Haynes Single Seater Project - SSC and Chris Gibbs
 

Good evening fellow builders,

I'm sure that most of are aware that the Chris Gibb's latest project "Build Your Own Single Seater on a Budget", the next generation from the Haynes Roadster project, has been very quiet for the previous 18 months. This has primarily been due to the health of Chris and not being in a position to continue / advance the project. Firstly though, on a personal note, I and am sure plenty of others wish Chris a good recovery through these hard times. Having met with Chris on many occasions we have a lot of respect for Chris and for the work he has done for the Roadster and other projects, we do owe him a lot.

So on with the Single Seater, I am finally in a position to announce the fact that Saturn are about to enter a formal agreement with Haynes to take over the Single Seater build from Chris to complete the car, IVA it and completion the manuscript for the build guide / book. The work will follow Chris's design using the bodywork completed by Saturn with the copyright and design remaining with Chris - which it certainly should be. Saturn will be credited with completion of the car and manual. Work will begin by the end of next week with a timescale agreed with Haynes to be able to have the book published and on the shelves by early next year. Saturn will then be able to offer for sale build components / bodywork as required to other builders following the publication of the book. Let's just hope we can do Chris proud with the completion of his beloved project, I'm sure it will be so.

Following the completion of the single seater project we are also entering talks with Haynes to provide a complete re-write of the Roadster manual to provide a new design and manual based on a new roadster style car based on the Mx-5 as donor car. This will not be a direct copy of the Sierra Roadster but something a little different based on Mx5 as donor. Realistically this is a while down the line but will be an exciting project. This has been the main reason why Saturn's own build guide for the Mx-5 donor was delayed by a few months as we needed to agree the way forward with both the Single Seater and Mx-5 projects.

Hard work ahead but it should all be well worth it............Andrew

Firstly sorry to hear of Chris's ill health.

Secondly I don't think the continuation of the project could be better hands, go Spud.


J

Well done Andy, im sure you will do a good job and haynes obviously think the same or you wouldnt have the project

You are going to be mega busy over the next few months.....................................

You know where i am when you start having a nervous breakdown and need a hand :D

Single Seater
 

May i be one of the first to congratulate you on taking on the completion of the dream Chris had. Next time you speak with Chris please wish him well on behalf of all on this forum.

Good luck Andrew.

First of all I am sorry to hear of Chris' ill health, never had the pleasure myself but if he is as friendly as the rest of the guys on here then I am sure he is a gent!

However it is great news that the single seater is now going to continue to a point where we can all get the opportunity to build another great car (if I ever finish this one!)

It is also good to here Saturn growing as a company, as we will get great customer support and the help we need to keep the self build philosiphy going!

Well done Andy, thats great news for the Single Seater project and a revised "Roadster Mx5 " build book.
Like others have said...its great that Saturn Sports Cars is taking these projects forward in conjunction with Haynes themselves, well done and congratulations to you and Saturn Sports Cars.

Likewise as others have said....Wishing Chris a speedy return to health, I,m sure we all wish him well, its with thanks to Chris that we,re here on this forum enjoying building our cars....get well soon Chris.

Cheers
andy

Needless to say, we all wish Chris the best with regards to his health and I,m sure he could not have put his single seater project in better hands than Saturn
You will just have to pull the other nine fingers out now Andy:eek: :eek: I'll fetch some spinach down next time I'm around:D

Id just like to add my voice to those wishing Chris all the best and the same to Andy and Saturn. Im sure it will all work out for the best.

Wow thats great news spud interesting times ahead hard work and great ethics saying off

again not met chris personally but really apreciate his work. wish him a speedy recovery.

and congrats to u spud it was a massive step to move into the market and establish yourself as a business. and steps like this need alot of hard work but with your brilliant customer service , satisfaction and new developments you wont go wrong.

:D

Best wishes to Chris and family as others have said.

I have known about the Single/MX5 news for a couple of months and it's fantastic :) I can't wait to see the result and will probably buy the book regardless of the fact I will not be building a single seater LOL...

Busy Busy times ahead, but Saturn have come such a massive way in the last 22 Months!!!!!:eek:

TT

This sounds like things are going very well for Saturn. Been looking forward to that single seater book for a while. It's great that you'll be updating the book for the mx5 donor, to get it completed.

At last it's out in the open!. :D

Good luck with it Spud, as Mark's said, if you're ever in need of a hand, i'm here too. ;)

Best wishes to Chris for a speedy recovery and big congrats to Saturn for taking the next huge step forward for the marque. I might well be interested in building a single seater at some point.

D.

I would like to echo what everybody else has already said. Get well soon Chris and "good on yer" Andy for taking up the challenge.
Knowing the passion and quality that abounds at Saturn I think this is the best possible outcome in the circumstances.
It's a shame Chris could not complete it due to his unforeseen circumstances but I am 100% certain that Andy will do him proud. I look forward to buying the book, I may even be tempted to build one. Don't tell the Missus though:D
I enjoyed my other build immensely, even though I did not see it through the registration process.
I wish you all the very best with it, the project is in very safe hands.
Dave.

It's really good for the support and feedback, really appreciated.....;) It makes something we love doing (and many others) all worthwhile. And if anyone is passing you know the kettle is always on and are most welcome.

Dave it's good to hear from you again, forum is not quite the same without your friendly banter. Had a phone call from the builder that bought your kit a few weeks ago and he seems quite chuffed with everything, except one of our aeroscreens wouldn't fit on your home made scuttle......:cool:

Many Thanks Again and let hope we can do Chris proud........Andrew

Best wishes to Chris and the single seater couldnt be in better hands!

Forgot to say Dave, you're currently on 666 posts and you AIN'T no Beast.....:D You need to add another post somewhere.

Great news and I look forward to the book and maybe starting a new project.

Ditto all the above and nice one Andy,all worth the wait !!!!;)

Blimey - have I made that many posts? 667 now:D
everyone knows that 666 is the number of the beast
but did you know 668 is the number of the beast's next door neighboour? His other neighbour is 664.
999 is the number of his Australian cousin.
333 is the number of the beast's half brother.
I thought you should know:D

AHHH!!
thats better normal service is resumed
missed you!! your ramblings always made me smile :D
cheers les g
PS. spud what a good news week you,re having
all the very best and good luck

Come on spud lets have a sneaky look at the drawing of the proposed new car.

Bob;)

Thanks Les, yes it has been a good couple of weeks. Still waiting for that first phone call / placement so still don't exactly what we are letting ourselves in for yet.......:eek: But sure it will all be worth it, best lock away my car keys and toys though just in case.

Sorry Robo, not allowed to but cant stop anyone brew and chat if they happen to be passing......;)

Have a good day....Andrew

What donor is the single seater going to be

Sorry Max........:p

Having made all the suspension and supplied pretty much everything except the box section for the chassis I can tell you it doesn't use one donor, the rear suspension uses the Sierra diff but removed from it's casing so it can be converted to chain drive, the front suspension is all new and uses inboard shocks and parts from the Focus, steering rack is courtesy of the cinquecento. The chassis itself is box section just like the Roadster that you're all familiar with.

The last time I spoke with Chris, there wasn't actually too much left to do, so shouldn't take too long.

TK

You did a great job of the wishbones too, very nice

There is still a fair old ammount of work to get the car to where it should be though

Yes you're right John, 3GE where commissioned to supply various parts and very nice they are to, many thanks. It has come to the crunch stage though where the Single Seater has to be progressed and complete before it becomes too late and i'm very pleased that we can do that for Haynes on Chris's behalf. There is still a lot of work to be done though and a 3 month deadline does not leave a lot of time.

SSC now has an extra full time person on board, primarily, to assist with the grp work and various other bits. It's also good to say that now we have Handy Andy back on the scene he will be back to cutting and putting together the chassis packs for the Sierra and Mx5 based chassis. Both will be supplied under the name of Saturn but again will free me up more to concentrate on the Single Seater and Mx5 project. I have also revisited the price of the chassis packs and reduced the price of the Mx5 based packs even though they also include the relevant plates to go with the chassis, think it was a bit much at first compared to the sierra based packs.

All the Best.....Andrew

Glad to see your expanding, good too that HA is cutting kits ;)

Next step must be to get the customer facilities upgraded.. Just need to find a good plumber !

TT

Till i can find a good plumber Rob think i shall upgrade the facilities to a nice dual flush / self cleaning one (or just lock the door and put a bucket out the back for the plebs)........:rolleyes:

Cheers...Andrew

Well the signed agreement has finally come through this morning from Haynes so the completion of Chris's Single Seater build can now officially get started, there is a lot of work to do in 3 months but cant wait to get stuck in.

Thanks for all the feedback and support / offers of help and lets hope we can give Chris the build he deserves.

Many Thanks.....Andrew

Well get offline then and get twirling them there spaniards as we are busting to see the finished car:D

Good news
 

That's great news Andrew

Here's wishing that the single seater turns out to be all that Chris hoped it would be & then some :) :cool:

Eagerly awaiting publication of the book.

No pressure on you but I expect to see it IVA'd by the end of the month :eek: :D

Any updates?

Hi Ceebmoj,

I shouldn't but i cant resist it but i have put some pics up on my Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturns...7627657443099/

It shows noel in the car, i dont fit yet, from its first test session last week. We have had to do a lot of work since then, even more than we had first thought. But it is getting another build ready for a full test on Saturday. It will then be fully stripped again and powder coated then its final build and complete the guide manual. Still on target for the end of November.

AndyH

That looks and sounds W I C K E D :cool: :cool: :cool: .....roll on November...will have to come down an av ano look see
K4

looks amasing, I have been looking forward to the book for a long while i'm glad that it is moving forward again

Love it --I want one:)

Congratulations Andy,
Bet your'e chuffed to bits.......:D
Just remember if you need any inspiration during the long hours to come there are 5 guys here building "Saturn Roadsters" to your design...makes those sleepness nights worth it.......:)
Appreciate all the help you have given us along with everybody else on the forum who's posts I have read.

Keep up the good work...

Johno