History
Subdivision

 The Gordon-Keeble
  the production car

Following on from the Gordon GT which was designed by Jim Keeble and John Gordon, work was commenced on the production of the Gordon-Keeble.  Some detail changes were introduced including uprating the engine requirements to 5.4 litres and keeping with the short block  Chevrolet V8. There was some difficulty in obtaining firm supply commitments from some manufacturers in th UK owing the high torque figures (350 ft.lb.) that were produced by the this engine.

The steering box was the recirculating ball type by Adwest and not the rack and pinion type that had been originally intended. The Warner gearbox was retained with its close ratios and high first gear. The final drive was raised to 25mph/1000 revs. and the front/rear divided disc brake system changed to Girling. The body shell was to be constructed with double skinned glass reinforced plastic instead of alloy and was to be built in Slough as this would be more suitable to small production numbers.  They were trimmed in plastic instead of leather to cut down on cost but the finished cars weighed in at 1400Kg giving over 200bhp/ton.

The cars were initially priced at less than £3000 which created cash flow difficulties, but the biggest problem encountered was a prolonged strike by Adwest who were supplying the steering boxes and at its worst, there were 16 cars completed except for the steering box which clearly could not be sold. When the steering boxes started to come through again, the cash flow problems were so acute that before long, the company had to liquidate.    
 
By March 1965, the work force was laid off unpaid and George Wansborough who had presided over the demise of Jowett Cars was left in sole charge - both John Gordon and Jim Keeble having previously resigned.

By May 1965, Harold Smith approached Geoffrey West and between them, they purchased the factory from the liquidators and after many initial difficulties,  production was resumed. The new company - Keeble Cars Ltd - was incorporated in July 1965. Later, the company moved to Sholing and the first car produced there was Chassis No.92 and the last was No.98 in the summer of 1966. Keewest Developments Ltd took over the servicing of the cars. One further car was built in 1967 and given Chassis No.99. A further (and final) car was completed from parts and known as Chassis No.100.

Ernie Knott, who owned a coachworks and repair establishment in Brackley,  came on the scene in 1969 and organised a repair and development facility based at Brackley.  He also established the Gordon-Keeble Owners Club in 1970 and managed to trace all the 100 cars that had been produced.  The combined servicing and healthcare provided by Key West and Enotts Coachworks is primarily responsible for the very high survival rate of these cars with over 95% still in existance after 40 years with 40 of them being driven down to Southampton to celebrate the 40 years anniversary in 2004
 

The first production car - chassis No. 001

Chassis No.012 - as built by Gordon-Keeble Cars Ltd
                                 (the Webasto sliding roof was an extra)

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