The Sunday Times last month revealed how the Landwind had “catastrophically failed” tests carried out by the ADAC, the German equivalent of the AA. That story went around the world, threatening to hit Landwind’s plans to sell 1,000 models across Europe by July 2006.

Now the Dutch-based distributor of the car is fighting back, claiming that the car performed well in a separate test conducted by German certifying laboratory TUV — albeit only after a number of engineering improvements were made.

In an ADAC video the Landwind’s steering wheel was shown striking a test dummy’s head during a head-on collision at 40mph. Peter Bijvelds, head of distributor Landwind Motor Corp, is now planning changes to new shipments of the cars and to 100 models already registered in the Netherlands. Bijvelds claims the ADAC misled the public by implying its tests met legal standards. “We will take legal action if they do not withdraw this conclusion,” he said.

The car will not have to undergo official EU crash tests before reaching British roads. The company is taking advantage of an EU exemption for very low volume car manufacturers under which up to 500 cars can be brought into Britain without the need to pass crash tests.