Sylva Autokits

Sylva car kit is a British manufacturer of kit cars, which is based in Lincolnshire since 1981. Founder Jeremy Phillips and the business purpose is the development and production of smaller, lighter sports car. In particular, in the race series 750 Motor Club, the Sylva have proven to be very successful.

Sylva has sold many of his older designs to other kit-car manufacturers, such as the Fury to Fisher Sportscars, the Stylus to Specialist Sports Cars and the Striker to Raw Engineering. For example, Phillips and Sylva could focus on newer designs and ideas, such as the current models and Mojo 2 R1ot.

Models

Sylva Star

The first Sylva came out in 1982. The Sylva -Star kit consisted of a chassis with two seats to the front subframe and the rear axle of the donor vehicle Vauxhall Viva. The car was mostly driven by a 1.3 -liter or 1.6 -liter four-cylinder Ford Kent series engine, but there were also other motors on request. The Star was the first in a long series of small, agile, open two-seater, designed by Jeremy Phillips and built as an economical fun car.

Sylva Leader

The Sylva Leader was an evolution of the star, where the basic concept - two seats, no roof - retained and combined with new details was. The two-piece fiberglass body consisted of a front hinged bonnet and a passenger compartment with low side walls. As a driving source of the famous Ford Kent engine or dual cam Weller Fiat stood for election. Many buyers of Star equipped their cars to the narrower and geschwungenere Leader front.

The manufacturing rights to the Leader were first sold to Nials Johannson, the more justified the model under the name Swindon Sports Cars.

Sylva Striker

The most durable Sylva model, the Striker was a radukale refine the models star and leader, with one renounced the Vauxhall Viva as a donor vehicle and restored the chassis and the body itself. It was aimed at two groups of customers: the private car maker who wanted a low-cost kit, which he was able to build with simple means, and laid the builder of racing cars, of particular importance to good handling and simple construction. The next evolution of the Sylva Striker was already in the drawer (see Sylva Striker Clubman MK4 ).

Sylva Striker Clubman MK4 / Sylva Phoenix

In addition to the sale of the Sylva Striker, the foundation stone for a new race car by Jeremy Phillips ( founder and owner ) has already been set. He began the construction of two working prototype named " Sylva Striker Clubman MK4 ". The brief was clear: An uncompromising winning car for a new English racing class " Restricter series " or the " Group plc Forwell K- Sports Series " produce. The two vehicles received a Gitterrohramen, a completely smooth underbody made ​​of aluminum as well as the cockpit. The fiberglass shell was at P. J. Engineering of East Barkwith, Lincolnshire commissioned. This had a low and curved front and the wheels were covered.

The first working prototype was the brother of Mark Phillips and was ³ with a modified 2700 cm, V6 engine equipped euros. In a vehicle weight of only 560 kg was reached a sensational power to weight ratio of 2.8 kg / hp ( compared Ferrari Testarossa since 1984 = 3.9 kg / hp and Porsche 997 GT3 RS MY 2009 = 3.1 kg / hp ). This enabled the acceleration of fabulous 3.6 seconds from 0 to 100 km / h In addition, this vehicle received an English street legal with license plate NHO 746L. The English registration document VR5, the chassis number. 9120161 the engine donor vehicle with the first registration of 22 May 1973. This vehicle is now in a German private collection and is still used on the road. The second factory prototype was built with a modified 1300 cc X-flow engine from Ford. Also in this engine class, it was so situated in the 1st row. The later racing successes were theoretically pre-programmed with the existing performance data. From the model Striker MK4 Clubman approximately 60 pieces with modified bonnet as a racing kits ( without engine and transmission) were sold under the trade name "Phoenix". Then transferred Jeremy Phillips the Rights of the Phoenix to Stuart Taylor Motorsport England and the success story of this type of vehicle could be further developed.

In the 90s and in the early 2000s the Sylva Striker MK4 / Phoenix dominated the class of English Kit Car Championship and became the most successful vehicle in the company's history: 1990 - Brian Healey - Sylva Striker Mk4, 1991 - Brain Healey - Sylva Striker Mk4, 1993 - Martin Stewart - Sylva Phoenix, 1994 - Martin Stewart - Sylva Phoenix, 1995 - Steve Wontner - Sylva Phoenix, 1997 - Steve Wontner - Sylva Phoenix, 1998 - Andrew Owens (Kit Car) - Sylva Phoenix / Jon White (Class A) - Sylva Striker, 1999 - Jon White - Sylva Striker 2003 /4 - Steve Taylor - Sylva Phoenix.

Sylva Fury

The Fury was released in 1991 and sold in 1994, the construction of Fisher Sportscars. Coll part of the construction of the BGH Geartech Ltd.. in Kent.

The Fury was very successful in racing; still take many copies of the 750 Motor Club in competitions, such as the RGB ( Road -Going Bike- Engined Kitcar; German: road -suitable kit car with motorcycle engine ) and other kit-car series.

In the Fury many different engines can be built, such as all kinds of car engines from Ford Crossflow to Rover V8 and Cosworth Turbo. Also motorcycle engines have already been installed and are especially popular because of their light weight, high performance, their sequential gearbox and low cost for racing cars

There are two types of rear suspension: The rigid axle from Ford Escort with two trailing arms and Panhard rod, and spring struts granted comfortable driving characteristics in conjunction with good handling and good traction. The independent suspension uses the rear axle of the Ford Sierra with specially made suspension components. Here also, struts sophisticated ride and good traction.

Sylva Stylus

The stylus was released in 1994 and sold in 1996 to the construction Specialist Sports Cars.

The first stylus were built on modified chassis of Fury; later own chassis developed to accommodate the lowered doors. The front wishbones were fitted with needle bearings that were lower even redesigned so that the lower ball bearings were not damaged. Different motors could also be built into the stylus As with most other Sylva.

In 2003, with the stylus RT a modern styled sports car released

The Stylus RT ( = Road & Track) has a standard chassis from a specialist Sports Car, but with a wider front wheel suspension. Back washers are used on the wheels; when a De Dion rear axle is used, can also be used with a wider track. The rear fenders have been developed in the motor sport department of Swansea University. The RT also has a wide front spoiler and a rear diffuser. These three aerodynamic improvements are to order as extras. SSC mounted on rectangular headlights. A normal stylus can be upgraded to a RT.

Specialist Sports Cars sold in 2004 the rights to the Stylus to Stylus Sports Car. Currently (summer 2010) no stylus is to get on the market.

Sylva Jester

The car was based on the first generation of the Ford Fiesta and is now manufactured by Harlequin car kits.

The Jester kit was recently purchased by Stingray Motorsport in Ripley (Derbyshire ). Along with Jeremy Phillips Stingray Motorsport has revised the Jester completely. Now the Jester is built on the basis of more modern and better available Ford Ka.

The new kit is now on the market. It is easy to set up and with dampers from AVO and seats of Cobra a complete car should for under £ 5,000 - to be build.

Sylva Mojo

The Mojo was a new model which was launched in 2000. Originally, it was built with the drive motor and the second generation Ford Fiesta, which was however built back so a mid-engine concept was born. The Ford CVH engine was therefore the standard, but there were also other engines like the Ford Zetec, the Toyota 4AGE or the engine of the Renault 5 GT Turbo used.

The Mojo had a De Dion rear axle and front another variation of the Sylva - wheel suspension.

Sylva Mojo 2

The Mojo 2 is a revised version of the Mojo, which has a rear wheel suspension, double wishbones. The body was modified in the rear area and there are two differently styled front ends.

Sylva Mojo SE

The Mojo SE is a further development of the Mojo 2, which was provided to the rear part of the chassis from the Riot SE, to give it a slightly longer wheelbase and to permit the installation of a larger number of different engines. The rear end of the body has been redesigned to take account of the longer wheelbase.

Sylva Riot

The Riot is a version of the Mojo 2 with motorcycle engine. The first version had installed a Yamaha R1 engine and was R1ot. Later they constructed around the vehicle, so that a Ford Zetec engine could be used. The result was called Riot SE. He was elected to the " Kit Car of the Year 2005".

External links and sources

  • Website of Sylva car kits (English)
  • Website by Stingray Motorsport, supplier of Sylva kits and parts ( English)
  • Jeremy Phillips Sports Cars Club (English)
  • Website by Fisher Sports Cars (English)
  • Sylva Group Chat in Google ( English)
  • Stylus Owners Club (English)
  • Speedon Carworks, Dutch traders of the stylus ( Dutch)
  • Wild Carr Racing - Website Fisher Fury Race (English)
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