Catalyst Motors one step closer to launching its made-in-Singapore sports car with successful car performance evaluation

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 6 December 2021 – Homegrown automotive manufacturing start-up,
Catalyst Motors, is one step closer to launching its made-in-Singapore sports
car after a round of performance testing for its 1960s classic-style two-door
sports car held several weeks ago.

Artist impression of Centre of Automobile and
Industrial Design

The vehicle
was put to a high-speed test in a circuit at Changi Aviation Park to evaluate
its road-holding, driving and manoeuvring performance – especially in the areas
of structural rigidity and torsional stability.

The firm
completed the built of the rolling chassis in 2019, with its frame assembled
in-house by hand using aircraft and automotive-grade aluminium. Modular in
nature,

Catalyst Motors intended for its rolling chassis design to be easily applied to
other types of cars. In addition to the retro-themed sports car, the
company intends to build a sport utility vehicle (SUV) and supercar in the
future as well.

Founded in
2014 by entrepreneurs Lionel Lau and Anthony Parks, two automotive enthusiasts
who have known each other for 22 years, the duo also enlisted the help of three
engineering instructors from the National University of Singapore (NUS) — Lim
Hong Wee, Hozefa Husainne and Kenneth Neo — who have prior experience in
building cars thanks to their involvement in NUS’ Formula Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE) race car project.

Since the
Covid-19 pandemic broke out, plans for the fully private-funded sports car have
been slightly derailed, with a shortage of manpower in the automobile manufacturing
industry and factories. From the onset, Catalyst Motors envisioned a project
team complete with local talent and embarked on a Singaporean-strong plan,
curating a bevy of local partners to work with. Catalyst Motors aim to produce
a car model that offers personal transportation in both neo-classic and
utilitarian forms and is functional with modern personalised connectivity and
individual styles and needs, offering owners the opportunity to determine various
elements of their vehicle.

Strategic
Collaborators

Sealing an exclusive partnership with local timepiece label Lytt Labs, whose watch designs will be the inspiration of the vehicle’s dashboard, expect to see elements such as the odometer resembling the dial of Lytt Labs’ signature Inception V1.0 watch.

Helmed by Edwin Seah, an international entrepreneur with a
penchant for cars and watches; who also owns Lytt Labs, Global Dynamics, based
in China, will be assisting in sourcing suppliers and logistics for Catalyst
Motor’s operations.

An
industrial designer with a strong interest and fresh ideas for car designs,
Song Wei Teo graduated from Automotive Design at Coventry University, United
Kingdom.

Song Wei
contributes to Catalyst Motor’s design processes with his belief that a car’s
design must be lightweight, employing the practical use of design to enable
manufacturing methods and materials to fit form and function – and making them
work seamlessly.

Meisterform’
Bryan Wong and Jake Lin specialises in forged wheels manufacturing and lends
their expertise to Catalyst Motor’s kinetic and suspension development with
their engineering experience in motion symmetry, kinetics and travel-surface
telemetry, to facilitate the crucial road-going properties of the vehicles.

Aaron Koh, concert producer, sound specialist and owner of
Sound Image Productions helms Catalyst Motor’s car cabin acoustics and sound
design, customising the most optimum sound system in each vehicle.

An industry veteran with over 25 years of experience and branches in Vietnam and Japan, Robson Design, founded by Tommy Wong, specialises in carbon fibre and interiors for automotive parts and will be supporting Catalyst Motors with the fitting-out of its bespoke vehicles, providing leather, interior finishing and fabrication needs.

In Catalyst Motor’s planned intelligent and future-ready
production design, Vincent Wong of HHT Automation will consult on the company’s
high-tech manufacturing needs through robotics and automation and play an
important role for the Centre of Automobile and Industrial Design upon its
completion. Production and
manufacturing processes will be geared up to suit the fast-changing and
evolving engineering landscape of today.

Lionel Lau
shares that “durability, manufacturability and ease of assembly when designing
a commercial roadworthy car is of utmost importance. We understand the
challenges we are going to face and we are prepared to meet them head on as we
are confident of the outcome of our project. We are pleased to assemble a truly
Singaporean team and with the launch of our vehicle, we hope to be a testament
that there’s creative talent everywhere in Singapore, in so many different
design and manufacturing disciplines.”

The
completed rolling prototype chassis – the integral form of the vehicle’s
engineering base, will be sent to Britain in late 2021, to be certified and
validated for the next step of its manufacturing progress.

Currently
in the pipeline, Catalyst Motors, together with local architects and
fabricators, is also working on the development of an automobile focused design
and industry outreach facility, the Centre of Automobile and Industrial
Design (CAID) by 2023, to promote academic and technical training, co-learning
as well as to garner more interest and cultivate talents in the local automotive
scene among youths.

#CatalystMotors