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The Sabre Sprint is creation of Sabre Cars, formed in 1984 in Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne. The creation of Sabre Cars by Steven Crabtree came after years of producing fibreglass items (canoes, boats, sunbeds) and fibreglass car parts to other kit car brands. Steven decided it was time to design and create his own car. He designed and engineer the Sabre Sprint, produced between 1984 and 1986. Its boxy features resemble that of an Escort MK3 or a Talbot Sunbeam.
Approx 110 cars were produced by Sabre Cars.
Created from an all fibreglass monocoque body reinforced with kevlar and carbon fibre at the mountings for extra strength. It used a classic mini front subframe and A-Series engine at the front, whilst at the rear a galvanised beam axle was used with classic mini radius arms and coilover suspension. The car had four seats and a boot area which could be accessed by tilting the rear seats.
The first design of the Sabre Sprint featured square headlights and an opening glass rear hatch.
Introduced only a year after the MK1. The front was changed to twin round headlights and a redesigned rear featured a full opening hatch.
Hybrids of the MK1 and MK2 were created during the change over period at Sabre Cars. These cars feature the twin round headlight front but with the MK1 style opening glass hatch.
The sabre sprint vanished in 1986, after approx 110 cars had been built. Some of them made it into motorsport, rallying, hill climbing and such due to the lightweight but strong design.
The Sabre moulds ended up the property of a nearby company. The company later produced the FRA Mini based on the monocoque floor pan of the Sabre moulds. The FRA Minis have the same shortened floorpan as the sabre sprint.