Building a Smyth G3F sports car from a Jetta in 10 steps:
1. Remove the engine/trans of the 1999-2004 Jetta/Golf 4 door.
2. Remove the top, rear and front sheet metal of the Jetta/Golf
3. Bolt on the new Smyth frame front and rear for strength
4. Keep the stock dash and stock front crash protection
5. Bolt on a duplicate front suspension in the rear
6. Re-install the engine/trans combo in the rear
7. Install the Smyth Laser cut aluminum inner panels
8. Install the new Smyth sports car body
9. Paint or vinyl wrap the car
10. Enjoy the light mid engined sports car experience in half the time of a regular kit car
Never before has a kit car allowed you to enjoy the durability and safety of a production car in a lightweight performance package. We have spent 4 years making sure that almost all of the factory systems in the stock VW are able to be used in the Smyth G3F sports car kit. The list below is a summary of the conveniences and safety that we all have grown used to in our daily car life...these are the features that we kept from the Jetta/Golf:
Air Conditioning
factory ergonomic switches and controls
Air bags
Heater/defroster
factory windows
soft crash tested dash materials
Stereo system
rear window defrost
heated seats
cruise control
reclining and sliding seats
interval wipers
fuel injection
anti lock brakes
brake wear sensors
glove compartment
center console
cup holders
Reliable factory designed suspension components
After keeping the good stuff that is so very hard to have in a home built car we combined them with the kind of race car engineering that cars designed by Mark Smith usually have. Performance tuned coil over adjustable ride height struts are mounted to his signature tube/aluminum skinned framework he has been shipping for 20 years. Though we keep the floorpan of the jetta for safety and convenience, you will see the structural reinforcements in the design as you slide over the side braces next to the door/seat area. Every part of the Smyth kit is designed to maximize the performance potential of the new 2500 lb mid engined layout while keeping an excellent level of dependability.
The aftermarket is there for you whichever engine you choose from wild VR6 turbo mills with 400 plus horsepower to the ever popular 1.8T VW audi powerplant that routinely is hopped up to 300 horse and beyond. The cult powerplant of choice is the torque filled TDI engine with its wide range of chipped/ injected tunes that started this whole project.
So have fun, stop spending 50 grand plus on your car projects....and enjoy the fun of driving your hot rod all the time instead of just looking at it in the garage.