1983 Nova Kit Car

[@JollyRoger17]

Excellent video, bringing back memories of my teenage years looking at kit car magazine with friends and always loving the look of the Nova!

[@R-K61]

I used to make the door hinges for a guy who bought the company in Newquay Cornwall many years ago, great looking cars.

[@alistairclyne9362]

That would be Sam Cobley 😊 … I’m occasionally in touch with him on social media. He sold his lovely blue Porsche powered Nova a long time ago but has been trying to find it over the past year or so. Really nice guy!

[@R-K61]

@@alistairclyne9362 That's right, tell him Richard from Goonhavern said hello. Like you said a really nice guy.

[@alastairwatson3201]

What a truly awesome car, Alastair! I love everything about it: its looks, the backstory and restoration. A nicely produced video, too.

[@alistairclyne9362]

Many thanks. I was really impressed by Ian’s couple of videos which explain his motivation for making videos and really enjoyed making this with him. He’s got the knack of drawing out the story and putting you at ease to tell it 👍

[@mrjasonrblack4095]

Great video and great to see someone with similar passion to mine!!

[@alistairclyne9362]

Many thanks Jason, it was great to chat with you at Glamis … looking forward to catching up again next season 😎

[@lupuswaik]

Such a sweet car! Make sure your MOT is up to date! 😅

[@alistairclyne9362]

She passed an MOT last year before I got her back on the road. Since then she’s been registered as historic and doesn’t require one but I’ll be putting her through a voluntary one over the winter 👍

[@olsonspeed]

Beautiful car , nice work restoring and preserving this unique vehicle.

[@phillfenton]

Excellent Video - I really enjoyed it the car looks a million dollars. Alistair neglected to mention that the car has already won an award at a classic car show- The first of many I'm sure

[@tartancarme1182]

@@phillfenton Definitely didn't mention the award - humble man!

[@alistairclyne9362]

@@tartancarme1182 it was at Bo'ness when I won 'Best American' coz we were sitting next to a Mustang and a Corvette ..... the organisers hadn't a clue what the car was and thought we were with the American cars ... hahaha! .... but they do produce them in America as the 'Sterling' ;)

[@martinharris5017]

One of the best looking cars of all time, even alongside Lambos and Ferraris. Still has the "wow factor" all these decades later. I have a restored/customized 67 Beetle, but I'd love to get my hands on one of these!

[@alistairclyne9362]

Thank you. I went to a classics and coffee meeting recently at Crieff Hydro and was followed in by a beautiful dark blue Ferrari. We parked up side by side and I chatted to the owner. The 2 cars looked really good sitting together. I then followed him when we left … the skies were blue and the meet and driving were both great. Happy days! 😊

[@Lot76CARS]

As always, beautifully filmed, you set the bar high! The car also looks so much more than the kit-car designation suggests. Great video!

[@tartancarme1182]

@@Lot76CARS Appreciated thanks! Always trying to improve with each feature video

[@NickGarswood]

Great informative video! I had one in 1975, an original Southampton made one in lime green with a rare colour coded panel sunroof and Beetle 1500 engine. ( more yellow than lime green). The other two colours available at the time, red and blue, suffered from gell coat fading. They were also made in a brand new factory unit in Accrington, Lancashire where they moved from Southampton in 1975, before moving to west Yorkshire.

[@alistairclyne9362]

Must admit I prefer the appearance of the Mk1 over later ones … I’m currently fabricating a Mk1 bonnet from a couple of old ones 🤣

[@allareasindex7984]

I remember something very like it in America called Sterling. My racing instructor at Lime Rock drove one as his every day driver.

[@alistairclyne9362]

It was the same car … it couldn’t be called a ‘Nova’ in the States coz of the Chevy Nova so they adopted a name which suggested its UK roots (as in pounds Sterling 🤣)

[@Aliens_Gonna_Get_Ya]

Mad things!!! 😍👍😊💥

[@CarsofGlasgow]

great video mate, cool car too! (I never knew about it, so thanks for sharing)

[@williamgibson318]

Love the video dude, absolutely love your care for the passion❤️

[@BEGGARWOOD1]

wonderful, love his passion

[@ernied3123]

Great looking car. The body mod at the back to hide more of the engine looks great. Cheers.

[@alistairclyne9362]

Thanks, Richard Oakes produced a stunning design but the one area most folk want to change is the rear panel. At some point I’d like to try double round rear lights so rather than cut up the existing rear panel I’ll take a mould of it and produce a 2nd rear panel with the round lights so that I can choose and change as the fancy takes me 😉🤣

[@cjhammy47]

What I like the most is the passion of the man!

[@tartancarme1182]

@@cjhammy47 Glad it came across in the video 😁

[@Mr_Spegru]

Great car - Great story!

[@alistairclyne9362]

Thank you. It was a most enjoyable afternoon and Ian had the knack of getting me to forget I was being filmed and just talk to him 👍😊

[@nicwilkin4743]

I was just starting to think I must be Dumb, I bought a brand new Ducati 750sports Matt Black. Rode it for about 3 years got made redundant had to sell my house couldn't afford the Mortgage with out the job, ended up buying a redundant shop with accommodation. Decided to make the shop in to a Bar , long story short didn't have time or money to keep it on the road 15 years in my mums garage and now I'm 5 stone to heavy to fit on it. I just can't imagine ever selling it. I think I'm going to keep it in my new house when I get one, in the Kitchen dinner so I can look at it and Love it every day. Nicx

[@rogerscott4497]

Fantastic Alistair. I have followed a good bit of your progress on the EuroNova site. Cheers Mate from a friend and Sterling owner from across the pond on the Sterling Kit Car Site.

[@alistairclyne9362]

@@rogerscott4497 many thanks, it’s good to keep in touch with like minded folk in other countries 👍

[@pugwonk]

Great video! Must admit I was completely taken aback by how good it sounded when he started it!

[@alistairclyne9362]

Thanks, it’s still a VW sound, but not quite as loud as some beach buggies 😉

[@mikehensley78]

Awesome car! Kinda reminds me of an old Pantera a little bit.

[@alistairclyne9362]

Thanks … the De Tomaso Pantera is one car I’ve never actually seen in the flesh, but would love to! 👍

[@drivingdaily582]

I love this kit car! I use to look at different kit cars when I was a kid and wanted to build one so bad. I think this one is beautiful. You've done great! Also I'm just curious, how fuel efficient is this car?

[@alistairclyne9362]

Thanks for your comments … I’m getting a pretty consistent 30mpg which for the age and size of the engine is fine 👍

[@drivingdaily582]

@alistairclyne9362 that's pretty good. I figured it would be decent with the light weight. And it looks nicely aerodynamic but who knows.

[@Bob-v8b3i]

Here in Oz, they were called the Eureka…..Manufactured by Purvis Fibreglass Products in Melbourne…….I always thought they were an honest car…….I quite admired them…….still do……….but I’m into old MG’s……and there is no known cure !!

[@tartancarme1182]

@@Bob-v8b3i Hopefully you have enjoyed my MG videos, if you ever need to feed the addiction 😂

[@alistairclyne9362]

Thanks, I'm glad you like my Nova. My brother lives in Melbourne! ... I've also been chatting to Allan Purvis (of Purvis Fibreglass Products) through some of the Nova/Eureka/Sterling Facebook groups, and although he's retired he's still got a keen interest in these cars. Nice guy! .... oh, and I've also got a soft spot for old MG's but never owned one ... yet ;)

[@alistairclyne9362]

Many thanks for producing this video of my Nova. Thoroughly enjoyed meeting you on a rare sunny day this summer. I met my old paint sprayer friend at the weekend (after 30 years!) and he told me I was wrong about the Mk1 Escort front indicators which are actually Mk2’s 😉

[@tartancarme1182]

@@alistairclyne9362 My pleasure! Good to know, thanks for the clarification!

[@alanellis6688]

Seen the Nova at the Pre 67 Ford show At Lochore meadows, looked great and it was getting a lot of attention, kids getting their picture taken with it and folk asking each other “what is it?”

[@alistairclyne9362]

We had a lot of fun with the kids at the Ford show. Both Novas are fitted with remote control roofs, so when they asked how we get in and out we’d tell them to say “Alexa, open roof” … and they did! 😉🤣

[@EddyJean-claude]

Betting by now people wanna drop LS engines in these.

[@martinharris5017]

best upgrade is a 13B Mazda rotary as they hide away quite well. There is also a company manufacturing radial air cooled engines that bolt right in and can make as much HP as your wallet will allow.

[@alistairclyne9362]

The thing is … you can’t stop with the engine, you gotta upgrade the suspension, brakes and depending on the engine, stiffen the chassis. For me I much prefer to enjoy pottering around the Scottish countryside in a classic 1970’s kit car 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿