A Brief History of Gilbern Cars Ltd

Left: Component form Genies being delivered.
On the front the plywood delivery wheels are clearly visible, which along with the rear support a frame with manoeuvring casters wheels had to be returned after assembly.

This is where one must differentiate between a kit car and a component car, the Gilbern was always a component car. This derogatory term of kit car tends to bring to mind a car built from second hand bits acquired from a scrap yard. The Gilbern was supplied almost finished, it was painted, wired and trimmed. The requirement by the owner was to fit, the engine and gearbox, back axle, wheels, exhaust system and various minor trim components. Usually this task could be completed in a weekend, although it took some six weeks! All the components were new and under warranty by whichever manufacturer they came from.

In the early years one of Gilberns problems was that they would have to buy engine and gearboxes over the counter from local dealers, as the quantities were so small they were unable to obtain trade discounts.

The original cars were based around Austin A35 mechanical components all had steel wheels and leaf springs at the rear, while a variety of engines were offered, either supercharged or the Coventry Climax. In 1961 a site was purchased with a loan of £700 from Giles father. This had formerly been the site of the Red Ash Colliery but had not operated since 1921, just a mile from Church Village next to Llantwit Fardre railway station. A collection of second hand pre fabs were acquired which Giles and Bernard then erected. Only part of the site was used by Gilbern with other units being rented out, most notably to Pats Pickles. During 1961-62 cars were built at the rate of about 1 a month with about 5 people in total working at the factory, both Giles and Bernard being heavily involved in the actual building of the cars. Changes to the GT were gradually made introducing wire wheels and trailing arm suspension at the rear. As time past the cars became more standardised firstly with the MGA engine and then the MGB, becoming the Gilbern GT1800. Some of the sales were to come through Peter Cottrell's racing acquaintances and the car was exhibited at the Racing Car Show for the first time in January 1961 and would continue to do so until they were accepted by the SMMT in 1965 when they were then able to have a stand at the London Motor Show. Staff and numbers of cars built were gradually increased until they were building one a week with 20 staff. Attempts were made to export cars during this period, a batch of 3-4 LHD GTs were exported to the USA, but mostly the business was concentrated on the home market. 
 

In April 1968 the company was taken over by the ACE group, not to be confused with the London dealers of the same name who handled Gilberns. ACE was run by the Collins family and consisted of a number of different concerns, most well known being the one arm bandit slot machines. The son, Roger Collins, was a great car enthusiast and had a considerable collection of vintage cars. He was aware of Gilbern as the family and the ACE company were based close to the factory.

Giles and Bernard stayed on as directors but Giles left soon after. Bernard was to continue for another year with the company  assisting with the continued development of the Genie and its replacement the MkI Invader. Roger Collins put in a new managing director by the name of Michael Leather to run the factory, the Collins family were involved in the day to day running, particularly Roger's father, Maurice. The Collins family had the necessary financial backing to be able to expand the Gilbern works and to take on new staff. They took various other units on the site that had previously been rented out and increased the work force from 20 to nearly 60. Although the considerable expansion it did not result in an increase in production. 1969 saw a slight increase to about 100 cars but this had dropped in 1970 to 60, only in during 1971-72  would increase to about 4 cars per week. 

From the point of the ACE take-over there would be a constant financial loss at the end of each year. 

The Invader MkI had replaced the Genie in July 1969 and was basically similar to the Genie but had a redesigned chassis and detail changes to the bodywork and interior.The chassis changes appear to have caused some problems and criticisms amongst the press as regards the general handling. The front of the chassis was not stiff enough and stress cracks started to appear quite early on, this would also occur on the Genie but was not evident until some time later.  

For the 1970 Motor Show they announced a new Invader MkII with an improved front chassis design and also launched the MkII Invader Estate , although deliveries of the Estate would not take place until March of the following year.

There were also plans to market a completely new car, the T11. This was to be a rear engined 2 seater using the transverse Austin Maxi engine and gearbox, a similar configuration to the Diablo that became the AC 3000ME. A prototype was built and tested, together with parts for at least 2 others. This project was shelved as it was felt that the potential market was somewhat uncertain and they thought that it was best to stick to a product that they were known for. At this period Marcos were bankrupt and there was considerable uncertainty about this type of small sports car, there were also coming problems with marketing such cars in the USA 

In December 1971 the design work for the MkIII would begin. It was to be released in June the following year but following some technical problems it was delayed and eventually released in September 1972. To simplify construction the majority of mechanical components came from Ford. The suspension was based on the MkIII Cortina with a modified rear axle with trailing arms as previously. The car was to be sold only in fully built form. The advent of VAT and the savings available from buying the car in component form would now disappear. This was to potentially have quite an effect on sales as a constant 90% of cars in the past had been sold in component form. They would be selling to a rather more demanding customer who would expect his car to be perfect. The cars had never been cheap but by now they were at a similar price to a Jaguar XJ6 or BMW 2002. A serious attempt was also now made to export the car in a fully built LHD form. A dealer was appointed for Holland and there were plans for other European dealers. 9 MkIIIs were built in LHD form and exported.
In July of 1972 the Collins family decided to pull out of Gilbern, they sold the company to Michael Leather for £1. It seems likely that the Collins family's other business interests had been financing Gilbern over the previous few years when it was running at a loss, they felt they were no longer in a position to continue this. Under Michael Leather's control attempts were to bring in outside consultants to improve quality control, time management and to generally try to improve the productivity of the company and make it profitable and a new partner, Roger Salway was also brought in. 

However the need to pay off previous debts which would required the company to build at least 4 cars per week, in order to make a profit and clear them. This required minimum production was not reached, so that debts had steadily increased over the last year.
In July of 1973  company's debts had increased to £90,000 and the receiver was called in, Roger Salway had also decided to leave. 
By September 1973 a new investor, Anthony M Peters joined the company with Michael Leather and a proposed investment would be £750,000 over the next five years. Production resumed, but by March of 1974 Gilbern once again ceased trading.

It has been said in the past that the oil crisis of the time was the cause of Gilberns problems but this seems unlikely. There were never any real problems with orders or selling the cars. It is more probable that the economic effects of the crisis on the stock market, and the country in general with the 3 day week,may have had more to do with problems regards finding potential investors and keeping them involved with Gilbern. 

Right up until 1979 there were plans by various other people to resume production at Gilbern. The factory remained with all the infrastructure in place. There were 5 separate groups who owned the company during this period. Although new cars were built it is unlikely that any new cars were built from scratch. At the time of the closure in March 1974 there would have been as many as 20 cars in an unfinished state. It is these that were completed in odd ones and twos and were then sold. It is quite probable that Gilbern were attempting to much to quickly, stretching themselves with the MkII, the Estate and the T11. 

There was also the development work for the MkIII in various forms as a replacement to the MkII. A LWB version of the MkIII was also under development together with an Estate version. Gilberns financial problems would appear to have stemmed from a to rapid increase in staff and expansion of the factory. The factory site was capable of producing 20 cars per week but the site itself was a rather haphazard collection of buildings requiring much time to be wasted moving cars around during assembly. There was obviously considerable pressure to build more cars but there was no proper training for the new staff that had been taken on. By 1972-73 it would have been necessary to have built at least 400-500 cars per year in order to keep the company in a position where it was making a healthy profit. The losses that the company had made in the past were gradually accumulating and debts were not being paid off. If an investor with the necessary financial backing and commitment had been found then Gilbern would still be with us today. 
 

The Gilbern Owners' Club Ltd. founded in 1979 keeps the name of the marque alive having currently 450 members. The club has a number of local groups which meet regularly for chats and to organize visits, dinner, treasure hunts etc. The National committee arrange the main events of the Club's calendar including the annual Gilbern National Day. The committee also co-ordinate the other activities of the club which include spares information and supply of (parts for all cars currently available), motor sport and publications including a monthly newsletter and annual magazine.

Addendum:They nearly made it' - Inv. MkIV Early in 1973, `A' Cars in Wiltshire were commissioned by Gilbern to produce a stretched version of the MkIII Invader and they set about making a prototype. The theory was a true four seater, with more leg room and boot space would be more attractive than the rather cramped MkIII to the "Business Man" looking for his "Express". It might have worked but, well before the Motor Show when it was intended to make its debut, the factory was in financial trouble again and work on the prototype was halted. This prototype, the only MkIV in existence, is now with a club member just waiting for someone to finish it.