In his youth, Michael Anthony was addicted to the thrill of high-speed motor racing.

He was a member of Lotus' famous first racing team in 1954 and owned one of the first Lotuses built after falling in love with them at Goodwood.

Half a century on, he has given up life in the fast lane but still bases his life around cars - and has even taken to building his own.

His latest project is perhaps the opposite of the Lotus 6 he drove in his 20s.

Instead of speeding round the Goodwood track, the little three-seater would struggle to reach ten miles an hour.

Michael, 74, designed the vehicle as a surprise for his four grandchildren, Emily, eight, George, seven, Fred, two, and Madeleine, one, the latest in a line of car-mad Anthonys.

It took him two months to build and is powered by an electric battery which lasts for two and a half hours without recharging.

He said: "I bought an invalid carriage from the municipal dump for £40 which gave me the wheels, part of the chassis and two motors.

"I made a new chassis and the seats were from Toys R Us.

"It doesn't go very fast but that doesn't matter because it is more about the fun of moving.

"I'm making a trailer to be pulled behind so all four of the kids can get on it at once."

It is the second children's car Michael, who lives in Hove, has made this year.

The first was a single-seater for grandson George's seventh birthday in January.

Michael and his wife Anne's own sons were brought up with racing in their blood.

He said: "I used to race jaguars, Lotuses, Listers, D-types and all kinds of cars but I gave up once family responsibilities took over.

"But I did once go to a race in France with two small children and a carry-cot attached to the container the Lotus was travelling in.

"Another time, I took my eldest son to Denmark where I was racing, left him there with friends while I went to a race in Sweden, then came back came and picked him up afterwards."

After giving up motor racing, Michael owned a series of fur shops but has since retired.

Throughout his life he indulged his passion by building cars in his spare time.

He said: "I spend a lot of time on it, which annoys my wife because it means she lives in the house and I live in the garage."

His creations include an exact replica of a Lotus Esprit GT which was displayed at the 1997 Geneva motor show.

He also made himself a golf buggy from another invalid carriage, which he uses to get about in Corsica, where he spends his summer holidays.

Michael said: "I was injured in a rugger accident so I can't walk far. I built the buggy to get down to the shops.

"The roads are very rough over there so I gave it full suspension. I built it like a Grand Prix car but it only goes ten miles an hour."