New Zealand-born, United States-based Aitken is as motorsport mad as they come, as evidenced by the highly-modified single-seater.
His weapon of choice is a 2001 Reynard 01i built originally for Forsythe Racing, who competed in the CART FedEx Championship Series – or what was more commonly known as Champ Car.
This is no ordinary Reynard, however. Instead of the highly-strung 2.6-litre, turbocharged V8 from Honda or Toyota is a 6.2-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 Chevrolet LT2 out of a Corvette C8.
The single-seater has countless custom parts, including a retrofitted halo, a modified Max Papis Industries steering wheel with retrofitted paddle shifters, and custom wheels.
“Going into this project, I had criteria, and it was whatever I build I want it to be able to be a Hot Wheels car for a kid to be able to play with,” Aitken explained in a Vibrant Performance video.
“I don’t want to build something boring. Let’s just stick an original engine in and close the lid up and no one know what it is.
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“I wanted it to be relatable to the public and I wanted it to be loud, nasty, and shoot flames. So this thing transpired in my brain and then I just went about it.
“The last 12 months, this car has just been worked on around the clock.
“It’s got hundreds, if not thousands of hours in it from the R&D phase to what you see now.
“So many things on that car are just figments of my imagination.
“It was just so cool that as the project gained momentum people started to see my vision and we shared the vision and it’s really started to come to life.”
Aitken had hoped to have the car ready in time for the 2025 edition of Pikes Peak, but was forced to scrap those plans and instead race a highly-modified Chevrolet SS stock car.
This year, ‘BROTUS’ made its long-awaited debut on the mountain course.
Aitken failed to complete a run on the first day of practice due to a spin after a sudden surge in boost pressure lit the rear wheels up.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb takes place on June 16-21.
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