,000 to build – though the standard-sized version will set you back about £50. The ‘toy’ runs on unleaded petrol and can go from zero to 60mph in 17 seconds. ‘We took it on the motorway once, but I’m too scared to do it again in case we cause an accident,’ Mr Bitmead added.

Mr Douglas, who is managing director of Attitude Autos in Oxfordshire, where the other two work, said: ‘We tried to create our version of a classic car. We saw so many of them in people’s front gardens we thought it would be great to make one for grown-ups wanting to relive their youth.’

source: www.metro.co.uk

to grow out of – kinőni valamit/valamiből
by the time – addigra, ameddig
coupé – kétajtós autó
petrolhead – autómániás
to convert – átalakítani
determined – eltökélt
to see something through – végigcsinálni, befejezni
to snowball – beindulni
detail – részlet
glassless – üveg nélküli
oversized – túlméretes
to set one back – valamennyibe kerül valakinek
unleaded petrol – ólommentes benzin
in case – arra az esetre, ha
to relive – újra átélni 

Match the words with the definitions.

answers: 1-b 2-d 3-e 4-a 5-c

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-GB
X-NONE
X-NONE

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
table.MsoTableGrid
{mso-style-name:”Table Grid”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-priority:59;
mso-style-unhide:no;
border:solid windowtext 1.0pt;
mso-border-alt:solid windowtext .5pt;
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-border-insideh:.5pt solid windowtext;
mso-border-insidev:.5pt solid windowtext;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}