Just out of interest, I have written below the story of our kit build. I make no apologies for the length of the story, it does cover two years' work! I will also try to remain humerous (not easy under the circumstances).

Model: Leader 400

Date of Purchase: april 1989

Date of Collection: 5th January 1990

Chassis Number: er, we didn't get one!

Builders/Designers: Nick Ryan and Ruth Fowler

Garage Owners: Nick's long suffering parents

At the National Kit Car and Specials show in 1988 we were looking around when we saw a sleek looking kit with the Viva suspension and Ford Crossflow engine and a promise of a Fiat Twin Cam version to come. It was cheap and seemingly easy to build and find parts for. The decision was made six months later, having seen nothing of the same price range that could better it and so, the Sylver Leader SS (as displayed) was looked into.

* * * * *

We purchased the kit from Niall Johansen in April 1989. We were told, as many others were, that the kit would be ready for collection in six months time. We set to work, in anticipation, collecting old cars and scrapping them for parts.

Firstly, the Chevette. Using our weekends, we took all the suspension and steering gear off and left it in our parking space for the Waltham Forest Council to remove. This they did without any fuss. Our neighbours must have been amazed when, not two weeks later, it was replaced by a 1600 Fiat 132.

The engine and gearbox were removed from this 132 and left in Nick's parents' garage where we worked on the parts, cleaning and assessing their useful life. We summised that although the engine was alright, the gearbox had a worn synchro on 2nd gear. Having spent a day at scrap yards we decided that the cheapest and easiest way of buying a replacement gearbox which we could test before buying would be to buy another Fiat. This we did, leaving the first 132 to rest outside the garage until the Chingford Council could remove it. And so our next purchase was a 2000 Fiat 132 with a good gearbox but a ceased engine. We towed it back to the garage.

When we had removed the old 2000 engine and gearbox, we decided that a good test of compatibility and roadworthiness would be to put the 1600 engine and 2000 gearbox into the Fiat shell and drive it around. We drove it around the block a few times, much to the amusement of the local children! The 2000 had originally had power steering which we had had to detach since it fitted on to the 2000 engine. This meant a lot of effort turning the wheels and a lot of silly grins pulled!

Having got our power sorted out in the shape of the 1600 block, the 2000 head and 2000 gearbox. The head was in the better condition of the two and we took it to Guy Croft for tuning. Once in place, we were sure this would be the best solution.

Next, the axle and suspension were cleaned and painted. It was by now September and the weather was not exactly ideal for washing and cleaning pieces of metal. Still we soldiered on, for it was nearly six months from the date of ordering.

In October we contacted Swindon Sports Cars. Well, that is to say, we tried contacting Swindon Sports Cars. We were a little worried, to say the least, that Niall was nowhere to be found. Had we lost our deposit? Had our last six months of hard work been for nothing? Well, no, not exactly. On scouring the kit car magazines we discovered that the business had been sold. The three paragraph article mentioned Robley Motors and gave the address and phone number. This we phoned and arranged to meet Rob Andrews. We went up there and discussed my order with Rob. He seemed very helpful and showed us his workshop where it all happened. We confirmed our order and left, waiting for him to confirm a collection date.

A few weeks later he telephoned to say we could collect our kit on 5th January 1990. We asked if it could be supplied as a rolling chassis, using our suspension and he agreed. So on a very cold January morning I found myself driving a hired Luton van up to Shropshire.

On 5th January we hired a Luton van and, with a helpful enthusiast friend, we journeyed up to Worthen. I drove the miles, starting at am. We arrived mid morning and got first sight of our car. The body was laying to one side of the garage and the chassis was on the rollers ready to be fitted with our suspension. The modifications to our axle and pedals were done and the axle was fitted. A number of hitches were discovered, which, had we waited until getting the kit home before putting suspension on, would have caused us major headaches and probably forced us to give up. The main problem was that of the jigging. Apparently the drawings supplied to Rob were incomplete and the front shock mounts had been placed to the rear of the marker instead of, as they should have been, to the front. They had to be ground off and moved the necessary 3 inches forward. All this took time. Also, Rob didn't have a torque tube mount available and had to use the one from the green racer inherited from Niall. Ours was the first rolling chassis that Rob had done so, hopefully, no-one else had the same trouble. After a fraught day we eventually managed to load the car into the van. The bonnet was secured on top of foam and the windscreen similarly. Wooden chocks were nailed into the floor of the van to stop the car rolling out again! About 2 feet of the car overhung the rear of the van so the rear gate was left open at the bottom. One of us three elected to sit in the rear of the van to make sure nothing untoward happened. I, again, drove the miles home again.

After a short night's rest, we took the van and contents round to the garage we were using for the build and unloaded it. On close inspection (and trying to be as fair on Rob as possible) the bodywork showed up a lot of faults in the gelling and I am sure that judging by the thickness of the fibreglass our car will be the heavyweight of the Leader family! Still, being the optimistic rose-tinted enthusiasts we were, we didn't complain. As is the norm in these situations, and since we had already received the seats ordered from Cobra, we studied the car's properties. Well, we took turns in sitting in the driver's seat and, holding an old steering wheel, made a lot of vroom-ing noises!

Obviously, the next step was to mate up the remainder of our prepared parts and to purchase the necessary new parts (wheels, brakes, carbs etc) to get it driving by (we estimated) the end of summer 1990. After a few weekends it became clear that this car was going to cost a lot more money than expected and also take a little longer to complete. Our next purchases were a grinder and a "portable" electric welder. As we did each job (and I can't list them all here - I'll try to list all the modifications we made later) it became clear that this was going to be a long, hard slog. The estimated completion date moved to Christmas as we tried to perfect new designs improving on our previous experience with kits. I must say at this point that there are not many mounting points or brackets which have remained as Rob intended! We have tried to take on board as many improvements as per other kit cars with a view to having, if not the best, the best thought-out Leader!