The Devil's Rejects soapbox team first appeared in the Chronicle & Echo in May, when Delilah's chassis was just a wooden plank and all that had been fitted was the steering wheel.

But the group, who will race the car for the first time this weekend, said Delilah is now ready to race in the Belchford derby. Spokesman Bill 'Kaiser' Pollard said: "We are fairly confident we won't come last.

"It's not the best you can hope for, but it's about as confident as I am prepared to be at the moment.

"We have done test runs and we think she got to 40mph, which we're really pleased with."

The team is made up of Kaiser and his brother George 'Reg' Pollard, along with Matt 'Mr Stocker' Stocker, Dan 'Mr Dan' Brodie, Ricky 'Super Ginge' Brown, Paul 'Colonel Bogey' Laundon and Nick 'Newby Nick' Morton.

When they last set about creating a soapbox car, the group's delay in preparations meant they found out the night before the big race that the vehicle didn't actually work.

But Kaiser said this time around the creation of Delilah had gone as smoothly as possible.

He said: "We have been incredibly lucky with sponsors and people offering to paint her for free.

"We have worked on this every Monday night since May and it's taken quite a few hours, but we don't have any regrets yet on the way we've done things and we are all set to go. Delilah looks absolutely fantastic, we are really pleased with the way she has turned out."

The Abington-based group will race at Belchford on Sunday and will host a homecoming party the following week at the Victoria Inn in Poole Street, The Mounts, from 4pm on Sunday, September 20.

Visitors small enough to fit in the driver's seat can have their pictures taken in the car, while video footage of the race will also be screened.