Founded as Stoneleigh Motor Carriage Company in 1899, in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, England.
The name was shortened to Stoneleigh Motor Company, Ltd. in 1912.
The company merged with Balmoral Motors in 1962 to form BS Cars, Ltd, while both brands would continue as separate car lines.
After years of economic losses and faced with the prospect of laying off half their work force, BS Cars was nationalised in 1974.
After a lengthy development process, the small front-wheel drive Shuttler hatchback was launched in 1974.
The styling was highly controversial, featuring a very radical wedge-like theme and odd proportions.
It featured a large range of engines, the smallest being an 888cc MS47 unit producing 40bhp.
Next in the range came a bored-out version of the same engine, with 1097cc resulting in 47bhp.
The larger block engine series was the SL47. Smallest of these was a 1348cc version producing 55 bhp.
A 1497 cc unit with 68 bhp topped out the range of engines running on regular petrol.
A 1744 cc version running on premium petrol which produced 90bhp was available exclusively for the luxury Tourer trim.
Although a modest success in the first few years, by the late 70s, the Shuttler was struggling to compete in the market. BS Cars wanted to improve the Shuttler’s dull reputation and capitalize on the growing hot-hatch market.
The Shuttler GRS was launched in 1980, to mixed reaction. Although the styling was slightly improved and modernized receiving a new front grill, headlights and new taillights, It was seen as a half-baked effort and only cemented the Shuttler’s outclassed and outdated image.
The GRS featured a warmed-over version of the 1744cc Tourer engine, now producing 105bhp.
The GRS was not well received by the market and was discontinued in early 1981.
The Shuttler range was revamped in 1982, receiving a long overdue facelift. The facelift largely consisted of surplus GRS exterior parts, and a new colour palette. There was no facelifted version of the luxury Tourer model.
The engines were also revised. The SL47 engine seriew was heavily modified and received aluminium SOHC heads. The engine range was also more aligned with cubic capacity size groups that were established in the market.
The range for 1982 was as follows:
1.1 C/CL - 1097cc MS47, carb, 49hp
1.4 CL/CLX - 1396cc aluminium SOHC head SL47, twin carb, 65hp
1.6 CLX - 1593cc aluminium SOHC head SL47, twin carb, 78hp
BS Cars had not given up on the idea of a hot hatch version of the Shuttler, and had decided to give it another go, and do it right this time. The stylists cooked up a radical aero package, and the engineers lowered the suspension and added fuel injection to a bored out version of the SL47.
The 1983 GRSi righted many of the errors made with the old GRS. The styling, handling and performance was much more
contemporary, and all at a lower price than its failed predecessor.
Full specs:
1778cc SOHC 8-valve Inline-4 (aluminium head)
Fuel delivery: Multi Point EFI
Power: 115 bhp @ 6300 rpm
Torque: 101 lb-ft @ 5200 rpm
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Performance 0-60 mph: 8.7s
Top speed: 109.6 mph
interesting designs, though I notice a few issues, like some of the last design seems to have a bit of clutter. I think I would remove a few fixtures here and there to clean up the design. Other than the odd clutter on the last car posted, I think the designs are reasonable and would fit the uninspiring cheap economy car of the 80s era.
Thanks! The tacked-on nature of the performance/facelift bits is intentional, similar to other hot hatches of the era. The real life inspiration is Austin Allegro/Princess/Metro and Vauxhall Chevette
BS Cars launched the Stoneleigh Victoria executive car in early 1975. It was named in honour of the Australian state in which Stoneleigh cars were produced as complete knock-down kits (Geelong, Victoria). The Australian subsidiary had assisted in developing the new car, and it was hoped that the car would prove popular in that market.
At launch, the model range consisted of the 2600 and the 3000. The 2600 had a 2629cc version of the old LCV-series SOHC straight 6, producing 123bhp. The 3000 model featured an all-aluminium 3.0L SOHC V8 producing 141 bhp.
The Victoria sold decently but dealers were asking for a higher-spec model to attract more buyers to the showroom. In response, the 3000 Injection was introduced in 1977. Its fuel injected engine boosted power to 174 bhp and the car was appointed with many sporty styling touches.
The Victoria range received a facelift in 1981. The engine range was also revised and fuel injection was introduced across the range.
Catalytic converters were adopted for all engines by 1982.
In certain markets such as Italy and Finland, smaller capacity turbocharged engines were used to avoid heavy taxation.
For the South African and Australian markets, a 5.2 litre V8 licenced from Maxton Motors was avalable as 5.2i and 5.2Gi.
In 1982, a high performance GRi model was added to the range.
The V8 was bored out to 3.3 liters and used multi-point fuel injection to produce 218bhp.
Weight: 1308kg
Engine: 3270cc SOHC 16-valve V8
Fuel delivery: Multi Point EFI
Power: 217 bhp @ 6200 rpm
Torque: 200 lb-ft @ 4600 rpm
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Performance 0-100 km/h: 7.0s
Top speed: 237.5 km/h
Full 1982 range:
In 1985, Stoneleigh entered the Australian Touring Championship with the Victoria 3.3 GRi. With the new Group A regulations, the race car was based closely on the road going variant. It soon became evident that the car was not competitive in the 3001-6000cc class.
For 1986, Stoneleigh wanted a more competitive package. In order to achieve this, it was necessary to homologate a new version of the Victoria for Group A. They enlisted Farnwick to provide them with a better engine. They adapted a version of their old Q48 Formula One engine for the homologation car. The car was now to compete in the sub-3000cc class, so the 2992cc engine was perfect. The engine was an all-aluminium unit with DOHC, 32 valves and individual throttle bodies. In race trim it provided an impressive 430 hp at 8,500 rpm. For the road version, it was detuned to 255 hp at 7,200 rpm.
The body was clad in aluminium panels and featured a radical aero bodykit, including an adjustable rear wing. The engineers spent countless hours in the wind tunnel, to minimize drag, optimize cooling, ventilation and downforce.
The rear semi trailing arm suspension and front MacPherson strut suspension was replaced with double wishbones all-round.
The end result was a serious street legal racing machine.
Specifications (1986):
Weight: 1183kg
Engine: 2992cc DOHC 32-valve V8
Fuel delivery: Multi Point EFI
Power: 190 kW (255 bhp) @ 7200 rpm
Torque: 286 Nm (210 lb-ft) @ 5600 rpm
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Performance 0-100 km/h: 5.2s
Top speed: 237.5 km/h
The GRSi-A was updated for 1987 corresponding with the 1987 range facelift. Aerodynamics were further improved. The GRSi-A was produced in limited numbers until 1989.
The Victoria was facelifted again for 1987. The facelift was a decent effort but, at 12 years, the platform was really starting to show its age. The Victoria was offered with optional ABS for the first time.
In 1981, Stoneleigh supplied a few heavily modified off-road versions of the Victoria for the British military BRIXMIS mission in East Germany.
Many officers wanted an upclass interior combined with off-road capabilities, something the dedicated military vehicles that were on offer couldn’t provide.
The vehicles were dubbed the Stoneleigh ME34A
This vehicle used a special 3.8 litre version of the standard V8 engine, which ran on regular leaded petrol and produced 160 hp DIN at 5000rpm and 300Nm at 2500rpm.
The ME34A featured a 4x4 drive system, light truck monocoque chassis and coil sprung live axles front and rear.
Upclass Interior
Military
Choose one
Snobby commissioned officers… left-overs from the 18th century, maybe
Officers…
Officers dont drive premium cars deep into enemy territory. They drive in landrovers alongside the other infantry.
Up-class and military don’t mix, its the 21st century not the 19th
Yeah usually, but they actually used Opel Senator 3.0i’s and Range Rovers in BRIXMIS
Actually it’s 1981
Whether its 1981 or 2001 makes no difference. By the end of WW2 officers werent these rich people who sat around in their armchair 10 miles away from the battlefield faffing around. Besides which, what makes you think the cars they used werent barebones. It was a military operation not a tea party. Not to mention the economic recession in the 80s, you really think the british military could afford anything that wasnt barebones.
The Stoneleigh ME34A would be more like this:
Actual BRIXMIS Opel Senator Interior
Features:
*Carpeting
*Dashboard cladding
*Ergonomics
*Rev-counter
*Automatic transmission
*Doors made of actual metal, not fabric
…than this:
Actual barebones military off-road vehicle interior (1980 VW/Bombardier Iltis)
Features:
?
?
Stoneleigh made around 500 ME34C (Civilian) in the period 1982-1987. Officially it was called the Victoria 3.8i 4x4. It was only available on special order.
The engine was based on the military version but with catalytic converters and civilan-spec electrical system, air filters etc.
The engine produced 170 bhp and 213 lb-ft, and was fitted with an advanced 4-speed automatic transmission.
It found buyers among some rural doctors, estate owners and Saudi sheiks
