Would prefer to sell it to a fellow Locost Builder. I bought this to sell on (had to save it as it was such a great spec and good looking car!) from a guy who had run out of steam rebuilding it. Price is £5995 ono.
Description
Description
Description
Description
Having recently sold my race spec Fisher Fury, I was looking for a project to tide me over until my latest kit car project (a GD T70) arrives in March. I found this Sylva Stylus here on eBay in need of restoration and have spent the last two months stripping it down from one end to the other and totally redoing it. So it's all ready for someone else to enjoy now!
So what is a Sylva Stylus? Well, Jeremy Phillips, who designed the Fisher Fury and is a renowned suspension guru, decided to follow the Fury with a more road-optimised kit car aimed at fast road / track day use. The Stylus was the result. Having owned a race-spec Fury - which was pretty uncompromising on the road and not ideal for long journeys - I've deliberately rebuilt this Stylus to make it as road-friendly as possible. So the interior has been fully trimmed, there's a heater (that works!) and even the luxury of a small boot.
I'm a big fan of the Fisher / Sylva type cars as they drive so much better than Lotus 7 replicas (I used to own a Westfield) thanks to the wrap-around windscreen. On a Caterfield one side of your head always gets freezing cold unless you run the vision-limiting side screens. Sylva also handle more keenly thanks to the shorter wheelbase and have better top speeds thanks to the enclosed wheel design (there's a reason they're so competitive at race meetings). Having driven a Rover V8-powered Westfield and a Vauxhall red top powered Westfield owned by friends, the revvy 2.0-litre 16V Vauxhall engine suits the character of a lightweight sportscar much better than the lazy Rover V8.
I'd guess the weight of this car to be well under 700kg and running the Dellorto 45s and a tubular manifold, I'd expect the power to be somewhere around the 180bhp mark. So 0-60mph should be under the five second mark, so this is a properly nippy road car. The suspension is set relatively softly for the road and it handles superbly. Thanks to having an organic faced clutch (not a race car paddle clutch which are awful for road use - on/off and jerky when changing gears) it's easy to drive too. The seating position seems better than the Fury, too. I'm 6ft 2in and have plenty of room.
Don't think it's just a soft road car though, with the adjustable suspension stiffened up, this car could still cut the mustard on a track day and is easily quick enough to outpace most tin tops.
I've spent a small fortune updating the car and the spec is now as follows:
Engine
2.0XE Vauxhall Red Top (previous owner said it came from a 1992/93 Calibra or Astra with about 60,000 miles on it. Has perfect oil pressure and even cylinder compression. Doesn't smoke or appear to use water).
New timing belt, all tensioners and alternator belt, new bolts on bottom pulley
Twin Dellorto 45s rebuilt with new seals
K&N filters (were removed in photos as was balancing carbs)
Emerald M3D ECU running ignition map, air temp sensor, coolant sensor and linked to new throttle pot. This ECU is an injection version, so could easily be updated to run throttle bodies if you wanted. All plugs and wiring for ECU is brand new and was done by me.
Distributorless ignition via coilpack (no more rotor arms to replace!)
New NGK spark plugs (of grade recommended by SBD Motorsport)
New HT leads
Tubular exhaust manifold and stainless rear backbox
Estimated power: should be around the 180bhp mark in this set-up. With uprated cams you'd easily get over 200bhp (or more with a gas-flowed head)
Haven't rolling roaded the car, but on the road it goes like a stabbed rat and struggles for grip in first and second, so power is not going to be an issue!
Drivetrain
Sierra Type 9 5-speed
Cable clutch (engine removed and clutch plate checked and found to be fine - looked fairly new)
Escort Mk 2 back axle with open diff
Suspension / steering
AVO dampers at each corner adjustable for rebound and height (very compliant on the road and could be easily stiffened for track days)
Rocker arm inboard front suspension (really cool and works well)
All bolts removed and regreased
New front lower and upper balljoints, new steering rack gaiters and new bushes in steering column
Wheels are 14-inch Minilite style with Avon CR338 tyres with excellent tread (I'd recommend some softer tyres for road use / slicks for track use, as it can spin these easily!)
Brakes
New front discs
New front pads
New front M16 callipers
Professionally rebuilt Escort master cylinder (cost a fortune!)
New rear Escort RS drums
New rear slave cylinders
Original rear shoes were perfect but I bought some new ones and will include these
Fresh fluid throughout
Handbrake adjusted to be perfect
Interior
Full roll cage with high tensile fixings used throughout
Fibreglass race seats with high-tensile fixings (very comfy, but I'd add padding for long distance use - pads sets are £40 on ebay). I've carefully added extra stiffening to the driver's side - the last thing you want is any movement on a track day.
Four-point Schroth Profi race harnesses (drivers side dated 2019 so can be used for sprints / hillclimbs)
Padded armrests (got sick of banging my elbows in my unpadded bare alloy Fury!)
Retrimmed dash with new fuel gauge, new rev counter (with oil temp, oil pressure and water temp), new Summit Racing LED speedo linked to an RS electronics speed sensor mounted on front wheel (for accuracy - rear wheel ones not accurate due to wheelspin!)
New carpet throughout
Small boot - a real novelty on a kit car. Have even carpeted it for the ultimate luxury
Other new bits
New halogen headlights in Porsche-style headlamps (might be original, don't know)
New twin horns
New indicator switch (genuine Lucas)
Bad bits / things to do
Has two scratches, both about one inch long (one on wing, one on bonnet) plus a starburst crack on bonnet. Plus various other small chips around body (none more than 5mm across). Will touch all these up as soon as I find correct paint colour match. Racing stripes would easily cover the ones on the bonnet. The paint is generally pretty good and it's a perfect colour for the car.
Fuel gauge doesn't work. New fuel sender included so should fix this.
Carbs need tuning. I've set them up as best as I'm able, but the idle speed is a bit too high (1500rpm) and they're slightly lumpy at tick-over. At high revs it pulls your face off, so this is a tweaking issue of the idle jet circuit for a carb expert. The ECU map could also be tweaked to improve this, but again I'm not an expert at this. I'd suggest spending £200 for a rolling road day and taking it to Emerald (they used to tune my Fisher Fury race car and I can't recommend them enough).
Or you could go for throttle bodies - all you'd need is throttle bodies (£100 for bike ones) and a suitable inlet manifold (I'd recommend Altiss Engineering for this - they built my Fisher Fury versions and do incredible work - about £350). As the ECU is already set-up to run injection, that's what I'd do if I was keeping it. The ultimate set-up would be a Jenvey direct to head bolt-on kit for this engine, but it's around the £1000 mark.
Spares
I have several boxes full of Vauxhall spares that came with the car and these will be included with it.
I also have a spare engine for the car with the desirable Coscast cylinder head that is available by separate negotiation. It would be an ideal basis for a monster track day engine!
Car will be sold with a fresh 12-months MoT for peace of mind and any trial or test is welcome for genuine viewer. I'm based to the east of Nottingham and work from home so you can view it at any time. I'm not interested in swapping it for anything.
Peter 07866 634086