.jpg?w=1)
Details
1965 GORDON-KEEBLE G.K. 2+2 COUPE
Registration No.CUU 77C
Chassis No.C63
Engine No.63/F05IIRD
Regency red with magnolia leather seat and door trims, original black vinyl on dashboard, bulkhead, and centre console, black carpets.
Engine: eight cylinders in 90 degree vee, overhead camshafts, Weber Edelbrock fuel injection system, 5,355cc, 300bhp at 5000rpm. Gearbox: Warner T10 four-speed manual, synchromesh on all four, Hurst shifter. Suspension: independent wishbones and coil springs to front, De Dion axle, coil springs, trailing arms, and Watts linkage to rear, telescopic dampers fitted all round. Brakes: servo-assisted discs all round. Right hand drive.
The list of British car manufacturers that have briefly flourished before sinking into obscurity is by no means small, but there are very few whose efforts and memory have been as effectively and lovingly preserved as Gordon-Keeble.
Conceived as the Fifties drew to a close, the Gordon GT prototype was the star of Bertone's 1960 Geneva Motor Show stand (penned by an anonymous 21 year-old by the name of Giorgetto Guigaro), and later that year was labelled "the most electrifying vehicle (Autocar) has ever driven" - no mean accolade. Using the emerging formula of coupling British chassis engineering with large-capacity American muscle, John Gordon and Jim Keeble sought to provide Aston performance at a fraction of the cost. Their creation so capably filled the brief that it was still attracting praise seven years later. The Motor road test from June 1966, for example, compliments this "immensely fast and satisfying car to drive" and places its performance firmly into DB6 and E-type territory, cars whose evolutions were swifter and supported by pedigree and budget.
Wrapped in a glassfibre body and atop a 1-inch square-tube chassis, the 5.4 litre Chevrolet V8 (shared with the early Corvettes) provides an impressive 192 bhp per ton; when matched to the original gearing, it could propel the G.K.1 to 60 miles an hour in just over 6 seconds and on to a maximum of around 140mph. The figures are only part of the story, however, as this was one of the first road-cars to realise the potential of the front mid-engined configuration. Distributing the weight evenly between the front and rear axles was one of Jim Keeble's main priorities, so conscious was he of offering drivers the perfect platform from which to exploit the 300 braked horses. The technical success of the package was such that it was unashamedly copied by Rivolta and (master of cars) Bizzarrini with their ISO Rivolta. Rivolta had examined the prototype at his factory but declined involvement in the project. A few years later the ISO coupe emerged boasting a suspiciously similar layout, even using the same Corvette engine. Thus was the Gordon GT a direct ancestor of Bizzarrini's highly competitive 5300GT.
Enthusiasm for the Gordon-Keeble was instant, but the company was enslaved by its reliance upon external parts suppliers, and by the unwillingness of financial backers to see the project as a worthwhile investment. Production was eventually funded out of one of the directors' own pockets (financier George Wansborough), but when workers at Adwest (who supplied the steering system) went on strike for 19 weeks, the strain was too much to bear. The company folded after completing just over 80 cars. Production trickled onwards under successive attempts to save the company, eventually grinding to a halt after 99 cars had been built. The 100th car was shipped in parts to be assembled by B.C. & H. Motors in London.
Despite the demise of the Gordon-Keeble company, the cars continued to impassion owners. In 1969, one Ernie Knott, owner of a coachworks and repair company in Brackley, bought his G.K.1 having fallen in love with one in the paddock at Silverstone five years earlier. His recognition of the cars' potential and his desire to enhance the experience of ownership led to his acquiring the majority of the spares left in the wake of liquidation. These he wanted to offer to fellow owners, given that they would inevitably become rarer, and in tracking down the owners through letters in magazines, he inadvertently started the Gordon-Keeble Owners' Club. The GKOC is one of the most active owners' clubs around, winning Classic & Sportscar's Owners Club of the Year award in 2004; the marque's 91 survival rate is largely thanks to the club's energies. It must also be unique in that the club membership number is assigned to the car itself rather than the owner, thus chassis 63 is club member number 40.
The Owner's club is a rarity in today's world of the originality cult, in that it actively encourages modification within the spirit of the original. Many of these alterations are sported by chassis 63, including anti-roll bars, power-assisted rack and pinion steering (the original was a box system), enlarged front wheel arches (to prevent tyre wear), wider wheels (6" as opposed to the original 4.5"), and additional cooling vents in the engine bay. It also boasts a 'Hurst' shifter, and is the only Gordon-Keeble in existence to have a fuel injection system. Added in 2000, this raises the output to an estimated 360bhp. The engine was converted to run on unleaded fuel at the same time, and the interior re-trimmed in the leather it always deserved (costs had necessitated plastic originally). Even the four-speaker, six-cd Kenwood stereo and Sony amplifier can be seen as a natural progression from the two-speaker unit offered by the factory, but the full-length Webasto sunroof is actually an original option.
First registered in January 1965, CUU 77C underwent a body-off chassis restoration some seven years ago and has benefited from committed and correct maintenance since; receipts for modification and maintenance under the current ownership come to over £24,000. The paintwork (originally green but resprayed 'Regency Red' in the mid 1980s) is generally in good condition, though it displays a few minor scratches consistent with use, as well as small chips on the door, boot and bonnet sills. It has covered an estimated 130 to 135 thousand miles since new (the speedo was overhauled in May 2000 and currently shows 1071 miles, but the MoT dated July 1999 reports a reading of 129,661). Interestingly, this is the car featured in the Gordon-Keeble sales brochure, a copy of which is included in the sale.
This is a superb opportunity to own one of the most charismatic cars of the early sixties, a true survivor representing a bygone age and values, where the owner's handbook could happily advise of a towing point "should you get bogged down at a Point-to-Point meeting", that during running-in the car should be treated "as one would the contents of your cellar, gently and in moderation", or the wonderful caution, upon cold starting, not to "leave it idling while you rush indoors to pay a belated farewell to you wife", advising instead to "make a mental note henceforth to adopt a definite sequence of events prior to your morning departure. You will achieve substantially diminished wear from your engine, and deserve greater affection from your wife."
A car that combines an immensely rewarding driving experience with eminent practicality and usability as everyday transport, complimented by an owner support network that is second to none, the Gordon-Keeble is a true 'gentleman's express' delivering awesome performance with an elegance, inconspicuousness and rarity certain to raise inquisitive eyebrows and admiring glances wherever it goes.
Included with the car are
Original Operating, Maintenance and Servicing Handbook
V5, 2 old buff logbooks, & (incomplete) collection of MOT certificates dating back to 1965,
Bills dating back to June 1999,
Copy of original sales brochure.
Registration No.CUU 77C
Chassis No.C63
Engine No.63/F05IIRD
Regency red with magnolia leather seat and door trims, original black vinyl on dashboard, bulkhead, and centre console, black carpets.
Engine: eight cylinders in 90 degree vee, overhead camshafts, Weber Edelbrock fuel injection system, 5,355cc, 300bhp at 5000rpm. Gearbox: Warner T10 four-speed manual, synchromesh on all four, Hurst shifter. Suspension: independent wishbones and coil springs to front, De Dion axle, coil springs, trailing arms, and Watts linkage to rear, telescopic dampers fitted all round. Brakes: servo-assisted discs all round. Right hand drive.
The list of British car manufacturers that have briefly flourished before sinking into obscurity is by no means small, but there are very few whose efforts and memory have been as effectively and lovingly preserved as Gordon-Keeble.
Conceived as the Fifties drew to a close, the Gordon GT prototype was the star of Bertone's 1960 Geneva Motor Show stand (penned by an anonymous 21 year-old by the name of Giorgetto Guigaro), and later that year was labelled "the most electrifying vehicle (Autocar) has ever driven" - no mean accolade. Using the emerging formula of coupling British chassis engineering with large-capacity American muscle, John Gordon and Jim Keeble sought to provide Aston performance at a fraction of the cost. Their creation so capably filled the brief that it was still attracting praise seven years later. The Motor road test from June 1966, for example, compliments this "immensely fast and satisfying car to drive" and places its performance firmly into DB6 and E-type territory, cars whose evolutions were swifter and supported by pedigree and budget.
Wrapped in a glassfibre body and atop a 1-inch square-tube chassis, the 5.4 litre Chevrolet V8 (shared with the early Corvettes) provides an impressive 192 bhp per ton; when matched to the original gearing, it could propel the G.K.1 to 60 miles an hour in just over 6 seconds and on to a maximum of around 140mph. The figures are only part of the story, however, as this was one of the first road-cars to realise the potential of the front mid-engined configuration. Distributing the weight evenly between the front and rear axles was one of Jim Keeble's main priorities, so conscious was he of offering drivers the perfect platform from which to exploit the 300 braked horses. The technical success of the package was such that it was unashamedly copied by Rivolta and (master of cars) Bizzarrini with their ISO Rivolta. Rivolta had examined the prototype at his factory but declined involvement in the project. A few years later the ISO coupe emerged boasting a suspiciously similar layout, even using the same Corvette engine. Thus was the Gordon GT a direct ancestor of Bizzarrini's highly competitive 5300GT.
Enthusiasm for the Gordon-Keeble was instant, but the company was enslaved by its reliance upon external parts suppliers, and by the unwillingness of financial backers to see the project as a worthwhile investment. Production was eventually funded out of one of the directors' own pockets (financier George Wansborough), but when workers at Adwest (who supplied the steering system) went on strike for 19 weeks, the strain was too much to bear. The company folded after completing just over 80 cars. Production trickled onwards under successive attempts to save the company, eventually grinding to a halt after 99 cars had been built. The 100th car was shipped in parts to be assembled by B.C. & H. Motors in London.
Despite the demise of the Gordon-Keeble company, the cars continued to impassion owners. In 1969, one Ernie Knott, owner of a coachworks and repair company in Brackley, bought his G.K.1 having fallen in love with one in the paddock at Silverstone five years earlier. His recognition of the cars' potential and his desire to enhance the experience of ownership led to his acquiring the majority of the spares left in the wake of liquidation. These he wanted to offer to fellow owners, given that they would inevitably become rarer, and in tracking down the owners through letters in magazines, he inadvertently started the Gordon-Keeble Owners' Club. The GKOC is one of the most active owners' clubs around, winning Classic & Sportscar's Owners Club of the Year award in 2004; the marque's 91 survival rate is largely thanks to the club's energies. It must also be unique in that the club membership number is assigned to the car itself rather than the owner, thus chassis 63 is club member number 40.
The Owner's club is a rarity in today's world of the originality cult, in that it actively encourages modification within the spirit of the original. Many of these alterations are sported by chassis 63, including anti-roll bars, power-assisted rack and pinion steering (the original was a box system), enlarged front wheel arches (to prevent tyre wear), wider wheels (6" as opposed to the original 4.5"), and additional cooling vents in the engine bay. It also boasts a 'Hurst' shifter, and is the only Gordon-Keeble in existence to have a fuel injection system. Added in 2000, this raises the output to an estimated 360bhp. The engine was converted to run on unleaded fuel at the same time, and the interior re-trimmed in the leather it always deserved (costs had necessitated plastic originally). Even the four-speaker, six-cd Kenwood stereo and Sony amplifier can be seen as a natural progression from the two-speaker unit offered by the factory, but the full-length Webasto sunroof is actually an original option.
First registered in January 1965, CUU 77C underwent a body-off chassis restoration some seven years ago and has benefited from committed and correct maintenance since; receipts for modification and maintenance under the current ownership come to over £24,000. The paintwork (originally green but resprayed 'Regency Red' in the mid 1980s) is generally in good condition, though it displays a few minor scratches consistent with use, as well as small chips on the door, boot and bonnet sills. It has covered an estimated 130 to 135 thousand miles since new (the speedo was overhauled in May 2000 and currently shows 1071 miles, but the MoT dated July 1999 reports a reading of 129,661). Interestingly, this is the car featured in the Gordon-Keeble sales brochure, a copy of which is included in the sale.
This is a superb opportunity to own one of the most charismatic cars of the early sixties, a true survivor representing a bygone age and values, where the owner's handbook could happily advise of a towing point "should you get bogged down at a Point-to-Point meeting", that during running-in the car should be treated "as one would the contents of your cellar, gently and in moderation", or the wonderful caution, upon cold starting, not to "leave it idling while you rush indoors to pay a belated farewell to you wife", advising instead to "make a mental note henceforth to adopt a definite sequence of events prior to your morning departure. You will achieve substantially diminished wear from your engine, and deserve greater affection from your wife."
A car that combines an immensely rewarding driving experience with eminent practicality and usability as everyday transport, complimented by an owner support network that is second to none, the Gordon-Keeble is a true 'gentleman's express' delivering awesome performance with an elegance, inconspicuousness and rarity certain to raise inquisitive eyebrows and admiring glances wherever it goes.
Included with the car are
Original Operating, Maintenance and Servicing Handbook
V5, 2 old buff logbooks, & (incomplete) collection of MOT certificates dating back to 1965,
Bills dating back to June 1999,
Copy of original sales brochure.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.