The Cars
Although best known for the popular ‘Roadster’ models, several other kits were made over the years by Spartan Cars.
2 Seater (Triumph)
The original kit that Spartan Cars offered, these used a Triumph Herald/Vitesse donor. Several iterations were seen over the years as the kit was developed. The Triumph chassis was retained, whilst the body consisted of a frame fitted with wood, aluminium panels and alloy castings. The car only had 2 seats.
Plus-Two (Triumph/Ford)
To appeal to the 'family' market, a Plus-Two kit was later introduced to cater for owners who needed space for small children. 6 inches was added to the chassis length which can be seen by the longer doors of the Plus-Two when compared with the 2-seater. The hood bar was also raised slightly to provide a little more headroom with the hood up. The Plus-Two chassis was supplied by Spartan and was no longer interchangeable with one from a Triumph donor. As Triumph rear axles started to become harder to find, the Plus-Two swapped to using a Ford rear axle, the kit still used a Triumph front axle which had to be modified to match the extra width of the Ford rear axle.
Roadster (Ford)
As Triumph donor cars became less available a kit based on the Ford Cortina MkIII-V was introduced to replace the original Triumph based kits. The Ford based kit was only available in 2+2 form and uses a Spartan Cars supplied monocoque chassis which was clad with aluminium panels and shod with fibreglass wings. The Ford based kit was available from 1980 onwards. Typically fitted with the 1.6/2.0 Pinto engine or in some cases the 2.3 V6. The Roadster featured an opening boot which had been missing from the previous 2-seater and Plus-Two models. Very early Roadsters used a combination of Triumph and Ford parts before the 'new' kit was fully developed. Early kits had a narrower boot, wider rear wings, thinner windscreen pillars and a 'wrap around' bonnet. Later kits had straight bonnet edges, thicker windscreen pillars and narrower rear wings (with Austin lights replacing the previous Ford Anglia units).
Sherwood
An estate car based on a Ford Cortina MkIII-V donor. The front half of the Cortina chassis was retained and clad with fibreglass body panels to match the styling of the rear. The rear roof section was detachable to make the car into a pick-up.
Starcraft
Based on the same kit as the Sherwood, the Starcraft was a kit campervan, adding a bulbous fibreglass campervan body to the rear of the Ford Cortina MkIII-V donor car. A new steel chassis took the Cortina's mechanical components and an additional (trailer) axle was also added to the rear to cope with the extra weight of the camper. The Starcraft was introduced around 1986. Later on in the kits life, these were also built on Ford Sierra/P100 donors.
Treka
Introduced around 1990, the Treka was a Ford Fiesta based kit, reminiscent of a small Jeep/Mini Moke. Builders could choose to make the car either as a convertible or hardtop.
Bandit
A hotrod style kit, using a Ford Cortina MkIII-V as the donor, there was potentially only 1 ever made.
