Vintage Thing No. 20 - Jetstream

Here is a future Vintage Thing. Mostly you can recognise a Vintage Thing only with the benefit of hindsight but this little baby has a bright future in front of it. And it’s local to me.

It also appeals to me because of my background in Industrial Design. I am always interested in the design process and here it is, happening virtually on my doorstep. Every vehicle starts off as somebody’s idea or dream. It’s the human story of how that dream becomes reality that enthrals me.

The Jetstream Sportscar is being designed and built in Cornwall and was on show at the Royal Cornwall Show. I was immediately impressed by the quality of its bodywork and also the specially cast front suspension uprights. When I began talking to the guys on the stand it was obvious they were employing the latest technology. It sounds expensive to start with but the savings in time and development costs easily justify its use.

The Jetstream Sportscar was launched at the Autosport show in January 2008 and made in a modern factory at Redruth. The company was formed by Malcolm Faiers and John Donnelly. Both have long careers in the automotive field behind them but chose Cornwall in 2005 because of the expertise it offers and also the set up packages that are available.

John had worked out the package and overall proportions some time before and shown his initial sketches to Brian Rossi, a designer with Ford, when they were collaborating on another project. Brian immediately became very enthusiastic about the concept and offered John two styling proposals. One was smoothly styled and the other was more angular. John was very taken by the smoother version but Brian assured him that the more angular one should be chosen because it anticipated a number of design trends.

Jetstream followed Brian’s advice and have used Paul Bailey Design to refine the concept into a full scale prototype. “We are currently modifying the windscreen moulding to make it blend into the lines of the cockpit more gradually,” Malcolm Faiers told me. “This car is the second prototype and we’re still finalising the details.”

From my experience of glassfibre, I was very impressed with the quality of the bodywork, especially if this car represents a prototype. I told Malcolm this and he agreed. “Our moulder is an artist,” he said. “That’s one of the benefits of being based in Cornwall. It has a highly developed moulding industry to support the luxury marine sector.”

John went on to describe to me the rapid prototyping technology Jetstream are using. Using a CAD (computer aided design) file that accurately models any components, full size items like the ally uprights I was admiring can be produced within 24 hours by passing lasers through a trough of plastic or metal powder. For items like the suspension items, what’s produced isn’t strong enough to withstand the forces to which the final item will be subjected but it effectively by-passes the lengthy pattern making process that I was more familiar with.


I’d read about this kind of digitising in The Long Tail and had the idea that cars and bikes could be digitally recorded and then reproduced at some stage when the technology is available. It seems that day is not so far off. I intend to explore this rapidly approaching science fact with another book of mine in which Horsepower Whisperers use the latest technology to design their next mount and almost magic up their road weapons to compete in a virtually continuous Wild Hunt.

Anyway – back to the Jetstream.

It seems that GRP has moved on a bit, too. John described to me the latest resin technology that they’re using. Previously polyester resin was cheap but dimensionally unstable and epoxy resin was stable but expensive. A happy medium has been developed rejoicing in the name of vynal-ester. Sounds like a broad minded girl. Now high quality panels that fit consistently are more readily available.

John and Malcolm also described the CAM (computer aided manufacturing) processes they’ve adopted. This tracks each order and every aspect of production including what each employee is doing on a given day to fulfill that order.

Power is supplied by a 2.0 litre GM Ecotec engine so that's twin cams, 16 valves and 250 bhp with a 6 speed box. The Jetstream chassis features an aluminium monocoque with steel subframes front and rear. It weighs 700kg and can do the 0-60 dash in 5 seconds. A forthcoming option will feature 300 bhp to reduce this time by a second.