UNIVERSITY students have built a car they say is capable of outsprinting a Ferrari, as part of a course revolutionising the way engineering is taught.

A group of some 30 University of Liverpool students gathered yesterday on the concrete apron at the former Liverpool Airport, in Speke, to test out the speed wagon they have developed.

Every detail from ballbearings to the all-important roll bar on their prototype single-seater was worked on by third and fourth year engineers.

Dr Peter Fox, the engineering lecturer overseeing the trial run, yesterday said: "In the past, the traditional engineering course has had very little in the way of a practical element.

"But this gets their hands dirty."

Fourth-year aerospace student engineer and team leader Gilbert Lock said: "If you’d given a student a spanner, they would have given you a funny look.

"They might have been uncomfortable with actually doing anything in the real world.

"This has helped it become second nature."

Yesterday, the group of Liverpool engineers knelt, bent and twisted over the car with a range of wrenches and Allen keys to carry out mini-pit stops.

The tiny vehicle they are tuning up boasts an Aprilia RXV550 motorbike engine and is capable of hitting 60mph in 3.9 seconds.

Russian student Alex Yashin was pictured belting along the former runway outside the Crowne Plaza as his colleagues stood close by bearing a fire extinguisher and fire blanket. Alex was dressed in the all-in- one kit worn by a racing driver.