The Stas's glow-plug engines were made in Russia in the early 1990's as a short development series leading up to the release of the Zeus 42 and 61 glow-plug models. Both side exhaust (SE) and rear exhaust (RE) variants were produced. 

The engines had their origin in 1991 when Australian resident Ilya Leydman visited Russia as the former Soviet Union was in the process of fragmenting and business opportunities were opening up. In partnership with several Russian businessmen, Leydman purchased the machinery that had previously been used to make the well-known Marz 2.5 cc diesel. Using this equipment, they produced around 200 examples of the Stas's 42 SE model and around 50 examples of the RE variant.

The engines were named for the son of the Russian plant manager, who was himself named Stas. The apostrophe in the engines' name is not a typo - the engines themselves confirm this. The reason for the inclusion of this apostrophe is not clear.

Having used the Stas's series to test a number of design and manufacturing concepts, the partners commenced production of the Zeus models which had been their targets all along. Most of these were 61's, although some 42's were also manufactured, including a small number of Zeus 42 RE units. These engines were reportedly quite well made and performed in a fully satisfactory manner.

A review and test of the Stas's 42 RE model by Brian Hampton of Sceptre Flight may be found elsewhere on this website.