Last week we shared with you the latest on-track news from the PatVan Racing gang over in the United Kingdom, with the team having recently clicked off some 10-second runs with their now nitrous-fed miniature slingshot dragster. But as the team shade with us this week, they’re up to more than just hurting some feelings with their badass little front engine dragster. 

During the winter months, the PatVan team took on a number of projects in addition to hopping up the dragster, also constructing a lighter weight, new body for the world famous Postman Pat Van, based on the original coin-operated kiddie ride. But the biggest story is the advent of an all-new project that follows up with the original Pat Van in a bigger, badder, and safer, form.

Using the original kiddie ride body for inspiration — and for critical measurements — the team created a new fiberglass replica body that’s slightly wider and longer, allowing for a roomier chassis underneath what will still be one very small racing machine. The new chassis, already under construction, is being built more in line with a doorslammer-style car, unlike the Funny Car or Altered-esque chassis found in the original Pat Van. The team will be using the extra space to their advantage, with larger wheels and tires and the engine in a side-mounted configuration, rather than resting squarely between the ‘family jewels’ of the pilot.

The new Pat Van will get its motivation from a 1000cc, 60-degree V-twin engine from an Italian-made motorcycle, making around 100 horsepower. As the team did with the slingshot dragster, a little shot of the giggle-gas is already in the works to push the new van down into the 11’s and beyond.

The guys have gone all-out on this build with some legit race car components, including an aluminum racing seat, air launcher parachutes, and beadlock wheels wrapped in junior dragster-sized meats.

We’ll have plenty more on this awesome build — just another in a line of epic creations from Tom Armitage and the Pat Van team — in the coming months as they near completion.