The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
One Welsh rarebit well worth toasting
The car industry has largely been divided these days.
You have the big, volume car makers that churn out zillions of inexpensive, safe if dull family cars and the small, niche car makers who buy engines, drivelines and other components from the big boys and create stunning head-turners to enchant the petrolheads.
With rare exceptions, such specialist firms rarely last long. With the enduring exception of Morgan, few of these low-volume marques survive longer than a decade.
That is not to decry their cars, as often they are very good, even exceptional.
However, the maths and logistics of small-volume car production tilt the scales against long-term survival.
Take Gilbern for instance, one of the few cars made in Wales before Aston Martin said they would move there.
Founded near Pontypridd in 1959 by butcher Giles Smith and German engineer Bernhard Friese, (Gilbern combines their first-name syllables), production soon moved to a nearby disused colliery.
Their sporty fibreglass coupes initially sold as kits, as they faced lower taxes than complete cars. The buyer got an engine-chassis unit, body and trim and built the beast himself in a garage or backyard.
It seems Gilbern used whatever main components were available. Over the years, engines and gearboxes from Austin, MG and Ford were used, as well as axles and suspensions from them and others.
Nearly all Gilberns were lowslung two-door coupes with various body styles.
In 1968, the firm was bought by Ace Capital Holdings, who made slot machines, who in turn were acquired by (hold on to your hats) Mecca. Giles Smith left and Maurice Collins and Mike Leather became joint MDs, who both in turn bought the car firm.
In the early 1970s, the low tax on kit cars was scrapped, a nearfatal blow. For a time Gilbern assembled all cars in the factory but that hiked prices and the early 1970s were a low point for the car industry generally.
Gilbern folded in 1973, its swansong car the futuristic Ferrari-esque T11.
Being fibreglass-bodied, Gilberns did not rust and countless cars survive today. There is a thriving owners’ club which holds regular gatherings and publishes a monthly club magazine with the rather cheesy title Welsh Rarebit.