Historic NZ Cars: Saker Cars

The Saker SV1 is a shining example of the many great cars kiwi's have built over the years. With original styling that is reminiscent of Group C and Le Mans cars of the 80's and 90's, the Saker SV1 is one kit car that looks seriously awesome.

The Saker was first introduced in 1989 by Bruce Turnbull of Turnbull engineering. The SV1 was the first model released and was originally intended to be powered by a range of motors such as the flat four engines on offer from various Subaru models like the WRX. However, people have fitted engines such as the Toyota/Lexus 1UZ-FE V8 for more power and a sound that is reminiscent of a Le Mans car.

The SV1 was sold in kit form and could be built by the customer any way they wanted. This left the options for the interior, engine/drivetrain and bodywork completely up to the builder so no two Saker's are the same.

The SV1 was followed by the SVS GT in 1999 which was a more race oriented variant of the SV1. Alongside the SVS GT was the SVS Sprint which was an open top version of the SVS GT. In 2002, Saker Cars started to be produced in the Netherlands under licence. These cars differed slightly from the New Zealand built ones as they had reworked bodywork but the chassis was still the same and customisation was still limitless.

The new Saker was called the RapX and has a more modern looking and unique front and rear body design that is completely different from the SV1, SVS GT and SVS Sprint. This new Saker is mostly produced with a Subaru flat four which propels this 785 KG supercar to 100 KMH in 3.4 seconds which is staggering for a car with only 275 BHP.

Overall, the Saker has enjoyed a popular following over it's many incarnations and is still popular today in kit car circles. Thanks for reading!!!