The Sterling is the American version of the British Nova kit car. It was sold by Sterling Sports Cars as a set of components, with a fibreglass body and a canopy that combined roof and doors in one piece, and it was designed to be built on the floor pan and mechanicals of a Volkswagen Beetle.
Nova Sterling at a glance
| Maker | Sterling Sports Cars, United States |
|---|---|
| Type | kit car, sold as components |
| Origin | American version of the British Nova |
| Body | fibreglass, two-seater |
| Distinctive feature | canopy combining roof and doors |
| Chassis | Volkswagen Beetle floor pan |
| Name | “Sterling” instead of Nova, because General Motors held the Nova name in the US |
| Owner from 2010 | Robert Welsh, SPECTOR Group INC |
| Sold in 2019 | to a private individual |
Both Wikipedia articles are short; this page uses only what they say and gives no production figures or prices.
History of the Nova Sterling
The car began in Britain, where Automotive Design and Development Ltd (ADD) created the futuristic-looking Nova kit car. The body was styled by Richard Oakes with engineering by Phil Sayers, and it combined a fibreglass shell with the chassis and mechanicals of the Volkswagen Beetle. It was a two-seater, and its most striking feature was a canopy that opened dramatically and joined the roof and the doors into a single unit.
Licensed versions of the Nova were built in a number of countries: as the Ledl in Austria, the Purvis Eureka in Australia, the Défi in France, the Totem and Puma in Italy, the Scorpion in New Zealand, the Eagle in South Africa, the Gryff in Switzerland and the Tarantula in Zimbabwe. The United States received the Sterling and the Sovran. The name Nova could not be used there, because General Motors had already registered it in the 1970s, so the American car took the name Sterling.
Sterling Sports Cars designed and manufactured assembly kits for replicars and supercars, and its component cars and parts were sold as components rather than as finished vehicles. The cars were not pre-assembled by the company: they were meant to be put together by the purchaser or by a third party. The Sterling was originally designed to be fitted to a Volkswagen Beetle floor pan. A tube frame was engineered as a test mule to explore the possibilities of a mid-engine design using a Subaru powerplant; the engine intruded into the cockpit, leaving very little seating space, and no further testing was carried out.
The company also supplied replacement parts to owners of original Sterling cars around the world. In April 2010 Sterling Sports Cars was bought by Robert Welsh, owner of SPECTOR Group INC, and in May 2019 it was sold to a private individual so that the supply of body parts and car-specific items for existing owners could be maintained.
Design and features
- Canoe-shaped canopy: roof and doors form one piece that lifts as a unit, the feature that defined the Nova and the Sterling.
- Fibreglass body: a light shell on a separate steel floor pan rather than a unitary steel structure.
- Volkswagen running gear: the Beetle floor pan and mechanicals gave builders a cheap, familiar basis.
- Component supply: cars were delivered as kits and assembled by their owners or by a third party.
Nova Sterling versions
- Sterling: the American version of the Nova, sold as a kit.
- Sovran: a second American name for the same design, listed alongside the Sterling.
- British Nova: the original car from Automotive Design and Development.
- Other licensed versions: Purvis Eureka, Ledl, Défi, Totem, Puma, Scorpion, Eagle, Gryff and Tarantula.
The Sterling belongs to the family of cars derived from the British Nova kit car; more of them are collected in the Nova collection.
Video: Sterling RX kit car
Video by morecars4u on YouTube.
Sources
- Sterling Sports Cars, English Wikipedia: the American company, component cars, the name, ownership
- Automotive Design and Development, English Wikipedia: the Nova, canopy, licensed versions