Siva Motor Car Company

The designers Neville Trickett and Nick Jenke set up a company called Neville Tricket (Design) Ltd in April 1967 based in Blandford Forum, Dorset. At the suggestion of Michael Saunders, who ran a company called Siva Engineering in Bournemouth, the pair set out to design a series of Edwardian-looking cars, and founded the Siva Motor Car Company in 1969. A sales company, Siva Motor Car Co. Ltd was based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Production ended in 1976. In total, about 185 cars were made. ==Vehicles==

The Edwardian series had bodies largely made of glass fibre that could be fitted to a chassis supplied by the customer. The first in 1969, pre-dating the founding of the Siva company, was the two seat Roadster and four seat Tourer on a Ford Popular chassis. For GBP125 the builder received a body, scuttle and bonnet, four wings, wheel covers and a basic instruction sheet. Extras included a windscreen, weather equipment and upholstery. Complete cars were also available at GBP355. The last cars were made in 1974 after around 80 Tourers and 25 Roadsters had been made. The Mule was similar to the Mini Moke. Following on from the coupés, the Siva Saluki was launched at the 1973 Racing Car Show. The VW base was retained, but both the front and headlights and the windscreen were changed from the S160 and in front of the doors additional windows were fitted. The kits were priced at GBP450 and included the glass fibre body tub, gullwing doors, nose and tail sections, seats and dashboard. The car is long, wide and high. Produced from 1973 and 1976 around 20 were made. The Saluki was later built by another company, Embeesea Kit Cars. The Llama was the successor to the Mule and was based on the rear-engined Hillman Imp. It could be made as a two or four-seater, open or closed or as a van and came in a standard colour of ivory. The dimensions are: length , width and height . Between 1974 and 1976 around 50 were made. Less successful was the 1976 Jeep-like Sierra based on the Ford Escort; only three were made. ==In popular culture==

'' in the 1970s An Edwardian Tourer body, constructed around a 1954 Ford Popular chassis, bearing the registration number WHO 1 and dubbed "Bessie", was used in the BBC television series Doctor Who, making her first appearance in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970). She provided a transport solution throughout the era of the Third Doctor, but was also used by the Fourth, and by the Seventh. Since 2017, Bessie has been exhibited in the On-Screen Cars collection of the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. ==References==