Sylva Autokits Latest Offering to the Kit Car World Finally Hits
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
c usive! Sylva Autokits latest offering to the kit car world finally hits the road and Which Kit?'s editor gets a first taste of what the little funster is all about. WliEN ONf fAKES A MOMENT TO sevenesque roadster with enough cons1dN 11, Sylva's ma1n man, 1nd1v1duallty to g1ve it a clear and Jcrerny Phllllpr,, has bClen one of separate Identity the most prohf1c k1t car des1gners The h1ghly successful Fury came of recent years Seven d1fferent next and 1s currently go�ng strong models m the last fourteen years under the ad1ve gUidance of new doesn't even take 1nto r�ccount a custodian, F1sher Sportscars. In fact, vanety of d1fferent suspenston Jeremy has always had a hab1t of opt1ons offered on each of the selling off h1s des1gns after a year vanous models For m ny years the or so of marketing them under h1s most successful of th a the own wtng The early Sylva Leader pr tty httle Sylv went the same way as the Fury and -- •• - 4-.• - �- 18 WHICH KIT7 JANUARY 1997 • • WHICH KIT? JANUARY 1997 19 • SV· 68·7R - • .. • • • • • • - the more recent Sylva Stylus has car designed by also changed hands to Spec1ahst someone other than Sports Cars Only the Stnker has h1mself remamed under the watchful eye The end result 1s of Ph!lhps s1nce 1t was first the Sylva Jester you launched 1n 1986 But 1f there 1s see here Love it or one thmg that has linked all Sylva otherw1se, there can cars over the years, 1t has been be no doubtmg the the1r unquestionable abil1ty out on des1gn 1s certainly the track out on a hmb And so we come to the latest (perhaps even out to creat1on to come out of the lunch!). No L1ncolnsh1re based workshops. Not impersonations of only IS the Sylva Jester the ftrst car 's1xt1es heart throbs not destgned m-house but 1t IS also here please. The the f1rst Sylva to be destgned Jester is all new and w1thout compet1t1on use firmly 1n looking to party. mmd So what was the destgn and The one marketmg cntena beh1nd the Important feature of wacky look1ng Jester? F1rst and the car you slightly foremost was affordab1hty A lose in photos is the £2000 on the road pnce was the car's tmy weeny target w1th d1rt-cheap runn1ng proportions - 1t looks hke a car costs also a htgh priority. Next up that has been in some automotive on the hst was ach1ev1ng a unique cannibal's shnnk1ng pot1on. The marketplace. Forget replicas, the wheelbase IS some 1 Ocms shorter new Svlva would have no that the already pet1t Mk1 Fresta competttors by betng totally unique on which 1t 1s based while the body 1n 1b styling and appeal The new overhang 1s zero out back and c r would have to tap mto an as conservative 1n the front. Th1s car 1s ycl un-chartered market . small - wh1ch only adds to the fun lo ach1€lve the former, ie low factor of actually taking it out onto cost, mm d t ly set 1ts own the h1ghway rather than around pa a flt w th1n wh1ch the your mum's ltv1ng room co pan� d o work We're So how does 1t all hang t lk.mg onE:l-donor wh1ch 1s together? Under the fibreglass p duced tn large enough numbers bodywork is a chass1s of typical or long enough that old Sylva 1ntegnty. In essence 1t's a sem1 e r pi s are read1ly ava1lable for spaceframe affa1r w1th sheet metal n money Recondit1on1ng had to floor and front bulkhead plus a Top: Basic Corbeau bucket seats do the job. Surpnsmg amount of b cheap and engine capaoty low boxed sheet metal crossmember storage space behind them. Long gear shift actually very nouoh to ensure affordable for added s1de-1mpact protect1on comfortable to use. Above: Donor dash pod clearly visible. urance for even the youngest As always, 1t's 1mpress1vely put d tvers A Mk 1 F1esta f1ts the b1ll together and prom1ses to make the mod1f1catron or changing except you could push the boat out and periectly Keep1ng costs down also most of the humble donor for the front spnngs, which are f1t some flash alloys. As 1t stands, meant produCing a kit that was components ... simply replaced by the F1esta's rear the Escort 1tems are hardly gomg to easy and qutek to bUild A one- Mk1 F1estas are only available spnngs break the bank whrle the 155x70 f 1rce GRP tub, s1mple chass1s and a these days at what we'd call donor Out back there's a s1mple beam tyres are not exactly costly 11 echanical configuration which car prices. You'd struggle to pay axle with one tratl1ng arm per s1de Eng1ne opt1ons from the F1esta m1rrors that of the donor were also more than £500 for a top notch plus a Panhard rod The donor's are wtde and vaned, from a of great Importance example wh1ch 1s really too good to cunnmg dampers are retamed and meagre 950cc onto a more Next up was the des1gn stnp anyway Much more common have a un1que double locat1on onto acceptable 11OOcc followed by SimpliCity and fun were the order 1s £1 50 for a sens1ble donor car the axle wh1ch allows for the s1ngle 1300cc, 1300cc Sport and 1600cc of the day and doodles 1n Jeremy's from whteh you'll be able to use trailing arm to work effectively Not XR2. They' re all based around the note pad show hts mitial thoughts most components w1th only mmor surprismgly, you'll need a second venerable X-flow lump and the were headtng down a modern recond1t1on1ng For £25 Sylva set of rear spnngs to replace those 11 OOcc vers1on on the demo car beach buggy route. Somethmg ltke bought a complete car the other put on the front proved that even the smaller a cross between a beach buggy day from wh1ch a reasonable Construction continues on thrs opt1ons are well worth and a Mtnl Make. lt was at th1s select1on of parts have been s1mple take-off/put-on route as cons1deratton Don't forget, the JUncture that Jeremy met Huw salvaged - not an 1deal donor ccu, pedals, pedal box, remote servo, Jester we1ghs 1n at well under McPherson, whose brother, Jam1e, but mvaluable for extra spares steenng, rad1ator, heater, SOOkg, so even the 55 odd bhp of had recently ordered a Stnker k1t L1ke many front·wheel-dnve gearlmkage and handbrake all f1t the demo car engme produces ov r Huw was a des1gn graduate from cars, the FIC!>ta's whole front Without any extra f1ddlmg Even 120bhp/ton1 the Sheffteld Hallam Un1vers1ty and, suspens1on and eng1ne assembly the F1esta's dash pod slots tn place For the day of our test 11 may on heanng of Jeremy's 1dea for a can be r0moved from the car tn on the Jester's dash and the have been sunny but 1t was also new proJect, offered to draw up one p1ece. There's no SlJbframe to donor's loom 1s a strarghtforward Jaw-numb1ngly cold Sylva has JUSt some 1dea'> of hts own W1th deal w1th, although a s1mple mstallat1on w1th mmor f1ddltng developed a very trdy soft top for gu1deltne- s from Jeremy, the end engme cradle 1s reta1ned and bolts requ1red for the non standard lights the car and some neat sohd result seemed to f1t the b1ll onto the chass1s both 1n front and etc The demo car uses 13" Escort s1descreens should g1ve rt some real perfectly and Jeremy suddenly behmd the engme Nothmg from steel wheels but the F1esta's 12" all-year-round practrcalrty 1f so found h1mself develop1ng a new thrs whole assembly reqUires 1terns can be frtted or, of course, desrred The s1de screen!; weren't WHICH KIT? JANUARY 1997 21 - qutte fmtshed for our v1s1t so 1n1t1al Wtth some ttppmg seats, access to I - - 1mpress1ons were had with JUSt the th1s would be pretty good, too. • - hood on before ftnally removtng Ex1t1ng through a shortened ,. - even that for the real open-air feel Fiesta exhaust, the 11 OOcc X-flow .. The thtngs we do just to g1ve you lump sounds willing enough. In a • • the whole story' moment of rashness, Jeremy had a Getttng m wtth the hood 1n fancy camshaft dropped 1nto 1t and • • place tsn't half as tncky as one has regretted the move ever smce ' mtght expect of a car without The unit runs well enough but conventtonal doors The stde stll is under full throttle seems to choke really quite low while access with up a bit, which spoils one of the the hood in place 1s pretty Jester's most endearing features - generous. Some cheapy Corbeau total thrashabillty! buckets do a fme JOb and Weighing the car equivalent of thankfully thetr posttton was pretty Kate Moss, the Jester makes the OK desptte the lack of any seat absolute most of every ounce of runners Instruments m the Ftesta horsepower First and second gears dash pod are all platnly vtstble and are snapped up m no ttme while Above: Jester chassis seems to work a treat. You can see how easy it the Ghta example fttted 1n this car thtrd sees some real progress and would be to get to a rolling chassis stage without having to purchase features a rev counter unlike the fourth has you poundtng through a bodyshell. That can save valuable space in a small garage.