You likely haven’t heard of this one. Adamastor is a sports car builder based in Portugal and it’s finally ready to bring a road-legal track car to market. Say hello to the new P003RL.
Adamastor is following in the footsteps of other lightweight, high-fun quotient track-focused cars, such as the Ariel Atom and the BAC Mono. The P003RL is built starting with an FIA-spec tube frame chassis. Atop that you have composite body panels all hiding a Ford-sourced power plant. It’s a familiar recipe but certainly not an unwelcome one. In fact, the P003RL presents well with sharp styling and what appears to be a decent cabin space complete with suede finishings.
Using either a 2.0-liter or 2.3-liter Ford engine, Adamastor sets the mill in the middle of the car. It’s then paired with one of a number of gearbox options. Customers can choose between a Ford-supplied manual or automatic, or go in a different direction with a dog box using straight-cut gears. There’s even the ability to swap in a sequential manual and paddle-shifted transmission.
The name P003RL relates to the fact that this is actually Adamastor’s third vehicle. The first two were track-only cars but this one here is an attempt to bridge the gap between track toy and road legality. Still, Adamastor has a unique focus on making sure its customers are serious about their track time. If you’re interested in buying one, Adamastor needs to first evaluate your skill behind the wheel. Then it wants to see you work on improving those skills as you own the car. That’s certainly one way to weed out potential owners just looking for the latest flashy play thing.
In order to hand over your cash for a P003RL, you’ll need to complete either the Adamastor Experience or a shorter Adamastor Drive. These take place at the Circuito Vasco Sameiro in Braga, Portugal. If you pass, you’ve unlocked access to the P003RL.
What that ultimately costs? We don’t know. But we do know that we’re both sort of annoyed yet mildly impressed that Adamastor plans to make potential owners prove they know what they’re doing on a race track.
