Gilbern

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Gilbern Sports Cars (Components) Ltd.
legal form Ltd.
founding 1959
resolution April 1973
Reason for dissolution insolvency
Seat Pontypridd in Glamorgan ( Wales )
management Mike Leather
Branch Automotive industry

Gilbern GT
Gilbern GT
Gilbern genius
Gilbern Invader
Gilbern T11

Brand cars Gilbern were in Llantwit Fardre , Pontypridd in Glamorgan ( Wales ) produced from 1959 to 1973.

description

The Gilbern Sports Cars (Components) Ltd. was founded by Giles Smith , a butcher, and Bernhard Friese , a German engineer with experience in making fiberglass parts , and was one of the few car manufacturers in Wales. Friese had built a prototype for himself and the two partners used it as the basis for the first Gilbern automobile. The first company building was a small workshop in Church Village (Pontypridd), but when production began, the company moved to new buildings on Red Ash Colliery in the Llantwit Fardre district. At first the cars were only available as kits, later there were also complete cars.

In 1968, after a search for donors, Gilbern was bought by Ace Capital Holdings Ltd. bought, whose main business was the production of slot machines. After the acquisition, Giles Smith left the company and was replaced by directors Mike Leather and Maurice Collins . In 1970 the entertainment company Mecca Ltd. bought Ace and sold Gilbern to Maurice Collins, who sold the company to Mike Leather in 1972.

The cars were very expensive for the time and their price rose due to the introduction of VAT, including on kits, so that production had to be stopped in 1973.

The company name Gilbern is a combination of the first three letters of the name of the company founder Gil es Smith and the first four letters of the name of the company founder Bern ard Friese.

vehicles

Gilbern GT

The Coupé Gilbern GT was the manufacturer's first model. At the same time it was the smallest and least motorized model. For driving attended four-cylinder engines with up to 1,800 cc engine capacity . 280 vehicles were built between 1959 and 1967.

Gilbern genius

The Coupé Gilbern Genie was bigger and more powerful than the first model. A V6 engine with either 2500 cm³ or 3000 cm³ displacement provided the drive. 197 vehicles were built between 1966 and 1969. The successor was the Gilbern Invader .

Gilbern Invader

The Gilbern Invader appeared in July 1969 as the successor to the Gilbern Genie. A V6 engine from Ford with a displacement of 3000 cm³ propelled the vehicle. Initially there was only one coupé on offer. In 1970 a shooting brake added to the range. A total of 603 vehicles were built until production was discontinued in 1973.

Gilbern T11

This model was created as a one-off in 1970. In 1971 it was to be exhibited at the Geneva Motor Show . A four-cylinder engine from the Austin Maxi drove the two-seater coupé . The vehicle still exists.

literature

Web links

Commons : Gilbern  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b George Nicholas Georgano (Ed.): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile . Volume 2: G-O . Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , pp. 621-622 (English).
  2. ^ Graham Robson : AZ British Cars 1945-1980 . Herridge & Sons, Devon 2006, ISBN 0-9541063-9-3 .
  3. ↑ a b Michael Sedgwick , Mark Gillies , Jon Pressnell : AZ of cars 1945-1970 . Bay View Books, 1993, ISBN 1-870979-39-7 .