Falcon Shells was a British company that produced specials/kit cars from 1956 until 1964.
Falcon Shells was a British company that produced specials/kit cars from 1956 until 1964.
Falcon Shells was founded in 1956 by Peter Pellandine following his amicable split with Keith Waddington of Ashley Laminates. It was originally based at 23 Highbridge Street, Waltham Abbey in Essex. There was also a showroom at 52 High Street, Epping. Pellandine retained the rights and tooling to manufacture the Ashley's short wheelbase 750 and the Sports Racer which he sold as the Falcon Mark I and II respectively. The Mk II body was used on the 1956 Elva MkII. [1]
From 1957 to 1959 Falcon's were also manufactured in New Zealand by Falcoln Shells (NZ) Limited. Pellandine had moved there in 1957, while continuing to operate his United Kingdom company. The New Zealand company ceased production in 1959 when Pellandine returned to the United Kingdom.
In 1958, a full kit version of the Mark 2, renamed the Competition, was launched. In 1959, an all-new model was added to the range. The Mark 3, later the Caribbean, became Falcon's best selling shell.
The company was renamed Falcon Cars in 1961 to reflect the move upmarket and the four seat Bermuda was introduced. About the same time, the 1000 was developed. This was later marketed as the Peregrine.
In 1962, Pellandine sold the business to Mike Moseley and was relocated to 150 Great North Road, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Pellandine emigrated to Australia. Moseley expanded the business into a range of diverse GRP products including boat hulls, window boxes, and hoppers for farmers.
Moseley introduced the 515 at the January 1963 London Racing Car Show. [2] Three 515s were entered for the Le Mans 24 Hour Race, with several French drivers, but were rejected by the organisers, the ACO. Discussions with Auto Union led to a Caribbean shell being mated with a DKW Junior chassis, a Mantzel-tuned prototype reaching 106 m.p.h. [3]
As the result of a slump in sales, Falcon Cars was wound up in 1964.
Falcon Mk 2 was relaunched in the late 1980s as the Autotune Gemini.[ citation needed ]
A kit car is an automobile available as a set of parts that a manufacturer sells and the buyer then assembles into a functioning car. Usually, many of the major mechanical systems such as the engine and transmission are sourced from donor vehicles or purchased new from other vendors. Kits vary in completeness, consisting of as little as a book of plans, or as much as a complete set with all components to assemble into a fully operational vehicle such as those from Caterham.
Lotus Cars Limited is a British automotive company headquartered in Norfolk, England, which manufactures sports cars and racing cars noted for their light weight and fine handling characteristics.
Reliant Motor Company was a British car manufacturer based in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. It was founded in 1935 and ended car production in 2002, the company had been known as "Reliant Motor Company" until the 1990s when it became "Reliant Motors" and then finally became "Reliant Cars LTD" after production had ended of the Robin as the company was restructured to be a car import business. It is now a dormant company and the only entity left is a separate parts company created called "Reliant Partsworld" which produces parts for Reliant vehicles.
Marcos Engineering was a British sports car manufacturer. The name derives from the surnames of founders Jem Marsh and Frank Costin.
Ashley were manufacturers of body shells and chassis for specials from 1955 to 1962. They also offered a range of products for special builds: radiators, header tanks, lighting sets, steel tubing, sheet aluminium, various suspension parts, water pumps, tires, tubes and wheels. The company also made bonnets and hardtops for other mass-produced sports cars, including the Austin-Healey Sprite and Jaguar E-Type.
The Ford Sidevalve is a side valve from the British arm of the Ford Motor Company, often also referred to as the "English Sidevalve". The engine had its origins in the 1930s Ford Model Y, and was made in two sizes, 933 cc (56.9 cu in) or "8 HP", and 1,172 cc (71.5 cu in) or "10 HP". The early engines did not have a water pump as standard, instead relying on thermosiphon cooling as the Model T engine had. A water pump was added in 1953 for the 100E models when the engine was re-engineered to the point that few specifications are identical between the early and the later series. The Sidevalve engine was used in many smaller Fords as well as farm vehicles, commercial vehicles and a marine version in boats. Production of the engine was stopped in 1962. Windscreen wipers were often driven by the vacuum generated in the inlet manifold.
The Ferrari 250 is a series of sports cars and grand tourers built by Ferrari from 1952 to 1964. The company's most successful early line, the 250 series includes many variants designed for road use or sports car racing. 250 series cars are characterized by their use of a 3.0 L (2,953 cc) Colombo V12 engine designed by Gioacchino Colombo. They were replaced by the 275 and 330 series cars.
Elva was a sports and racing car manufacturing company based in Bexhill, then Hastings and Rye, East Sussex, United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1955 by Frank G. Nichols. The name comes from the French phrase elle va.
Gilbern, Gilbern Sports Cars (Components) Ltd , was a Welsh car manufacturer from 1959 to 1973, based in Llantwit Fardre, Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales.
Rochdale cars were a series of mainly glass fibre bodied British sports cars made by Rochdale Motor Panels and Engineering in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England between 1948 and 1973. The company is best remembered for the Olympic coupé made between 1959 and 1973.
Peter John Pellandine was a British car designer and manufacturer who was influential in the field of specials/kit cars and steam-powered vehicles in both the United Kingdom and Australia.
Pelland Engineering was a British engineering company that produced kit cars and made an attempt on the world land-speed record for steam cars.
Devin Enterprises was an American automotive manufacturer that operated from 1955 to 1964. Devin was mainly known for producing high quality fiberglass car bodies that were sold as kits, but they also produced automotive accessories as well as complete automobiles. The company was founded by Bill Devin.
Sylva Autokits is a kit car manufacturer based in Lincolnshire, England. Sylva was founded in 1981 by Jeremy Phillips and has developed and produced a number of small and lightweight sports cars. Sylva cars have won a number of 750 Motor Club Kit Car championships.
Fiberfab was an American automotive manufacturer established in 1964. Starting with accessories and body parts, they progressed to making kit cars and fully assembled automobiles. They became one of the longest lasting kit car manufacturers.
Quantum Sports Cars was founded by Mark and Harvey Wooldridge in 1987.
Eagle Cars Limited was an English company, based in Lancing, West Sussex, originally operated by Allen Breeze, although it has undergone a number of ownership changes since. Originally making a Jeep lookalike called the RV, between 1981 and 1998 they built several iterations of a gull-winged car called the Eagle SS. The SS was based on an American kit car called the Cimbria, and was brought to the UK by Tim Dutton. In 1988 Eagle Cars moved inland, to nearby Storrington.
Mills Extreme Vehicles (MEV) is a kit car design and manufacturing company based in Gloucestershire, England, founded in 2003.
Microplas Limited was formed in 1954 in Uxbridge by group of 750 Motor Club members. They were Mike Eyre, Roger Everett, Bill Ashton, Sandy Wemyss, Tony Wemyss, and one other who was associated with the Hunting family. The Huntings were among the first to make reinforced plastics for the British military during World War Two. Microplas had access to this technology. The Mircroplas also traded as Microbond.
New Zealand had a long history of small garages and vehicle enthusiasts modifying and creating sports and sports racing cars. Out of these interests grew the New Zealand kit and replica car industry with the introduction of fibre-glass car bodies in the 1950s.