Cornwall gets sporty

Sports car production is coming to Redruth in Cornwall with the launch of a new business that will create at least 50 jobs.

Jetstream Sportscars is setting up a new factory from where it hopes to produce 50 high performance sports cars in its first year, rising to 300 in five years.

The company, formed by Cornwall-based directors Malcolm Faiers and John Donnelly - both motor industry veterans in the UK and abroad - is being supported with a £265,000 investment from the South West of England Regional Development Agency (RDA).

Finance Director Andy Goodman said that Jetstream Sportscars has signed a lease with Percy Williams Builders for a 14,000 sq ft unit on the Treleigh Industrial Estate in Redruth and expects to start production in January.

The Jetstream SC will be a new road legal sports car with a mid-mounted supercharged Ecotec engine developed by GM, an aluminium chassis and a composite body.

The company is also looking at developing a model that runs on bioethanol and has a number of environmentally-friendly features at its production unit.

Designed by former Ford Europe design guru Brian Rossi, the rear wheel drive car will be available in 205, 250 and 300 brake horsepower models with prices ranging from £27,000 to £35,000.

Local companies already lined up to supply Jetstream include Composite Integration of Saltash; Metal Surgery in Penryn; Hickley Valtone in St Columb and Goodridge Racing in Exeter.

Jetstream has already forged strong links with the Automotive Engineering department at Cornwall College Camborne, where it has been able to use the college's £5m workshops to help build its first production prototype.