King of scrappage takes on the bangers

As the best selling car under the scrappage scheme, Hyundai’s i10 has been responsible for the destruction of 20,000 ‘bangers’. James Baggott, the editor of Car Dealer Magazine, decided to see if the scrap cars could take their revenge.

James entered an i10 city car into a round of the national Banger Championship against 35 other cars at Wimbledon Stadium to see if the Hyundai could smash more than sales records. The i10 has been the undisputed king of the scrappage scheme with sales up 263% in 2009.

The car – a pre-production test mule – was donated by Hyundai. Showing just 823 miles on the clock, this top-of-the-range Style model has a list price of £8,885. However this particular car has to be scrapped as it was an early prototype which has been used for development work and training.

The i10 was prepared by Cecilsrentarookie.co.uk – a firm that specialises in sorting cars for their ultimate date with destiny – before Baggott put it to the test. All the interior trim was stripped, glass removed and bumpers binned in order to comply with race rules. Worryingly for James, the i10’s four airbags also had to disabled, although a crude roll cage, race harness and metal door plates were added.

Unfortunately the i10’s racing debut was short-lived – an assassin in a Nissan Sunny shunted the Hyundai from behind and punted it into the safety barrier just one lap into the race.

To read more, click the following link for Baggott’s blog: cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/blog-banger-racing-a-hyundai-i10/29516