As well as the Edwardian range the SIVA company produced many other body kits. Some of these kits were also for the Ford E94A chassis but others were designed to fit onto other cars which still retained a separate chassis. This page shows a small selection of photos plus some information about these rare SIVAs.

The spelling of this vehicle varies depending on the documentation available. But the SIVA Parisienne/Parisiene is certainly a close cousin of the SIVA Edwardian Tourer.

Extract from:
BRITISH SPECIALIST CARS - Volume 2 - by Peter Filby 
Chapter "SIVA Edwardians - Parisienne and San Remo". Pages 82-83.

With their Roadster and Tourer models, the SIVA/Trickett company of Bryanston, Blandford Forum, had very quickly gained themselves an excellent reputation for fun cars. At about the same time as they were creating the VW-based Raceabout during May 1970, the very industrious staff were putting together the first Parisienne. Using Citroen 2CV running gear, this model was based closely on the four seat Tourer, so closely that it used adapted Tourer body mouldings. Whilst the two cars looked much the same, the Parisienne's most obvious dis­tinguishing features were its long bonnet with three louvres at the tip, and its somewhat unsightly exposed engine fan.

The first Parisienne was completed in time to make its public debut (very suitably) in Paris at the Euro-Plastic Exhibition during summer 1970. The idea had originally stemmed from a company of fibreglass resin manufacturers asking for a SIVA fun car to display on their stand at the show - to give the French a little amusement, and gain some slick publicity at the same time. As it turned out, Neville Trickett and Nick Jenke had already figured that the French market (particularly in the gay south) was ripe for a vintage fun car. But little was to come of this most logical piece of reasoning.

Nobody was quite sure how, but even so the prototype Parisienne (built on a 2CV chassis found in Britain} still managed to vanish into thin air at the end of the Paris show! It transpired that certain efforts were then made by persons unknown to market the car under a different name. As so often happens, the gendarmes came on to the scene fairly early, and the unfortunate car ended up being impounded. That was the last Neville Trickett ever heard of it.

Back in Britain the Parisienne was made available to would-be converters of anglicised 2CVs in July 1970. Costing £150, the kit comprised the usual SIVA bundle of body, four seats, bonnet, wings and wheel trims - a fibreglass jigsaw puzzle that took about 100 hours to complete (if you knew what you were doing) on the standard 2CV chassis. The job was done properly only with the rather necessary extras of windscreen, running boards, weather equipment, etc. Though hardly doing much to improve the Citroen's utilitarian handling, braking and economy (and certainly dropping the machine's top speed to a gentlemanly 5Omph), the transformation did at least introduce the Trickett trademark - fun.

The SIVA Parisienne doesn't have much other history. One kit per year (two in 1974) was supplied until 1975, when the Bryanston work­shops were put to better use on other projects, and the Parisienne moulds put into storage. Of the few cars built, two are believed to be in Britain, the rest in Europe.

The SIVA San Remo is the rarest of the SIVA range as no models are known to exist. At first glance the car looks very similar to the Edwardian Tourer as in fact the main body is taken from the same mould. The bonnet is quite different and distinct and the mud-guards actually curve over the wheels whereas they are flat in most other SIVAs.

Extract from:
BRITISH SPECIALIST CARS - Volume 2 - by Peter Filby 
Chapter "SIVA Edwardians - Parisienne and San Remo". Pages 82-83.

Whereas the Parisienne was an adaptation of the SIVA Tourer, the San Remo was basically a stretched version of the Raceabout. Not content that it had already spouted out several other models in quick succession, the SIVA/Trickett company's rural retreat saw the San Remo follow on immediately after the Parisienne; indeed, before its dust had even been allowed to settle. There had been a request at the mid-1970 West Hants Show in Bournemouth for a four seat version of the Raceabout. Accordingly, July and August that year were spent around a VW Beetle chassis pan, mating Raceabout body panels with various other SIVA mouldings that were close to hand and fitted reasonably well. The end result was certainly highly attractive if you weren't too serious about real veteran and vintage cars.

The advantage of the San Remo was that the fibreglass mouldings fitted directly to an unmodified VW chassis, making it just about the simplest to construct of all the fun cars and utilities offered by SIVA/Neville Trickett (Design) Ltd. After an initial outlay of £150 for the kit, more expense for extras like the wind­screen and the weather equipment, and two or three weeks' spare time work, the San Remo joined the Receabout in radically changing the character of the base vehicle. This also applied to the performance, top speed being reduced to about 65mph for a 1299cc powered car, the acceleration actually improving fractionally. The exhaust note remained an obvious tell-tale, but with interest, laughter and pleasure being caused everywhere the San Remo appeared, who cared?

Despite the excellent publicity that SIVA's vintage replica fun cars gained during the early seventies, the San Remo hardly set the company's sales return sheets alight. About 8 examples were built in total. One of these went to Germany, and another to California as a fully-built vehicle with 1300cc propulsion. Like the company's Raceabout and Parisienne models, the San Remo was supposedly still available in 1976 at £265 for the kit. But in truth, Neville Trickett and his partner were no longer interested in work that had never been exactly lucrative. Down to the basement went the moulds. The picturesque workshops were now involved in work on mini-hovercraft and steady production of another Trickett design, the VW­based Kubel - a replica of a well known German wartime utility vehicle.

It's slightly ironic that all the SIVA replica fun car kits are presently in cold storage while the enthusiast's hunger for nostalgia is apparently so ravenous. Maybe Michael Saunders with his original idea for the Edwardian Roadster, and the Trickett/ Jenke partnership with their development of the idea, were just that little bit too far ahead of the trend's main impact to cash in on it. Even so, considering their very specialist appeal, the cars (particularly the Roadster and Tourer models) sold in fair quanti­ties, and their name spread far and wide. This had the satisfactory effect of giving Trickett quite a reputation in the automobile word, and he was able to follow this up with a number of exciting designs. Probably the best known of these was the angular and dramatic SIVA-Aston Martin V8 GT car, which was denied reaching production only by boardroom wrangles at Newport Pagnell. As for the Edwardians, they certainly encouraged fun and smiling faces everywhere, the main reason for which they'd been built in the first place.

Extract from:
BRITISH SPECIALIST CARS - Volume 2 - by Peter Filby 
Chapter "SIVA Edwardian Raceabout". Pages 84-86.

Particularly industrious workers when given, the inspiration, Neville, Trickett and Nick Jenke produced the first Race­about in just two weeks of concentrated work during May 1970, Unlike the earlier Roadsters and Tourers, the very tongue-in-­cheek Raceabout was a Trickett original. Crazy looking in rather a memorable way, this outrageous fun car was not intended any too seriously. 

First shown at the mid-1970 West Hants Show in Bournemouth, the Raceabout was received surprisingly well. But with the prototype neither fully finished nor properly developed, there was some delay before production began. The basis for Trickett's exceptionally loose interpretation of a 'coal scuttle' veteran Renault was the ubiquitous VW Beetle chassis pan. Using the existing body mounting points, the fibreglass Raceabout body bolted on in straightforward fashion. Before the car become driveable, however , several radical modifications were needed. These included re-mounting the pedals, moving the gear lever rearwards, modifications to the handbrake, and lengthening (by 32in.) the steering gear - all difficult jobs that the company intended to help customers with wherever possible.

Perhaps it was rather more complex in its construction than the average VW-based kit car, or maybe the design was never fully sorted out, but whatever the reason, the Raceabout was one of those kits that never really caught on. And this was despite further public exposure at the Racing Car Show in January 1971, where the sporting carriage shared the SIVA/Trickett Design Ltd. stand with a car of more modern but similar pretentious, SIVA Sl60. The first two Raceabout kits were sold to customers in Malta soon after the Show, but strangely enough, there was then no further demand, least of all in Great Britain. 

Knowing our weather, it seems that the tiny percentage of enthusiasts who were broadminded enough to be potential Raceabout drivers were also rather conscious of its rueful lack of weather protection. It made no difference that a mere £125 bought the basic kit of bodyshell, lift-off bonnet, wings, engine cover, dummy cylindrical fuel tank (this acted as a rear stowage locker, the real tank being under the bonnet), dished wheel trims, two seat shells and various mounting brackets. It made no difference that even without the optional extras of monocle windscreen, full width windscreen, running boards, wooden bulkhead/dashboard and 18in. diameter artillery wheels (motorcycle rims with alloy centres) , a Raceabout could still make for hilarious: exhibitionist (and possibly somewhat warped!) fun motoring. And it could be built very economically in about 100 hours, too.

The Raceabout's lack of sales made little impact in life down at the very rural Trickett workshops in Bryanston, near Blandford Forum, for the company were too busy building and selling the other cars in their range. It wasn't even of much concern that the proto­type Raceabout, having been sold as a going concern, eventually ended up impounded in Holland before suffering the final indignity of being scrapped by the Dutch authorities only two years after its construction!

Refusing to give up completely, Nick Jenke built a second Raceabout demonstrator mid. way through 1974 on a 1200cc Beetle floor­pan, the idea being to sort the car out fully and give it another chance. To celebrate the occasion, the car was fitted with a new and much longer bonnet complete with dummy front louvres. With its spare wheel mounted on the nearside running board rather than astride the rear engine, the whole car looked rather more attractive than its earlier sisters. As before, the front suspension was totally exposed, making an ideal subject for would-be customisers. The engine, likewise, was supremely easy to get at, though somewhat unceremoniously isolated at the Raceabout's rear. Costing £175, the kit now included running boar:ds, while the most important addition to the extras list was properly devised weather equipment.

Despite all efforts, the VW-based vintage fun carriage refused to catch on. Did 'Custom Car magazine's Raceabout feature (in a 'special macabre issue') entitled 'Druculcar - Dracula tries the Raceabout' frighten customers off; were young motoring enthusiasts simply too shy to drive such a weird contraption? Neville Trickett and Nicke Jenke will never know. Only two more Raceabout kits were ever sold, both in 1975. The company's 1974 demonstrator meanwhile found its way to the U.S.A. where it gained wide publicity. But regardless of the obvious American potential, it was deemed un­economical to ship bodies across the Atlantic.

By 1976 the Raceabout moulds were in cold, dusty storage in the basement below the company's workshops. The wildest-ever way of enjoying VW reliability was still price listed at £265 for the kit, but with Trickett and Jenke busy on more lucrative projects, it was unlikely that any more bodies would ever come out of those moulds. End result - 6 Raceabouts sold, 1 scrapped, 3 exported, and only 2 remaining in Britain.

Of all the SIVA cars the SIVA Saluki generates the most discussion. This little car is appears to have been dream of the 1970s. Occasionally, a SIVA Saluki or a look-alike turns up on eBay. I am also sent images of Salukis undergoing restoration or which have been previously owned.

The SIVA Saluki was designed and built SIVA Cars in the 1970s. The body was designed to fit directly onto a 1960s VW beetle chassis pan. The Saluki exhibits stylish lift up "gull-wing" doors. This gives the car a characteristic "Delorean" style outward appearance, which included electric 'pop-up' headlamps. The original kits were available for £395.

It is believed that only 12 car body kits were ever made by the company. Until very recently it was thought that only one of the kits was still in existence. However, recently information has come to light about two other Saluki kits. One of these has been fully restored by an owner who lives in Portugal.

Another Saluki also recently surfaced in Australia (August 2006). The car was in a very poor state and would require extensive rebuild work to make it roadworthy. Hopefully the car was bought by someone who is willing to take it on as a serious restoration project. The Australian Saluki was actually advertised as an 'Eagle' kit car but looking at the car and comparing body panels it is clear that it is a Saluki or at the very least a modified version of the original kit.

Following the tale of the above Saluki (or look alike) is seems that this car has indeed gone to a good home. Apparently the car was purchased by Year 11 Engineering students of Inaburra, a private School located on the southern edge of Sydney, Australia. The class of twenty students have wasted no time in starting work on the car. The intention at this stage is to try to convert the vehicle into an electric car.

Extract from:
CUSTOM CAR MAGAZINE - September 1973
Article - "Siva Saluki". Pages 48-50.

Eyes follow us everywhere and heads turn to looks and then turn again. They just can’t believe it – must he the darndest thing they ever saw since grandma caught herself in a mangle. And then we get out the questions begin. What is it? Is it from this ’ere TV programme UFO? It’s Japanese isn’t it? Then we tell them it’s a SIVA Saluki, a VW-based kit-car from Aylesbury. Yes sir, Siva, a Hindu god and also the name of a car company, and Saluki, a breed of Arabian gazelle-hound, also the name of this model. And a word to the gentleman who kept getting in Roger’s way with his Brownie while our poor lensman tried to sneak the odd shot over your shoulder; no I don’t expect they will believe you back in Australia.

Well what so you get with the Neville Trickett’s latest little kit besides those incredulous stares? First there’s the one piece glass fibre body which is constructed in 6mm thick, 7 ½ oz five-layer laminate. Just take it from me that means a very rigid shell, glass fibre work of a very high standard and the colour of your choice really is impregnated through to the last layer of mat. Next there are the gull-wing doors, windows, nose-piece, front and rear light fittings, headlamp pods and tail-piece cover. Add a manual retraction mechanism for the headlamps you fit, courtesy of a Vauxhall brake lever and ratchet, a few mounting brackets and there it is. Creep up on some unsuspecting volks floorpan and running gear, drop it on and drive away. Well almost.

Let’s begin by lowering the suspension all round. At the rear you merely rotate the splines on the torsion bar one way and swing the arm the other – simple. On the front it’s not so easy to induce that negative camber as its calls for a chop ‘n’ weld job. Siva say that the average bodger can almost cope using the details they’ll provide, but they may be offering an exchange service anyway. Next you can try a couple of inches off the gear linkage and a little from the handbrake lever. Now stop for a cup of tea, a fag and a think.

The extras you’re going to need to complete your Saluki are fairly numerous, so it’ll pay to think before you make with the greenies. Our car had Spax shocks fitted all round and I must say they hardly ever bottomed-out on the roughery which the London borough of Ealing laughingly call roads. As far as the wheels go you can use stock VW but wouldn’t they look silly. The whole plot screams for some wide ‘n’ shiny slot mags. Ours was wearing the 5 ½ x 18in wheels that are available as extras from Siva for an as yet undisclosed sum. These feature cast-alloy centres and steel rims courtesy of Weller – all painted nice and white. Tyres, also available as extras, were French Kleber V10 GTS radials. Why Kleber, I asked? Well they look nice was the reply (they do too) and Siva reckon they-re super-good in the dry and up to scratch in the wet. And, would you believe, it’s true. As you already know if you read LJK Setrights’s piece last month, Klebers feature clever glass fibre cords to belt up the tyre instead of steel, but let’s not get too technical.

Siva will also let you keep your right hand on the wheel with an electric drive mechanism for the headlamps’ eyelids. More extras available for the living quarters like carpets and seats but let’s just sit back and eyeball it all for a moment.

Looks are where the Saluki really scores. Just everyone looks art it from Traffic Wardens distinguishing a new enemy to the flash hits in the Dinos, Jensens and Jags. Good for pulling the birds too I’d say, although the picture-frame sidewindows don’t give you much privacy. Our car was finished in Milky Way, a lavatorial shade of lavender recognised at once by some staff members. I only hope I’m not caught short when visiting them, though it might look pleasant for the bathroom suite. Other choices are Mist Grey, Golden Yellow, Marine Blue, Flame Red and White. All the same I feel trick paint would be de trop.

Falling into the car presents no difficulties, just pull up the gull-wing on its nicely damped door unit to reveal a large cockpit. The gentlemen at Aylesbury quite rightly pride themselves on the fit and waterproofing of these doors. They’re good, very good. Inside you’ll find two white moulded seats upholstered in black, buttoned knucklecord, and a nice leather rim Moto-Lita wheel and a very attractive instrument console with a tray for oddities on the passenger side. I liked the design of this console - it matched the rest of the interior perfectly - and is definitely a good £15 worth.

Somehow I was less than happy with the optional £30 a pair seats. This was largely a result of the living quarters being designed to fit the car’s designer and the seats fixed. I thus had to select some part of my anatomy for punishment and chose my left thigh, which became bruised on the unpadded side of the seat as I endeavoured to operate the clutch pedal satisfactorily. Even if the seat had been lower and on runners, I’d still go for a pair of Corbeaus, definitely on runners. The space problem is something that we mentioned when we tested the Nova and I can only repeat the advice we gave then – if you’re well over six foot think carefully before you buy. But maybe you could cut a Perspex bubble into the roof for your head, just like le mans GT40s. Okay, one more grouse. Ventilation is provided by the two quarter-lights which hinge out to admit a breeze which goes round you, not at you. Only problem is that it’s not enough in warm weather. Possible solution could be a thru-flow system from the wheel arches.

Once everything is sorted seat-wise the controls fall easily to hand and foot and that instrument console is a real goody. With the dip of the nose, which is invisible when driving, you’d think forward manoeuvres would be tough. Remarkably, this just isn’t true and I had a feeling of absolute confidence I’d have loved at the rear. Three-quarter vision is just non-existent without wing mirrors, although Siva say these can be fitted inside the car if desired. Think about the way the perspex-sided body bows out you’ll see how.

Down there among the sports cars driving by the seat of yer Y-fronts the screen gives an ample forward vision, if a double reflection off tail-lights because of its rake, and side vision is great. Screen is swept by a single efficient blade, demisted by vents from the rear and washed from the bottle that lives up front with the battery and spare wheel.

At the rear you swing up the hatch to reveal the petrol tank in a sensible spot and a surprising amount of boot space. Here too you can get at the engine for routine maintenance, although for a really good grope the tail-piece unbolts quickly and easily to provide good access. Lump was a 1956 1600cc Porsche (read VW) unit which was perhaps past its best but was reported to be capable of the ton at 5000rpm. I’d say that’s a pretty good idea of what to expect. Personally I’d go for the 1600 VW unit, preferably tweaked by someone like Autocavan. One good reason is that the old Porsche lump cost £100 and there’s no reason why the VW should be inferior.

At speed the Saluki handles remarkably well. It doesn’t rattle or feel like it’s going to fall apart any minute, unlike some glass-fibre bodied cars I can recall. The ride is sporty but never stiff. I held to a Seven down some twisty lanes near Beaconsfield without feeling too out classed and really had to take liberties to get the rear end to step out of line. However, the lock is distinctly Volks, something which reminds you of the Saluki’s basics just when you thought you were driving something completely removed from the humble Beetle. Brakes also help to bring you back to reality – drums all round which provide adequate braking power if used in conjunction with the gearbox.

This engine has never been noted as a whisperer so we sure were glad there was an Elpico eight-tracker and speakers craftily installed behind the seats. But my oh my, Carly Simon sure did have to holler at times to make herself heard. Never mind, I love the way that punchy motor churns up the hills.

I also went for the lighting setup. Headlamps were 7in Cibies with a good cut-off, but best were the screens of translucent glass fibre that cover front and rear side lights and indicators. These both protect the fittings and diffuse the light. Evidence of some good thinking there.

Stunning styling aside, is it a practical form of everyday transport or a futuristic drawing-board dream? Is it even the GT car for the masses that I heard AA talking about? I could certainly live with the Saluki as my personal set of wheels. It seems to have a lot going for it as the conveyance of those who like to be different in a mass-produced world. The Saluki may look like a VTOL craft but it’s practical, fun to drive and real value for money. The basic kit costs £395 plus ten per cent VAT which makes it, er, um £434.50. To that you’ve got to add the cost of the floorpan, running gear, wheels, seats and other comforts plus the engine. So the total depends on how much you pay for these, but as a rough guess I’d say something over £700. And that compares very favourably with the Nova kit which now costs £880.

Things are definitely happening down there among the ducklings at Aylesbury. Siva are still knocking our the Edwardian Roadsters in Blanford, but will soon be moving their Aylesbury operation, concentrating on the Saluki and Llama models, to a brand-new factory in the same town. It was there that I got a good look at the £847 Llama utility vehicle, the Saluki’s ancestor the S160 Spyder, the super V8 530. As Siva have tied up a deal with Chrysler for a new Imp lumps for the offroad Llama we should be seeing quite a few around soon and Salukis too. By the time you read this you’ll be able to find Siva at unit G, Central Trading Estate, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, Bucks (0296 87321). You’ll have to go a very long way to find something quite as exciting and individual as the Saluki.

The 'S160' began life as a project for Marcos as a GT with a Hillman Imp engine. However, Marcos dropped the concept and SIVA re-designed it into the SIVA S160 Spyder. The car debuted in the 1971 Racing Car Show. The 'Spyder' was based on a VW beetle floorpan. The Spyder was unique in that all the car switchgear was housed in the driver's door. A bare bodyshell was available for £525 or a completed car was available for £895. There were 12 'S160 Spyder' produced in total.

Interestingly, the SIVA Spyder was produced as a toy car by 'Matchbox' around 1972 and appeared as #41 in their range. A few variations of the toy were available and even today these are often seen for up for sale.

Extract from:
SPEED AND POWER MAGAZINE - No 46, January 1975
Article - "Super Siva" by Peter Watson. Pages 18-19.

If you’ve ever set eyes on a Siva S530, you were very lucky, for sadly this ambitious project never progressed beyond the first prototype. Outwardly, it resembles the VW beetle-based Spyder and Saluki “specials” that did in fact enter production, but under that attractive glass-fibre skin lies a much more sophisticated animal.

Unashamedly a two-seater, the Siva S530 has its engine mounted behind the occupants. Originally, when a tie-up with Aston Martin was proposed, it was their handsome V8 unit that sat snugly ahead of the rear wheels and it was in this form that the car was displayed at the 1971 motor show. Now however, a full 5.4 litres of Chevrolet engine are responsible for pushing this futuristic looking vehicle along. This power allows the Siva to pull far away from most of the common sports cars and on to a top speed well in excess of 120 mph!

Joined to the engine and driving through the rear wheels is a ZF racing gearbox of the type used on many of the famous Ford GT40 sport/racing cars. It has an “interlock” system that necessitates changing all the way down the gearbox when coming to rest. In other words after cruising in fifth you’ve got to drop down into fourth, third and even second before coming to a stop and selecting first gear.

The suspension is fully independent and has double wishbones at each corner just like most modern racing cars. Steering is achieved with a strange rectangular steering wheel that takes a lot of getting used to. Driver and passenger are positioned by huge hammock-type seats that hug you well under hard cornering.



Getting into the car calls for gymnastics. After raising the gull-wing-style doors, you stretch over the sill and snuggle down into the low-slung seats. None of the windows open and what little ventilation there is comes from slats and swivelling “eye-ball” vents in the facia. It is a bit like entering a space capsule and once in, you are ready for almost anything.

Driving the beast is a real experience! It is a big car and it feels it with more than half the body being behind the driver and virtually obliterated by the flat slatted engine cover. Road holding on the fat tyres is impressive and the sensation is more like that achieved in a racing car than in most other road cars.

The S530 is a real crowd puller too. Its sleek design and purposeful engine beat turns heads in every town. “Is that the new Lamborghini?” people ask, and certainly it has all the lines of the latest in Italian creations.

If they had been produced in numbers you can rest assured that only the rich would have afforded them. As it is, only one S530 lives on to remind us of Siva’s brief encounter with the Super-car market.

The car company did go on to build in quantity the Llama couldn’t be more different from a sports car. As its name suggests it is a “beast of burden” and it is expected to work for its living.

Also made from glass fibre, the Llama’s basic body rests on a simple metal framework. All the mechanicals are taken from the trusty Hillman Imp.

With only an 875cc heart, the Llama is obviously not the strongest of animals and can’t carry more than 600lbs on its back. Like the S530, the little Llama flowed from the drawing board of British designer Neville Trickett, a man of variety who also conceived the Mini-Sprint GT car, the Opus Model T fun car and even the Siva Edwardian replica which you will doubtless know better as Doctor Who’s car. What, one wonders, will Trickett come up with next.

The SIVA Buggy (also known as the 'SIVA Skyspeed Buggy' or the 'SIVA Moonbug') was actually a Mini-based kitcar. The Buggy was Neville Trickett's answer to Beetle "Beach Buggy" or "Dune Buggy" that became popular in the 1970s.

In the 1970's the mouldings for the Buggy were sold to a company in the Netherlands, Euromotor Amsterdam, who was already an importer of the SIVA abroad. The Buggy was offered as either a kitcar or as a fully completed vehicle.

The kit was included a GRP body in standard colour (purple), other colours where available for a higher price, a chassis made from strong rectangular steel tubing, shortened trumpets front and rear, lengthened radius arms, headlights and rearlights, seats an a building plan.

The body was designed to accept Mini instruments, front seats, pedals and wipers. The basic kit included the body, chassis, bonnet and dashboard. This all came for the price of £195. Extras included, 13 inch wheels, racing tyres, windscreen, hood, side curtains, front and rear seats and Cibie headlamps.

All the builder had to supply was a Mini as a donor car. Wheels were advised as 13 inch with a maximum width of 12 inch. According to the Dutch brochure it was possible to "build yourself a Moonbug in a day or two with a little help from a friend". Unfortunately, in 1976 a fire in the building of Euromotor Amsterdam destroyed the mouldings and ended production of the SIVA Buggy forever. It is believed that an impressive 94 Buggys were produced in total.

The Mule was the SIVA Company's attempt to match the popular Mini-Moke concept car. It looked very original and consisted of the characteristic SIVA fibre-glass body. This fitted on top of a square-tube steel chassis fitted with Mini sub-frames. Ground clearance was helped by the 13 inch wheels. The car was available with four seats and an optional rear roll-over bar.

The basic kit consisted of the body, chassis unit, bonnet, tailgate, dashboard, side-pockets, battery-box and screen mounting brackets. Optional extras included seat shells, roof panel, aerofoil, spare-wheel cover, windscreen, side screens, bumpers safety bars, trailing arms, weather equipment, upholstery, headlight units, windscreen wipers and wheels. Also the last Mules to be produced had deeper windscreens than the originals. The price of the base kit was a mere 195 pounds. There were only around 12 Mules produced before production stopped in 1975.

The SIVA Motor Car Company marketed the SIVA Llama in Britain as "a fun and utility vehicle". Prototyping and production of the 'Llama' began as early as 1972 but its first sales promotion and public viewing wasn't until the 1974 Motor Show.

Intending to target developing countries, SIVA promoted the Llama as being "…a cheap economical utility vehicle capable of production in developing countries where there is a shortage of skilled labour and a need for industrialisation."

The concept was almost the same as the SIVA Mule, however, the Llama was based on the successful Imp engine, gearbox and suspension, but the car had its own steel chassis. The car was powered by the 875cc Imp engine, mounted in the rear and driving the rear wheels. The car was available in various forms including a convertible, a saloon, a van, or with an open top. Also available were a rear aerofoil and removable roof panels.

The car had a carrying capacity of around 600lb, a turning circle of 28ft and, as SIVA claimed, it could of course be serviced by any Chrysler dealer. The original list price for a basic vehicle was £1150. In total, around 50 Llama kits were produced between 1974 and 1977.

Today, the SIVA Llama is an incredibly rare car. Interestingly, one of the only cars known to exist is owned by a car enthusiast who lives in Israel. He has kindly sent the images of the pale green Llama above.

There is a common misconception that one of the first SIVA Llamas ever produced was seen in Doctor Who, where it appeared in the Jon Pertwee story "Colony in Space". However, there are a few factors which prove that this vehicle was not a SIVA. Firstly, the 1972 date for the prototype vehicle is too late for this story, which was transmitted between 10th April 1971 and 15th May 1971. Secondly, more than one of these vehicles appears in the story so it is therefore unlikely to be a prototype. Finally, closer inspection of the vehicle used in Dr Who shows that it bears only little resemblance to the SIVA Llama or the SIVA Mule. In fact, none of the body panels have similar shape or geometry. 

Apparently, this vehicle used in "Colony in Space" is a Steyr-Daimler-Puch Haflinger, an Austrian-made 4x4 vehicle that was manufactured between 1959 and 1974. It was a production vehicle, with over 16,000 built. The large silver discs on the front of the vehicle, bearing the IMC (Interplanetary Mining Corporation) logo, were obviously added by the BBC props department. Further information about the Haflinger can be found on Wikipedia at the following link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haflinger

Many of these images and information has been sent to me, donated or found on the internet. If you would like an image removed then please contact me.