Piper Cars
Piper Cars was a British manufacturer of sports cars (a subsidiary of the engine tuning parts manufacturer of the same name). Initially, the company was based in Hayes (London) , then in Kent , with production from 1968 in Wokingham (Berkshire) and from 1973 in South Willingham .
description
The first Piper GT , the Tony Hilder had designed, was first on the Racing Car Show shown in January 1967, and then went as a body-chassis unit for kit cars in production. The front-engined, rear-wheel drive chassis had a front suspension from the Triumph Herald and a rear axle from Ford . Various engines could be installed at the customer's choice. Problems with the first vehicles delayed further production until the following year. At that time, a much improved version was introduced under the name Piper GTT .
At the same time, the GTR, a Group 6 sports car with a mid-engined engine, but only a few specimens existed before production ended in late 1969 due to the death of owner Brian Sherwood .
Two employees, Bill Atkinson and Tony Walker , founded the successor company Emmbrook Engineering and discontinued the racing activities . They continued the production of the road vehicles, which continued to be marketed as Piper . They focused on improving road vehicles. 1971 resulted in the Piper P2 with many improvements to the chassis, body and interior. This model remained in production until the mid-1970s. Estimates of the total number of all Piper vehicles range from 80 (Piper Sports to Racing Car Club) to just over 100.
literature
- Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Piper (I).