The sterling Nova was kit car that was build on a Volkswagen Beetle Chassis. It gained much notoriety due to versions of it were used in the following movies .
1975 -- Death Race 2000
1981 - Condorman
1984 - CannonBall Run 2
This is a compilation of some of those clips.
More info on the car--- Kit Car Super Car - The Sterling ---
In the 1950s the invention of fiberglass allowed this new light weight, low cost material to be used for car bodies. This combined with the success of the Volkswagen Beetle over the next couple of decades and we see the growth of the Kit car market follow.
Fiberfab - Car & Driver October 1968
Car & Driver October 1968
The Volkswagen Beetle is important because its low cost, reliability and ease of maintenance allowed many car lovers to use the VW as the chassis and power train for their planned Kit car dream car. Most of the Kit car companies designed their bodies to fit on a VW chassis.
Kit cars were the super car for those who could not afford a real super car. The styles were sleek and aggressive and powered from the rear by a VW air cooled engine that anyone with a well stocked tool box could work on.
This was a world wide trend and each car country had its own list of Kit car manufacturers that appealed to their local customers.
The car magazines were filled with advertisements for the Kit car body of your dreams. With names like Devin, Valkyrie, Bradley GT, Banshee, Aztec, La Dawri and Sterling.
Designed and engineered by Richard Oakes and Phil Sayers the Nova was introduced to the US in a 1973 issue of “Car & Driver”.
Americans Norm Rose and Cecil Robertson struck a deal to manufacture the Nova in the US under their company name California Component Cars. The car model name had to be changed because Chevrolet already used the Nova name.
Production of the Sterling began in San Lorenzo, California in 1973 with a total of approximately 875 cars produced by California Component Cars.
2 окт 2024
