Blackpool rocks! (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Blackpool rocks!

Essence gets behind the wheel of the Lancashire-built TVR Sagaris.

I've got a grin on my face like a safari park chimp. I'm not sure whether it's a result of the great day's driving I've just enjoyed behind the wheel of the new TVR Sagaris, or the effects of the G-Force I pulled in it.

The brochure says it does 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds and will hit 100mph in about eight seconds. It has a six-cylinder, 406-horsepower four-litre engine, which will take you to in excess of 185mph although, to be honest, I'll have to take TVR's word for this.

It will set you back at least £50,000, although lots of luxuries, like electric windows and mirrors, central locking, tinted glass and a lavish interior (more of which later) come as standard.

The Blackpool lovely looks like it was designed by Satan in his own image and accelerating is like getting a boot up the posterior from the Almighty himself.

It gets its name from a battleaxe used by the Scythian tribes and written about by the ancient Greeks, and from certain angles I suppose it does present a battleaxe-like appearance. This is the car you used to draw in the back of your school exercise book as a 13-year-old.

The stylised spoilers and splitters give the car a menacing appearance, but they do have a purpose other than looking really, really cool - to control airflow for downforce.

Likewise, the central bonnet panel releases hot air from the engine. A raised section on the roof over the driver's head betrays the intended purpose of this car: the Sagaris has been designed with the racing helmet-clad track racer in mind.

It comes with a CD player, but it's the one pointless luxury: with an engine like the Sagaris', who wants to listen to music? It emits a guttural growl, which crescendos to a mighty roar when you depress the fast pedal. It's the kind of engine sound you want to wind the windows down to listen to. If for no other reason than the sheer volume of the engine, the Sagaris is a head-turner.

During a cruise along the High Street in Marlborough I drove past a Vauxhall Nova full of late teen and early twenties lads. Their eyes popped out on stalks. A boy in his early teens could not get his phone/camera out quickly enough, so I gave him another chance by doing a second lap.

Later, at the petrol station - a place I grew to know and love: the honeycomb petrol tank holds just twenty quid's worth and boy, do you get through it - a bloke driving a convertible Mercedes engaged me enthusiastically in conversation, as did the two guys behind the counter. Normally I'm lucky to get "VAT receipt?" out of them.

Anyone expecting a stripped-down racing interior with a couple of bucket seats will be pleasantly surprised. What you get is a full leather and hide interior as standard. Damn it, this is a car you just want to stroke outside and in!

The steering wheel is a racing car style although I'm not sure if racing cars come with horns (like you need something noisy to alert people to your presence in this car).

You jump and fall, rather than climb, into the driver's seat, but once there you feel cocooned by the car. That is - of course - if you can work out how to access the cabin in the first place: the Sagaris has no door handles, which gives the body a lovely, sleek, air-streamed look, but once you've discovered that the door opens by pressing a button under the wing mirror (electric door and boot release also come as standard), getting in is much easier.

The dials are fun. TVR have knocked the zeros off the speedo, so ten miles and hour is '1' and 100 is '10'. There's also a digital display, which shows the speed in actual numbers (if you can keep the speed constant - the accelerator is very responsive) and a digital petrol gauge (on which the driver will want to keep a close eye).

I decided to take the Sagaris through its paces. I didn't take it to a track - why bother when you have the M4 on a Sunday? - so I can't confirm TVR's acceleration and speed figures, although I can confirm that the Sagaris is very fast: speeds in excess of the national speed limit are achieved effortlessly.

If you want to be the fastest thing on the M4 then I'm convinced that, behind the wheel of this car, you can be. But be warned: the Sagaris does attract motorway racers and on several occasions high-powered saloons tried to goad me into chasing them. I didn't bother - what did I have to prove?

The Sagaris is as 'at home' in the town - so long as you remember to treat every city like a video game racing title.

I've never driven a car in which I've been glad to get stuck at red lights, but the Sagaris turns every traffic signal into an opportunity for a racing start, and it's great fun to watch everyone disappear in your rearview mirror as you accelerate away.

Urban speed humps will slow you down, however, as you pray you won't ground the car on each and every one.

And on the winding country lanes that criss-cross the Marlborough Downs, the Sagaris clung to the road like a leech wearing crampons.

Barring my first few minutes of butterflies while I grew accustomed to the power and the engine noise, I never felt unsafe or out of control in this car. So would I buy one? Well, in a hypothetical world where I could afford £49.995 on a fun car for the weekend, I'd be sorely tempted!