
RB200 TRIBUTE CAR
ENGLAND
PAUL HIGHAM
PAUL HIGHAM`S RB200 TRIBUTE CAR BASED ON TOYOTA MR2 ZZW30
NAME: PAUL HIGHAM
ASPIRATION: NA 1.8 1ZZ
COUNTRY: ENGLAND
STYLING: RB200 TRIBUTE
MR2: ZZW
BODYKIT: CUSTOM
YEAR: 2002
WHEELS: ROTA RECCE 17`S
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2002 Toyota MR2 MK3 Roaster model.
5-Speed manual gearbox.
BC Racing coilovers.
Whiteline Performance anti-roll bars.
Barbarian Racing front strut brace.
Gravity Performance exhaust manifold.
Pipercross Performance panel air filter.
Short-shifter.
TTE chrome sports exhaust.
Momo steering wheel with quick release.
70 meters of titanium exhaust heat wrap.
Driftworks 40mm bespoke wheel spacers.
Woodsport.org KANJO subframe.
Stoney Racing silicone coolant pipes.
ROTA Recce 17 alloy wheels.
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My name is Paul Higham:
Why build an RB200 Tribute Car ?
I was looking to celebrate my 55th birthday in April 2024 by purchasing a new car or motorbike.
One of the only benefits of turning 55 is that you can access the funds in a personal pension plan and I could withdraw enough to treat myself to a new car {new to me}.
I never considered purchasing a brand new car.
Turning 55 was also significant to me because I suffered a critical COVID pneumonia episode in January 2021.
I was not expected to survive and was given a matter of hours to live.
I wrote my final will and testament on my death bed and waited for my inevitable passing....
Thankfully, I survived.
My choice of car to buy was initially either a Porsche Boxter or a Mercedes-Benz SL300 series.
I searched for a suitable car online utilising various mediums but no car stood out to me.
I ultimately had a word with myself and decided that both cars were a typical middle-aged man type of purchase and that they were not for me.
I also briefly considered buying myself another motorbike instead.
I was particularly impressed by the Royal Enfield model range.
This idea soon came to naught when Jules, my wife, declared that she would never ride as a passenger.
So I parked the whole idea until pure fate reared its head...
I injured myself at work in April 2024 and ultimately, my left knee collapsed one Friday morning whilst I was leaving home to drive to work.
After the inevitable trip to hospital and being signed off work for a period of time to recover, I arrived home in crutches to contemplate my life's twists and turns.
To help with this, I turned on the TV to watch YouTube.
Fate must have intervened because within a few minutes Richard Batey's YouTube channel popped up.
Now I knew of the name but I could not remember why...
However, his YouTube channel certainly caught my attention because he was documenting the build of his own white Ford RS200 Tribute Car.
With plenty of time to binge watch his back catalogue of content, I was hooked.
I was blown away by the car and I pondered if this could be the project that I was looking for?
Richard Batey was a very well known car builder back in the day. That is how I knew his name.
He had built up a company called BAT Cars. They became the go-to company for a MAX POWER type car build in the eighties.
Unfortunately, the company folded at the beginning of the first recession and Richard Batey became a highly skilled and well known tattoo artist instead.
He was very successful once again and has built up a portfolio of businesses in the Carlisle area.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, I reached out to Richard for the first time in June 2024 to find out a costing for his RB200 kit etc.
I have to declare straight away that I never had any intention of building up a car myself.
I am definitely not a mechanic or car body sprayer. I struggle to mend a plug...
We spoke regularly on the phone and exchanged WhatsApp messages for a month or so.
Each time we spoke, I became more and more comfortable with the idea of having an RB200 built to my very own specification.
Without any discussion with my family, I determined that I was going to source and purchase a suitable Toyota MR2 MK3 Roaster model donor car.
And so the search began.
In the meantime, I continued talking with Richard Batey and watching his YouTube channel...
Chapter 2: A bumpy road.
I originally arranged to meet up with Richard Batey at his Carlisle workshop in July 2024 to view his own RB200 demonstrator car and to give it a test drive but this appointment never happened because Richard's car was not ready in time.
In the meantime, I sourced and bought a 2002 Toyota MR2 MK3 Roaster model from a very pleasant young man called Ollie Farthing (https://www.facebook.com/share/16xVfRUfy4/).
I paid £1,100.00 for the donor car because it needed a bit of TLC.
I drove the car home from Ollie's Saffron Walden home with the roof down.
It was a beautiful warm summer's day and I fell in love with this convertible car, so much so, that within a few days, I had decided that I was just going to do up this cheap little sports car and forget about building an RB200 Tribute Car.
I informed Richard Batey of my decision within a few days in a rather difficult telephone conversation...
Over the next few weeks, I spent a small fortune having my little sports car serviced, suspension components changed, body panels and a door replaced, a MOMO steering wheel fitted, a Barbarian Racing front strut brace fitted and Whiteline Performance anti roll bars fitted plus facelift rear tail lights fitted....
However, Richard Batey continued to talk and WhatsApp each other over a couple of months until he informed me that his RB200 demonstrator model was ready to be viewed.
Chapter 3: Decision to have an RB200 Tribute Car built.
On the 22nd November 2024, I drove up to Richard Batey's workshop in Carlisle.
He showed me around his demonstrator car and we concluded a deal for him to build me an RB200 Tribute Car to my own specification.
When I say my own specification, it is exactly what I mean.
I asked Richard to make a number of changes to the car for me.
For example, I did not want to have rear Ford Sierra Mark 1 3 door tail lights. I would like to have modern LED lights to compliment the front head lights.
I also declined to have Richard's active aero spoiler because I did not like the design and I preferred to have a gap in the rear spoiler to aid rear vision.
I also wanted bold RB200 graphics to be fitted down the sides of the car to break up the exterior colour.
The most difficult modification for Richard was to the front B-pillars. I wanted them to be smooth and in the car body colour as per the original Ford RS200.
This meant a lot of extra work for Richard because there is a joint that is normally covered by a piece of trim....
Initially, the original plan was that I was going to drop off the donor car in February 2025 and wait for the car to be built.
However, this timetable soon changed within a few days of me getting home from Carlisle...
Chapter 4: The build begins.
To fast track my car build, Richard Batey proposed to utilise some of the panels from his own demonstrator car and just paint them the original shade of orange that I originally intended to have the car finished in....
I readily agreed to this because Richard originally said that he could have my car finished by Christmas....
I have to admit that I was somewhat sceptical about his build projection but within a few days, I travelled back up to Carlisle to drop off my Toyota MR2 MK3 Roaster model donor car.
Chapter 5: The build.
I dropped off my Toyota MR2 MK3 Roaster model donor car off to Richard Batey's workshop on the 1st December 2024 and my daughter, Rebecca, and I collected it on the 17th April 2025.
During the build, Richard Batey and I had to overcome some difficulties, some of which, were of our own making...
Initially, I had decided that the car was going to be finished in a Porsche orange colour, however, I had a major change of heart.
I changed my mind about the colour after two consecutive journeys into Dagenham to visit a Pal, I kept seeing orange cars...none of which I liked.
I suddenly had a panic and had a sleepless night thinking that I could potentially ruin my build if the colour is wrong...
I had a pub dinner with another Pal, Lee Hill, and between us, we decided that Porsche Lizard Green would be a better choice of colour.
Another big problem to overcome was the choice of wheels.
I contacted a number of suppliers and various quotes for bespoke forged wheels for the car but none were in my budget unfortunately.
Richard Batey recommended ROTA Alloy Wheels as a potential supplier and I soon decided to purchase a set of 17 inch ROTA Recce alloy wheels.
They give me similar vibes to the old-school rally wheels that the original cars wore.
However, the biggest difficulty and the most expensive change in the build was to the cars suspension.
Once Richard had fitted the RS200 body onto my donor chassis, it became quite apparent that the wheel to arch gap was too great.
The car looked like a Dakar rally car.
To overcome this problem, I had BC Racing coilovers fitted to the car plus I commissioned Woodsport.org to supply us with one of their bespoke rear subframed finished in lime green.
Thankfully, with all of the above modifications, the car sits right now.
Chapter 6: The support within the online Car Community.
The support for my RB200 Tribute Car within the Facebook and Instagram online Car Community has taken me completely by surprise to be honest.
When I posted on Facebook that I had paid a deposit for my car build in November 2024 I only had 38 Facebook Friends.
As I write this feature in July 2025, I have almost 3,300 Facebook Friends and I am a member of 117 Facebook Car Clubs.
Facebook contacted me earlier this year to ask me to become a Facebook Professional.
I declined their invitation because I never intended to moneytise my content.
They described me as a 'Content Creator'....
Apparently, my car build has become one of the most popular in the UK.
If I share a post on all of my Facebook Car Club profile pages, my content can now be viewed in excess of 1.3 million times...
All of the above is just amazing to me.
I am still coming to terms with how popular my RB200 Tribute Car has become.
I cannot drive anywhere or fill up at a fuel station without having people that I do not know show or shout their appreciation for the car.
I am truly blessed and humbled by this new experience.
Chapter 7: Car meets and shows.
I have been inundated with requests to display my RB200 Tribute Car at car shows and car meets all around the country. I have also been asked to attend a couple of meets on the continent. It has also picked up a couple of trophies along the way. There is a lot of love for the car thankfully within the car community.
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For more information, please visit:
https://pipercross.com/pipercross-panel-car-air-filter-rectangular-pp1290/
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_v2cr4Nm2c/?igsh=YTVhNTdmd2Q3NHNo
https://Www.memorymaker-photography.com
https://youtube.com/@thecre8ors?si=BXOmuwohpoH1Ej3v
https://www.facebook.com/share/15E5hixbfR/?mibextid=wwXIfr


























































































































































































































































THE VISION MANIFESTED..
BAT CARS.. GREEN GOBLIN ? ..
MOVING FORWARD GOING BACKWARDS ..
THE CULT CLASSIC REVISITED ..
BEHIND THE VEIL ..
PROM DAY .. BEATS A LIMO ..
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