The neat looking beast you see on the screen above first appeared in the late 60s as the Nova kit car, produced in the UK by Richard Oakes and Phil Sayers using a swoopy fiberglass body, and Volkswagen Beetle chassis with buyer provided running gear. The same design was later branded as the Sterling, Cimbria and Purvis, and […]
This next car comes as a tip from Cory who calls it a “very obscure VW based kit car.” But I think this is not as obscure as you might think it is, because DT features Sterlings on a semi-frequent basis…not that that means much. We tend to feature obscure things because familiar things are…well…lame. […]
If you saw this car on the street, you wouldn’t immediately think it was built in someone’s basement. Well…you guys might assume that is the case because y’all are familiar with kit cars, but the average Joe on the street will assume this is a rare Lamborghini concept car or a Pontiac prototype from the […]
I have to admit that I’m not looking forward to the electric future. Yes, gasoline powered cars are inefficient, hard to operate safely, and pollute…and are eventually going to be replaced with super efficient Teslapplefacegoog cPods (TM) but I’m not looking forward to being zipped around on the electric superhighway in something that reports my serotonin levels to the Bene Gesserit. If I’m going to drive something powered by electrons, it’d better have a steering wheel and look like it is ready for Mad Max 17, Mel Gibson’s Revenge. Find this 1977 Sterling Kit Car converted to electric bidding for $6950 in Sparta, NJ via eBay.
Sterling owners will tell you with a wide smile that they’ve got an Acura Legend with a cool badge, but what they won’t mention is the Rover connection. Because, from 1987 through 1991 ARCONA (Austin Rover Cars Of North America) imported a rebadged version of the Rover 800 series as the Sterling 825/827 for the […]
The shape you see on the screen first appeared as the Nova kit car, produced in the UK by Richard Oakes and Phil Sayers using a swoopy fiberglass body, and Volkswagen Beetle chassis with buyer provided running gear. The same design was later branded as the Sterling, Cimbria and Purvis, and apparently you can even […]
When you are down on your luck and things don’t look good, call a successful friend. That’s what British Leyland did in the 1980’s when they struck up a partnership to build cars in the European Union with Honda of Japan. BL hoped to build cars that would lift up its sagging image and Honda […]
If we’re using metaphors, the Sterling was a poorly dubbed Kung-Fu movie. If we’re using analogies, the 825 is to English cars as fish sticks are to fish and chips. Not really English and not really Japanese, the Rover 800 series, or Sterling in the US, sought to combine Japanese reliability with rich wood and […]
To maintain structural rigidity and create a powerful visual impression, some car manufacturers have have gotten creative with passenger ingress and egress. The Delorean, Lamborghini Diablo, BMW Z1 and Toyota Sera are all cars known for their unconventional doors, but one of the more exotic designs can be found in the Sebring kit car. Find […]
If your idea of a good time is driving an oddball classic with Japanese reliability, British luxury, and a badge that nobody knows — you could do worse than drive a Sterling. Starting in 1987 Austin Rover Cars Of North America imported a rebadged version of the Rover 800 series as the Sterling 825/827 for […]