The Welsh Wedge

Outside of the UK, the Welsh specialty carmaker Gilbern is largely unknown. However they produced a relatively successful line of GT cars over the course of 15 years from 1959 until 1974. Founded in 1959 by Giles Smith and Bernard Friese, Gilbern was Wales' only car maker. Both the former butcher and the former German Army soldier succeeded in building a car company from nothing and for a time challenged the likes of Jaguar and Rover with the Gilbern Genie V6.

Before the Arab-Israeli war and ensuing Oil Crisis, the company had plans to enhance their range with a more sporting and rakish model. Thus was born the T11 project. It was 1969, and the board of Gilbern Cars held a meeting to plan a small sports car to supplement its bigger Ford V6-engined Invader range of grand tourers. Various ideas were considered, but the decision whether to make the new car front or mid-engine hadn’t been decided yet. 

The Gilbern T11, in a rear quarter view

Roger Collings, then owner of Gilbern Cars, contacted noted car stylist Trevor Fiore and persuaded him to move to Wales to work on 'Project T11'. Fiore had grown quite a reputation, having designed cars like the TVR Trident, Monteverdi Hai, and Elva GT160 and had worked in Milan under Fissore. To sweeten the deal, Collings even providing Fiore, who was living in Spain at the time,  with a cottage in Cardiff to stay in.

Despite the difficulties in collaborating between Collings and Fiore, the eventual design of the T11 became a low-slung mid-engine affair with similarities to be found with other examples of Fiore's work like the aforementioned Hai and the Alpine Renault A310. It was a handsome shape with a long hood and crisply sculpted fenders, featuring a louvered backlight and subtly flared wheel-arches.

The Gilbern T11 rolling model, under construction

The prototype was scheduled to be completed in time for the 1971 Geneva Motor Show with an intent towards a launch in 1972, but fears that impending American safety legislation would demand crash protection stalled the project. Three bodyshells, built by Specialised Mouldings of Croydon, sat undeveloped at the factory after the project was officially abandoned in April 1971.

Not long after, the combination of the UK's VAT tax and the Oil Crisis made Gilbern's production models undesirable, with their thirsty V6 engines and somewhat high price. By 1974 Gilbern shuttered their operations, unable to adjust to these new market realities. The original body shell of the T11 had been cut up to make molds for spares.

However, the parts created for the T11 project were not completely destroyed. One reason for this was found among recently unearthed business study casefiles, commissioned by Gilbern in 1973, in the immediate wake of both VAT imposition and the oil crisis. The studies suggested that the T11 project may have been worth pursuing in future, offering as it did, a new, more modern direction for the firm to take. The possibility of building at least one T11 remained.

The Gilbern T11 tubular steel chassis

In 1970, racecar driver Terry Sanger had designed a tubular spaceframe chassis for the T11 and development work had gotten well underway before the project got cancelled. This chassis was designed to accept drivetrain from an Austin Maxi and featured wishbone suspension, front and rear. Three examples of the chassis were built and one was tested with a disguised Gilbern Genie body at Castle Combe. The dismembered remains of chassis one and three were later found in hedges on Wickhurst Farm in Kent, after an agreement between the owners’ club and the farmer to use his barn for storage ran out. 

In 1976 Gilbern Owners' Club members Mick Davies and Nick Finlayson managed to get their hands on one of the chassis and mounted a spare body provided by Specialised Mouldings to it. The body, as delivered, was flimsy and lacked provisions for doors. It required reinforcement before it would be usable. Still unfinished, it was then purchased by Gilbern Owners’ Club president Martin Ingall for £250, who in turn sold it to Dave Lewis, an RAF electronics engineer stationed at Brize Norton, who stored the remains of the car but left it untouched for 12 years.

The Gilbern T11 chassis mated to one of the spare bodies, as owned by Mr. Lewis

In the year 2000, the T11 came to the attention of Engineer, Egyptologist, and Gilbern enthusiast Gordon Johnston. While on a trip to York, where Johnston was to pick up a Gilbern Invader he'd purchased, the owner sent him off with various Gilbern Owner's club magazines and swag. Among this material was a picture of the unfinished T11 and Johnston was intrigued. Having contacted the Owner's Club Spares Secretary, he discovered that the car was in Dorset being stored by its then current owner, Mr. Lewis, in an incomplete state.

At first, Lewis was not interested in selling, but was eventually persuaded to part with the car and some other spare items that came with it. These included two Austin Maxi engines and a variety of loose parts. However, despite the previous owner's efforts to make the bodyshell suitable for mounting, the fiberglass had become so badly delaminated it started coming apart. 

It was determined that the body would not be usable, but Johnston proceeded to sort out the chassis and drivetrain components anyway. He would solve the bodyshell issue later. Work continued and by 2006, he was back in contact with Lewis. As it turned out, Lewis had pulled molds of the original body and was still in possession of them. Though unwilling to part with them, Johnston managed to get permission to have a body pulled from them with the help of a local Welsh boat builder.

The Gilbern T11, roadworthy once more

By 2009, Johnston had finally gotten the T11 roadworthy. The DVLA in Maidstone was very helpful in getting it registered as was Roger Collings, who supplied a letter of authentication, resulting in an age-related number plate rather than a Q-plate. It was registered within a week, just in time for the 50th anniversary celebrations of Gilbern – and the 40th of the Owners' Club – held at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden Aerodrome in Bedfordshire. It was received with more than a bit of fanfare from Gilbern enthusiasts.

Over the next couple of years, Johnston drove the T11 to various local car shows and events but never took it far from home. Sadly it was nearly written off in a hit and run collision with a truck that dislodged the Maxi drivetrain from the chassis. With such catastrophic damage, he elected to put the car in storage and hoped to revisit it in the future.

For months Johnston searched for a suitable Austin donor but to no avail. Ultimately he decided to go with something more suitable and reliable to a mid-engine application and elected to use the drivetrain from a second generation Toyota MR2. This was a potent combination, but made the car a bit unwieldy with its heft. So, that motor was swapped for a 2ZZ sourced from a Toyota Corolla.

The Gilbern T11, at rear

Back on the road, Gordon Johnston has continued to show the T11 at various events, even winning best in show at Motoring at the Manor (the inaugural Welsh Concours D’Elegance held at Celtic Manor in summer 2019). 

"I'm not really after trophies; I just want to tell people about Gilbern and the T11", says Johnston.

"It's my only car now. I even go down to Aldi in it from time to time to do my shopping, and get some funny looks. I'm restoring an air-cooled VW Beetle now so I'll have something more sensible eventually to go alongside it, but the town centre is within walking distance and I don't like modern cars – I've been fixing them for 52 years, after all".

After decades of false starts and trials, the Welsh Wedge finally came into its own. It remains a tantalizing hint at what Gilbern may have become, if not for the Oil Crisis and winds of change. What a future that could have been. 

Thanks to Gordon Johnston, we can all get a glimpse of it...

Sources:
Drive-my.com
The Museum of Wales
Take to the Road (UK)

The Gilbern T11 at a classic car show

The Gilbern T11 on display

The Gilbern T11, low angle profile

The Gilbern T11, front left quarter view

The Gilbern T11 in profile

The Gilbern T11 at rear

The Gilbern T11, with one of its more conservative siblings

The Gilbern T11 in profile

The Gilbern T11, as found by Mr. Johnston

The Gilbern T11, restoration in progress

The Gilbern T11, during restoration

The Gilbern T11, with Toyota Corolla sourced motor

The Gilbern T11 interior

The Gilbern T11 interior detail