Sylva Autokits

Sylva was founded in 1981 by Jeremy Phillips and has developed and produced a number of small and lightweight sports cars.

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 two-piece fiberglass body consisted of a front hinging bonnet (hood) and low-sided passenger compartment.

The manufacturing rights for the Leader were first sold to Nials Johannson, who continued to make the kits under the name Swindon Sportscars.

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 core chassis was similar but the fiberglass bodywork was developed for race purposes with a curved and lowered front and wheel covering outer edges.

The Sylva Fury was launched in 1991 and had an original, 1960s-inspired design, reminiscent of a number of British sports cars of that period.

The original model has a tube frame with a rocker arm front suspension, and uses the transmission, rear axle, steering rack, and certain other parts from the Escort Mark II.

Coil over shock absorbers are used to give ride comfort combined with handling and grip.

Customers in the United States favored Fiat's Twin Cam engine or the Toyota 4A-GE, as these were already federalized for emissions.

[1] Motorbike engines have also been fitted and are popular for track cars due to the low weight, high power, and built-in sequential gearbox.

[3] The first Styluses used a modified Fury chassis, depending on Mark II Escort parts.

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.