Britain’s Caparo T1 was billed as the ‘closest thing to driving a Formula One car on the road’ when it was first unveiled back in 2006. The car looked just like a formula race car, and its powerplant was a small, high-revving V-8 similar to what was used in F1 at the time. Unfortunately, the extreme nature of the T1 and some very public teething issues meant its maker, Caparo, was always going to face an uphill battle to become a household name.

Now, the company has been dealt a major blow. It’s been revealed that Caparo’s parent company, Caparo Group, which is made up of a consortium of businesses focused primarily in the steel industry, entered administration two weeks ago. The company is hurting from a drop in the price of steel, and tragically its chairman, Angad Paul, son of company founder Swraj Paul, died on November 8 after falling from his penthouse home.

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Most recently, Caparo was working on an updated version of the T1 called the T1 Evolution, which has a price tag of 1.1 million euros (approximately $1.18 million). Only a handful of the cars are to be built and power is said to come from a bespoke powertrain boasting a 700-horsepower output. The regular T1 had a 3.5-liter V-8 good for 575 horsepower in its final iteration.

Unfortunately, Caparo is only showing the T1 Evolution privately to potential customers at this point. However, the company has previously released a teaser and stated that the car will feature the distinctive Caparo T1 look and offer a variety of options and full race support packages.

We’ve reached out to Caparo for information about the effects of its parent company’s financial troubles and will update the story as soon as more is known.

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