It’s hard enough just getting a job after completing your studies at university, so imagine how tough it must be for a group of automotive design students straight out of the classroom to form their own car company and start production of their very own sports car. Despite financial and time restraints that’s exactly what three students from Coventry University in the UK are doing.

Their creation, the Concept Climax, has been in the works for more than two years and the first working model is scheduled to enter production in April of this year. Its slippery shape and low slung wedge look is designed to be reminiscent of Le Mans type racers and British sports cars of the past and we have to agree the designers have done a top job.

To keep costs down, the car’s design has been kept very basic. For example, it has no doors or roof and only comes with a flip-up plastic windscreen. Performance, however, should be scintillating given the car’s 270hp four-cylinder engine, which develops its peak power at no less than 6,500rpm. Race spec equipment includes Koni shock absorbers, Alcon brakes and DyMag carbon wheels.

According to its creators, the final production version should cost around $70,000 and only 50 examples are expected to see the light of day.