Silvermine was founded by Frank van Rouendal from the Netherlands. In everyday life he is owner/director of Ferron engineering, a company active in industry and shipbuilding, and engaged in engineering and project management. In meantime he has worked many years to realize his dream: to design and build his own racing/sports car.

Frank van Rouendal: “My passion for race cars was born from a real love for all things mechanical, that started already when I was a young boy. Pure mechanical solutions and beautiful technical creations have always attracted me. When studying mechanical engineering I had aspirations to become a race driver. Having no money, I started to make sketches of the racing sports car that would fit my ambitions. Over many years, this grew into the project to build a car to my own design.”

DESIGN

The design and execution of the Silvermine 11SR is based on racecar technology. Parts and components were sourced from racecar suppliers as much as possible.

COMPONENTS

Many parts were made to Silvermine’s own design, e.g. the complete chassis and suspension. Many bespoke parts were custom made or adapted by the suppliers from one of their standard products, e.g. the brake discs, the gearbox internals, the magnesium wheels, and the steering system.

PERFECT MECHANICAL GRIP

The Silvermine 11SR does not attempt to be a supercar, nor to be the fastest all-out racecar. It aims to be a well-balanced car with perfect mechanical grip (as opposed to aerodynamic grip) that gives the driver satisfaction when being driven fast, has a beautiful appearance inside and externally, and shows its technical exclusivity.

PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES

The car was designed with the condition to select production techniques that can be executed by a small company. It would be very easy to sub-contract a super-design and super-production, using super-materials (provided that you have a super-budget), but then the product would not be Silvermine’s own creation any more.