Cracking the code

Posted by John Mellberg May 29, 2021

Cracking the code

The Stevens Cipher was a handsome roadster, made in the UK, that distilled much of what made classic British sportscars great into a modern package. It was everything one might conjure when thinking of the Mazda MX5 Miata, but almost a decade earlier. It was a brilliant design that immediately caught the attention of the motoring press.

The Cipher was created by Tony Stevens, a mechanical engineer by profession and veteran of the UK auto industry. In the 1960's Stevens worked for the Rootes Group, just as the M1 Motorway had opened and carmakers were adapting to the challenges this new mode of travel presented. Much of his work focused on the wear incurred by engine components under sustained speed, lubrication problems, thermal management, and brake fade. Later he would work on the Hillman Hunter and helped set up Rootes' first ever "Product Planning" department. His career also took him to Triplex, makers of automotive glass products, but his tenure there was short.

The Stevens Cipher making its debut at the Birmingham International Motor Show, 1980

As Stevens would say "Back in the early 70’s I was persuaded to stop making other people rich by creating vehicles for them and start doing it for myself". He opened an independent design business, producing a line of replica 1920's styled delivery vans based on Ford mechanicals, designing a variety of cars, box trailers, furniture, and even exhibition stands per customer specifications. The Avon-Stevens Jaguar drophead was among his more notable projects. Another was the retro styled Sienna roadster that was an attempt at merging vintage style with modern practicality.

However, his ultimate goal was to build "The British Sportscar for the 1980's". The aim was a combination of traditional roadster virtues with modern standards of ergonomics, space, ease of use, and fuel efficiency. His response to this design brief would become the Cipher.

The Stevens Cipher - engine bay

The car would utilize mechanicals from the Reliant Kitten including a variant of its ladder frame, lengthened and lowered to accommodate a more sporting seating position. The mountings for the Reliant motor were also moved 6 inches rearward and nearly 4 inches lower in the structure. This modified chassis would also add a triangulated steel frame to support the doors and provide mounting points for the unstressed fiberglass body panels. While contrary to the trend followed by its peers, which was to employ a GRP monocoque, Stevens felt that the Cipher's method of construction would keep repair costs down in the event of external damage. Panels were easily removed for replacement on the Cipher.

The Stevens Cipher chassis

The styling of the car presents a stout, cleanly sculpted wedge, bisected horizontally by a 'belt-line' that integrates with bumpers and trim at both ends, and features recessed headlights and a deep chin spoiler at the front. The design has definite overtones of the original Lotus Elan, from certain angles. It was strictly a convertible in its original form and was roughly the size of the MG Midget, merely longer and narrower by a few inches.

In stock form, the Cipher's drivetrain wasn't going to set the world ablaze but did offer a respectable 32lbs/1bhp power to weight ratio. The Reliant Kitten motor was a 40bhp, 848cc, unit with an alloy engine block and head, pushrod operated overhead valves, an SU side-draft carburetor, and a 6000rpm redline. The Cipher's larger wheel and tire fitment dictated changes to the donor car's transmission ratios, shortening them to provide a figure of 17mph/1000rpm which Stevens considered "ideal". While modest, this setup offered spritely performance in a car that weighed less than 1300lbs. The car also boasted an impressive 50mpg over a mixed test course of highway and urban driving.

The Stevens Cipher, rear quarter view

Usability and ergonomics were a major consideration in the design of the passenger cabin. The car's long doors open to present an interior with plenty of legroom, an asymmetrical arrangement of gauges under a shroud that reduces glare, and controls that fall close to hand which accommodates drivers of varied stature to the greatest extent possible within the confines of the package. The seats in the prototype cars offered a wide range of adjustment and the interior also featured enough space behind them for large overnight bags.

The Cipher was revealed at the 1980 Birmingham International Motor Show. It got rave reviews from all the press, and dealers committed themselves from all over the country and abroad. Stevens had a group of financiers that provided a limited amount of capital to work with. The project was described and marketed as a "minimum investment product, capable of being built in small or large volume, depending on demand". Facilities were reportedly set up in Coventry to produce up to "a dozen cars a week". However it was not to be.

The Lada Samara based Stevens Cipher Prototype

The Cipher's original backers bowed out of the endeavor and Stevens spent the next 15 years flirting with other manufacturers in an effort to built the car. The project may have come closest to production via a partnership with Russian automaker Lada in the 1990's after the fall of the "Iron Curtain". A small number of prototypes were produced in 1990, with revised chassis and bodywork, based on Lada Samara mechanicals in a factory at Stratford upon Avon.

The last major effort to produce the Cipher involved a partnership with the Malaysian maker Proton, who would eventually buy Lotus and briefly own Lamborghini (as well as Vector/Avtech). This iteration of the car featured a Proton/Mitsubishi sourced drivetrain and was front-wheel drive. In this configuration, it had the potential to offer a huge increase in performance over previous Ciphers. A particularly handsome and compelling coupe version was produced as a result but this project met the same fate as the others.

The Proton powered Stevens Cipher Coupe

In the end, 7 original Cipher prototypes were produced along with an unbuilt "kit" version which, as of 2019, is said to be in the process of assembly. At least one example of the Lada powered car was made and survives. The original prototypes of the Proton powered roadsters were scrapped but Tony Stevens still owns the prototype coupe, which is apparently available for purchase.

The Cipher was a perfectly viable, well designed, and competently engineered product that just couldn't find its way to market. It's hard to say exactly why it didn't succeed, but the appearance of an arguably better product in the same vein, made at an affordable price by Mazda, less than a decade after the Cipher's initial debut certainly didn't help. Their take on the "Classic British Roadster" was shown in concept form in the mid 80's and, from its 1989 production release onward, the Miata would absolutely dominate the segment world wide. It made short work of rendering its competition redundant in much the same manner as Datsun's 240z did a few decades earlier. Thus the Cipher's fate was sealed.

While the Cipher never got its day in the sun, it deserves to be remembered as a valiant effort and proof that "Making cars is hard". It remains a testament to the skills and talent of Tony Stevens.

Sources:
Car Magazine (UK) Issue: October, 1980, pg. 58

The Stevens Cipher website