Survival rate of rare car impressive
Only 100 examples of Gordon-Keeble built
There are three cars I would like to own before my time is up: the Welshbuilt Gilbern GT1800, a Gordon-Keeble and — most of all — I would like my 1962 Alvis TD 21 DHC back.
The Gordon-Keeble story began in 1959, when John Gordon, who was involved with the manufacturing of the struggling Peerless/Warwick Car Co., met Jim Keeble, an engineer and racing driver familiar with American V8 engines. At the time, Keeble was preparing a Corvette race car for USAF pilot Rick Neilson.
Gordon and Keeble formed a partnership and decided to fit a 215-cubic-inch Buick V8 into a Peerless chassis. Gordon designed a new body with slightly angled twinheadlights and called it the Gordon GT. This would be aimed at the Aston Martin, Jensen and Facel Vega clientele.
The chassis was made with a oneinch square-tube space frame, with a De Dion rear axle and four-wheel disc brakes. The chassis was finished in early 1960 and transported to Italy for the coach builder Bertone to fit the Giorgetto Giugiarostyled aluminum body.
By the time the car was ready for production, the name had appropriately been changed to Gordon-Keeble. Gordon had taken the prototype to Detroit for Chevrolet president Ed Cole and engineer Zora Duntov to test drive.
They were so impressed with the car they agreed to supply the 327-cubic-inch Corvette engine, gearbox and the full support of the GM dealership network in the U.S. to distribute the cars.
The aluminum body was replaced with a fibreglass body, which was much cheaper to produce and could be built in England by Williams and Pritchard, one of the foremost specialist fibreglass firms.
The entire project collapsed after a mere 90 cars had been built. And all because the steering-box supplier, Adwest, suffered a lengthy labour dispute resulting in unfinished cars sitting idle. The entire workforce was laid off unpaid and GordonKeeble went into receivership.
The survival rate of this collectible car is very impressive. With a mere 100 examples being built between 1963 and 1966, the 90 per cent worldwide survival rate is quite remarkable.