Vintage Thing No.123 - Gilbern T11

If anyone asks me about a car or a bike or any sort of Vintage Thing (old or new) that I don't know, I automatically want to know more. When Gordon Johnston got in touch about his Gilbern T11 he had my full attention. (Photo : Gordon Johnston)

When I started the Vintage Thing series on Engine Punk I intended to feature only those VTs that had physically crossed my path and been subject to the old Mk1 eyeball. 

But as soon as I saw photos of Gordon's car I was hooked and had to know more.

Gordon's opening gambit was that he found Engine Punk interesting but couldn't see anything on Gilberns.  

I have a long standing interest in Gilberns. They were famous for being made in Wales and were robust sporting coupes that could seat almost four people at a pinch. Most of the ones I came across were powered by Ford's redoubtable Essex V6 and they had simple lines that avoided many of the awkward angles from which contemporary low production cars suffered during the sensational seventies.

Many years ago a rather forlorn Invader appeared in a local scrapyard so I contacted the owner's club and made enquiries at the yard about saving it but they laughed in my face and put a forklift blade through the door and carried it off to be crushed. Needless to say that is not a yard I patronise anymore, although (inexplicably) they are still in business.

Ever since, a Gilbern has appealed but not to the extent of actually getting one - that was the closest so far. 

Gordon's unique Gilbern T11 is 38 inches high. (Photo : Gordon Johnston)

Anyway, back to Gordon's car.

"Would his T11 prototype be suitable material as a Vintage Thing?" he asked.

You betcha! I'd never heard of it and the photo he attached showed a car that resembled no Gilbern I knew.

So instead of eyeballing the car and firing questions at the owner face to face, I had to do it remotely.

Trevor Fiore did a great job with the styling of this car (Photo : Gordon Johnston)

Gordon went on to explain that this car was a prototype begun by Gilbern in 1969. It has a square section tubular chassis with wishbones at the front that use TR6 uprights and discs. |At the rear are upper and lower wishbones with tie rods top and bottom, which are all adjustable complete with AVO coil overs. 

Although not now thought of as a performance unit, the Maxi engine and gearbox was also used. Gilbern chose a 1500cc unit, albeit one tuned bu Downton. In testing at Castle Combe with a cut down Gilbern Genie bodyshell held onto the chassis by G-clamps, the car was clocked at 120 mph.

Development occurred in secrecy at the Ace slot machine factory, which was also owned by the controlling Collings family at the time, and Gordon says whoever designed the chassis knew what he was doing - the wishbones incorporate anti-squat and anti-dive technology and the car sticks to the road like glue. 

When I heard that the car used a Maxi drivetrain I recalled that AC were also planning to use it for the Diablo, which ultimately became the AC 3000ME with Ford Essex V6 power after a protracted development period. i seem to recall a concept drawing of a prototype MG that would also have been rear engined using the Maxi motor and box. Presumably, Gilbern got to hear of these projects and wanted their own to remain a secret.

Not a great image but this is Trevor Fiore and Jimmy English working on the 1/5th scale model of the T11 (Photo : Gordon Johnston)

To style the bodywork, Gilbern called in Trevor Fiore who is better known for his work on the Trident and Monteverdi 450 Hai (which has a passing resemblance to the Gilbern T11) With the help of Jimmy English, Fiore produced a 1/5th scale model from which Specialised Mouldings made a buck for moulding full-size pre-production moulds.

The result was a car that was 16ft long, 5 ft 8ins wide and 38ins high (that's lower than a Ford GT40 then - by some 5%!). Gordon's road legal car has 4 inches of ground clearance.

Not sure where I got this from but years ago I downloaded this from the net. It's the T11 in the most advanced state that the factory could manage.

Ultimately, Gilbern bottled out of production after £70,000 had been spent developing the T11. As Gordon pointed out, "A house back then cost 5 grand." The car passed into obscurity until Gordon bought it in 2000.

He then embarked on a 9 year project that completed the development of this unique car. He started off with the chassis carrying a sick 1750 Maxi engine and the Downton tuned 1500 engine in a series of boxes.  

This what Gordon had to begin with. (Photo : Gordon Johnston)

The shell was literally that with no dash or seats and only the windows cut out. The door shutlines were only hinted at in the moulding. Following a lucky telephone conversation, Gordon tracked down the production moulds and his shell is the only one pulled from them. The pre-production shell was obviously just a means to getting the surface shape right and was full of filler and yet delaminating.

Somebody had tried to make something of the T11 over the years for it came with a purpose made screen produced by Tyneside Glass. It also had the original R A Pearce Magma 13" wheels, which were designe dfor formula ford use and very light. Unfortunately two of them were damaged so Gordon chose 14" Cobra Super Slots, which are in keeping with the period and offer greater tyre choice.

Gordon rebuilt the Maxi 1500cc engine  and used the Gilbern designed gear linkage, which was still a bit vague as were most early Maxis. The rear radiator sucked in air from the vents behind the doors and had a massive electric fan but still ran a little hot for Gordon's liking.

Gordon got the car on the road with Gilbern Club's help in 2009 but later that year disaster struck and he was pushed into the barrier on the motorway by a LHD TIR truck. The well made bodyshell sprang back into shape with barely a scratch but both rear arms were broken and the impact snapped the diff off the gearbox. 

As performance Maxi bits are quite hard to come by, Gordon elected to upgrade the powerplant with one from a Toyota MR2, which didn't involve altering the chassis. He still used the Maxi hubs but the CV joints are less their internals with hybrid driveshafts incorporate Toyota and VW Golf parts. The engine is not standard and uses throttle bodies.

The revised gear linkage and extra performance have made the driving experience much better but the heavier powerplant has upset the balance of the car. Gordon, who served an apprenticeship on Hillman Imps, has adopted tyre pressures of 18psi front and 30psi rear, which has improved matters but he feels that further development on the chassis could restore the balance. If anyone has any advice, I'll gladly pass it on.

After exchanging e-mails with Gordon, I thought I would consult Peter Filby's book Specialist Sports Cars. The T11 is featured (along with many other interesting motor cars) and Filby reckoned that the development costs of the T11 seriously weakened the financial health of the company. He also stated that the car was sold to the Gilbern Owners' Club, which hoped to complete the car and produce replicas. 

Gordon is planning a full programme of events with this car including Crystal Palace and possibly Wiscombe Park so I might get to see it for real later.

I might even try to get in it if my extreme yoga course works out...

And so the sun sets on another what might have been from the late Great British motor industry... (Photo : Gordon Johnston)