Sylva
Autokits is a kit
car manufacturer based in Lincolnshire, England. Sylva was founded in 1981 by
Jeremy Phillips and has developed and produced a number of small and
lightweight sports cars. Sylva cars have proven very successful in competition,
winning a number of 750 Motor Club Kit Car championships.
Sylva has
sold many of its older designs to other kit car manufacturers, such as selling
the Fury to Fisher Sportscars, the Stylus to Specialist Sports Cars, and the
Striker to Raw Engineering. By doing so, Jeremy Phillips and Sylva have been
able to focus on newer designs and ideas, such as the current Sylva Mojo 2 and
R1ot.]
Models
- Star
Two Sylva Stars, one with Fiat 2ltr Twincam
the other Ford Zetec
The first
Sylva car launched in 1982. The Sylva Star kit was based on a purpose built two
seater chassis using the front subframe and the rear axle from a donor Vauxhall
Viva the car was most often powered by 1300 and 1600 four cylinder Ford Kent
crossflow engines, though other engine options were available. The Sylva Star
was the first in a long line of small, agile two seater open top cars designed
by Jeremy Phillips and built for fun and economy.
- Leader
The Sylva
Leader was an evolution of the Sylva Star retaining the two seater, open top,
layout but with improved design features. The two piece fiberglass body
consisted of a front hinging bonnet (hood) and low sided passenger compartment.
Engine options were Ford Kent Crossflow and Fiat Twin cam engines. Some Sylva
Star owners replaced the front with the narrower and more curved Leader front
body piece.
The
manufacturing rights for the Leader were first sold to Nials Johannson who
continued to make the kits under the name Swindon Sportscars.
- Striker
The most
enduring of the Sylva models the Striker was a radical evolution of the Star
and Leader dropping the Viva donor car in favour of purpose built suspension
and lighter bodywork. The car was aimed at two markets, the home car builder
that required an economical kit that could be built using readily available
mechanics tools and the more demanding race car builder who favoured good handling
and simple design.
- Phoenix
The Phoenix
was a built for race version of the Striker. The core chassis was similar but
the fiberglass bodywork was developed for race purposes with a curved and
lowered front and wheel covering outer edges. Used extensively in the kitcar
race series the Phoenix is still a popular choice for less expensive end of
clubman motorsport. The design was sold by Sylva to Stuart Taylor Motorsport
who have since sold it on again. It has recently found a new home with Raw
Engineering who also own the rights to the Striker.
- Fury
Launched in
1991 and sold to Fisher Sportscars in 1994. Currently owned by Fury Sportscars
who recently purchased the rights from BGH Geartech., based in Kent UK. The
Fury has been very successful in competition with cars currently racing in many
championships, including the 750 Motor Club's RGB (Road-Going Bike-Engined
Kitcar) and Kitcar series. Many different engines can be fitted to the Fury,
including all manner of car engines from the Ford Crossflow to Rover V8 and
Cosworth Turbo. Motorbike engines have also been fitted and are popular for
track cars due to the low weight, high power and built-in sequential gearbox
for relatively little morey. There are two versions of the Fury rear
suspension, the Live Axle version uses the Ford Escort rear axle located using
two trailing links in conjunction with a Panhard rod. Coil over shock absorbers
are used to give good ride comfort combined with excellent handling and grip.
The Independent Rear Suspension version uses the Ford Sierra rear hub assembly
in conjunction with purpose built hub carriers forming the uprights between
upper and lower wishbones. Once again, coil over shock absorbers ensure a
refined ride quality and excellent traction.
- Stylus
The first
Styluses used a modified Fury chassis, afterwards a purpose built chassis was
made to accommodate the lowered doors. The front rocker arms were upgraded with
needle bearings and the front lower arms got redesigned to prevent the lower
ball joints being damaged. As with most Sylva models, various engines can be
fitted.
Stylus RT In 2003 the Stylus RT was launched
making it a modern looking sportscar.
The Stylus
RT (Road & Track) uses the SSC standard chassis, but with wider front
suspension, & use wheel spacers at rear or if De-Dion this can also be made
wider. The rear wing was developed at Swansea University in there motorsport
dept. The RT also has a full front splitter and a rear diffuser. These 3
aerodynamic aids are optional extras. SSC fitted quad style lights. A standard
Stylus can be modified to RT specification.
- Jester
The Jester
Kit has recently been bought by Stingray Motorsport in Ripley, Derbyshire.
Working with Jeremy Phillips, Stingray Motorsport has taken the Jester through
a full re-development process, the Jester now uses a more modern and easily
available donor, the Ford KA. The new Jester is now available, it's simple to
build and with adjustable AVO shocks and Cobra seats it should be possible to
build a complete car for under £5000.00.
- Mojo
- Mojo
The Mojo
was launched in 2000. It was originally designed around the front-wheel-drive
engine and gearbox from a Mk2 Fiesta, but with the whole setup fitted at the
rear to give a mid-mounted transverse setup. The Ford CVH engine was standard,
but other engines such as Ford Zetec, Toyota 4AGE and Renault 5 GT Turbo were
also used.
The Mojo
used a de dion rear suspension setup combined with another variation on the
Sylva inboard front suspension design.
- Mojo 2
The Mojo 2
is a redesigned Mojo with independent double wishbone rear suspension. The body
was redesigned at the rear, and 2 new nose designs introduced.
- Mojo SE
A further
development of the Mojo 2, which took the rear chassis design of the Riot SE to
give a slightly longer wheelbase to accommodate a wider variety of engines. The
rear bodywork was redesigned to accommodate the extra length behind the rear
bulkhead.
- Riot
The Riot is
a motor cycle engined version of the Mojo 2. The original version used a Yamaha
R1 engine and was called the R1ot. Later it was redesigned to take a Ford Zetec
SE and was called Riot SE. It went on to become "Kit Car of the Year
2005".[1]
- J15
Sylva striker
The Sylva
Striker is the most enduring of the Sylva models and was a radical evolution of
the Star and Leader, dropping the Viva donor car in favour of purpose-built
suspension and lighter bodywork. The car was aimed at two markets, the home car
builder that required an economical kit that could be built using readily
available mechanics tools and the more demanding race car builder who favoured
good handling and simple design.
The Striker
has proved popular and successful on UK race tracks, most notably in the
kit-car race series run by the 750 Motor Club.
The Striker
was available in kit form, and could be built with a variety of engines, for
example a Ford Crossflow, Ford Zetec, Toyota Twin-cam or even a motorcycle
engine. These cars have high power-to-weight ratios and are best enjoyed in the
summer due to minimal weather protection. In the UK all kit-cars are now put
though the SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) to obtain a road vehicle licence. The
Mk 4 version of this car, known as the Phoenix, was also manufactured in New
Zealand from 1989.
The front
suspension initially had outboard springs and shock absorbers, but with later
versions, this was moved inboard with a rocker arm upper suspension arm. There
were two types of rear suspension offered: one with a live axle, located by
trailing arms, leading arms and a panhard rod. The other had independent
rear suspension.
In 2002,
Raw Engineering acquired the rights to the Striker and have made a number of
modifications and variations since.
Produce :
- STAR 1982-85 : 70 ex sold to Swindon Sportscars
- LEADER 1983-85 : 150 ex sold to Swindon Sportscars
- STRIKER
mk1 1985-86 : 1 ex unique à motorisation mazda RX3
mk2 1986-88 : 600 ex sold to RAW en 2002
mk3 1988-90 : 60 ex
mk4 1988-99 : 60 ex modèle appelé "Phoenix"
- FURY : 1991-94 150 ex sold to Fisher en 1994
- STYLUS 1994-96 : 20 ex sold to SSC en 1996
- JESTER 1996-98 : 100 ex sold to Harlequin en 1998
- PHOENIX
mk2 1999-01 : 10 ex sold to STM en 2001
- MOJO 1998-02 : 50 ex remplacé par la MOJO mk2 en 2002
Replicas and
cars based on or related to Lotus Seven
- Lotus Cars
originals and related cars : Six (1952–1957) · Seven (1957–1972) · Mk8
(1956–1958) · Mk9 (1956–1958) · Eleven (1956–1958)
- Caterham
Cars
Current
models : Classic -
Roadsport · Academy · CSR200 · CSR260 ·
CSR Superlight · Superlight · R300 · R400 · R500 · Roadsport
Historic
models : Caterham 21
(1994–2000) · JPE (1992–1996) · Super Blackbird (2001–2003)
- Westfield Sportscars
Current
models : Megabusa & Megablade · Sport · Sport Turbo · AeroRace
Historic
models : SE · FW400
(1999–2002) · AeroSport (2007–2009) · SEight (1991–2010) · XI (1982–1986,
2004–2010)
- Others
Almac
(Clubsprint) · Alpha (ASP320 · ASP340 · Bacchus) · Aries (Locost · LocoBlade) ·
Barnard (Diva Speedster) · Birkin (S3) ·
Boes (7) · Brunton (Stalker) · BWE
(Grasshopper · Hornet · Locust) · Chevron (Classic) · Chinkara (Roadster) ·
Cobra (Garbí) · Dala7 · Daytona (X7) · Dax (Rush) · Diardi · Donkervoort ·
Elfin (MS8 Clubman/Streamliner · Type 3 Clubman) · Esther · Fraser · Gillet (Vertigo)
· Gregory · HKT (7) · Irmscher (7) · Leitch (Super Sprint) · Locost · Locust ·
Lucalia · Luego (Locost · Velocity XT · Viento) · MAC#1 (ZR) · Martin (TTM GM0)
· Mitsuoka (Zero 1) · MNRacing (Vortx RT · RT+ · RT Super) · MK (Indy) · Nota
(Fang · Sportsman) · Pegasus (7) · PRB (S · Clubman · Composite · Widebody) ·
Quantum (Napier · Sunrunner · Xtreme) · RaceTech (ESTfield) · Raw (Fulcrum ·
Striker) · Robin Hood (Lightweight · Project 2B · SuperSpec · The Zero) ·
ShawSpeed (SK · SBKr) · Superformance (S1 Roadster) · Sylva (Leader · Mojo SE ·
Phoenix · Riot R1 · Riot SE · Striker) · Tiger (Avon · B6 · Cat XL · R6 · RS6
Alloy) · Tornado (Raptor) · Vindicator (Sprint · Vulcan · Shadow) · WCM
Ultralite (LM · R11 · S2K · XR7) · YKC (Formula 27 · Pace)
