Gordon-Keeble

Gordon Keeble
Overview
Manufacturer Gordon Keeble
Production 1964–1967
100 produced[1]
Designer Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone
Body and chassis
Class Grand tourer
Body style 2-door saloon
Layout Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Powertrain
Engine 5.4 Chevrolet 327 V8[2]
Transmission 4-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase 102 in (2,591 mm)[3]
Length 184 in (4,674 mm)[3]
Width 68 in (1,727 mm)[3]

Gordon-Keeble was a British car marque, made first in Slough, then Eastleigh, and finally in Southampton (all in England), between 1964 and 1967.[1] The marque's badge was unusual in featuring a tortoise — a pet tortoise walked into the frame of an inaugural photo-shoot, taken in the grounds of the makers. Because of the irony (the slowness of tortoises) the animal was chosen as the emblem.

The Gordon-Keeble came about when John Gordon, formerly of the struggling Peerless company, and Jim Keeble got together in 1959 to make the Gordon GT car, initially by fitting a Chevrolet Corvette V8 engine, into a chassis by Peerless, for a USAF pilot named Nielsen.[1] Impressed with the concept, a 4.6 litre Chevrolet (283 c.i.) V8 was fitted into a specially designed square-tube steel spaceframe chassis, with independent front suspension and all-round disc brakes.[1] The complete chassis was then taken to Turin, Italy, where a body made of steel panels [1] designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro was built by Bertone. The car's four five-inch headlights were in the rare, slightly angled "Chinese eye" arrangement also used by a few other European marques, generally for high-speed cars such as Lagonda Rapide, Lancia Flaminia and Triumphs, as well as Rolls-Royce. The interior had an old luxury jet feel, with white on black gauges, toggle switches, and quilted aircraft PVC.[2]

Front ¾ view

The car appeared on the Bertone stand in March 1960, branded simply as a Gordon, at the Geneva Motor Show. At that time problems with component deliveries had delayed construction of the prototype, which had accordingly been built at breakneck speed by Bertone in precisely 27 days.[4] After extensive road testing the car was shipped to Detroit and shown to Chevrolet management, who agreed to supply Corvette engines and gearboxes for a production run of the car.

The car was readied for production with some alterations, the main ones being a larger 5.4-litre (327 c.i.) 300 hp (224 kW; 304 PS)[2] Chevrolet V8 engine and a change from steel to a glass fibre body made by Williams & Pritchard Limited.[5] Problems with suppliers occurred and before many cars were made the money ran out and the company went into liquidation. About 90 cars had been sold at what turned out to be an unrealistic price of £2798. Each car had two petrol tanks.[2]

Rear view

In 1965 the company was bought by Harold Smith and Geoffrey West and was re-registered as Keeble Cars Ltd. Production resumed, but only for a short time, the last car of the main manufacturing run being made in 1966. A final example was actually produced in 1967 from spares, bringing the total made to exactly 100. The Gordon-Keeble Owners' Club claim that over 90 examples still exist.

An attempt was made to restart production in 1968 when the rights to the car were bought by an American, John de Bruyne, but this came to nothing, although two cars badged as De Bruynes were shown at that year's New York Motor Show along with a new mid-engined coupé.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Giles, Charles; Knott, Ernie (1994). The Gordon-Keeble—a British supercar of the 1960s. Transport Bookman Publications. ISBN 0 85184 052 3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Willson, Quentin (1995). The Ultimate Classic Car Book. DK Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-7894-0159-2.
  3. 1 2 3 Culshaw; Horrobin (1974). Complete Catalogue of British Cars. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-16689-2.
  4. ↑ Ostmann, Bernd (18 October 2000). "Rueckblick: Up and away". Auto, Motor und Sport. 2000 Heft 22: 270.
  5. ↑ Lawrence, Mike (1991). A to Z of Sportscars, 1945–1990. Devon (England): Bayview Books. ISBN 1-870979-81-8.
  6. ↑ Georgano (editor), N; Horrobin (2000). Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. London: Stationery Office. ISBN 1579582931.
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