Gilbern specialists..

Surely the beauty of a Gilbern is that it's all oily bits sourced from mainstream manufacturers? - which means anyone can service and repair it.

Sure.. and the same goes for Scimitars. But the mix of parts (and, particularly, the interesting electrical system you find in GRP bodied British specialist cars with Lucas electrics) and the way it all works together to produce something much better than the oily-bit producers ever managed themselves - well, that makes me want to have access to someone who knows their little ways if I'm going to be running it as an only car.

Experience from owning two Scimitars was that access to a specialist in 'em was //really// useful.

I think you're probably best taking a Gilbern to a Scimitar specialist, then.

Because I very much doubt there are many Gilbern specialists out there!

Mind you, anyone who specialises in plastic bodied cars would be equally as good, surely? - if you can sort the electrics on a Scimitar or Lotus, you can sort them on a Gilbern.

Reckoned it might be worth asking, just in case..

That was pretty much what I was thinking - to have a chat with the High Peak Scimitar guys. Unless someone has a better suggestion :-)

Is the owners club too obvious?

I'd had a poke through the site, and I've no doubt they'd be invaluable for trouble-shooting and advice (like RSSOC was when I had Scimitars), but as I don't have facilities/time/skill to do serious work on the thing myself it'd be more than useful to know somewhere it could go - maybe once a year.. I didn't see any such place suggested on the site (may have missed something, of course..) and I reckoned I'd sound less cheeky asking them directly if I was a bit more definitely committed to buying one.

It's all a bit speculative at the moment, but still seems a tempting option.

Do you reckon? Different clubs vary of course, but I'd expect most to be only too happy to chat to any prospective owner.

Sounds like a great idea to me!

I've no doubt, and I might do it at some point. Thought I'd have a quick ask in here first, though..

There are a lot of ifs and buts to be negotiated before I'd be going seriously real-car hunting (not least how some surgery works out), so I'd not be doing anything before late spring at the earliest. Leaves time for these things.

I've always liked the look of the mid-period Gilberns (Genie, Invader I/ II) and have heard good things of them as cars to drive. And while I love Scimitars I fear that if I bought another SE5/5a (taking my total over the years to three) I might be getting into a rut ;-)

I assume you mean an Invader? They have an Achilles heel. The body is bonded onto the chassis, which means that when the chassis rusts, as it will, the body has to be cut off it in order to effect repairs.

IIRC, that is.

I could ask my neighbour. He has an Invader (a very pretty little car, IMO) in his barn.

Genie or Invader I or II

I've heard that, and that was my understanding. It is a bit of a concern, though to be honest there are bits of the Scimitar chassis that are a PITA to sort when they start to go.

Stuff that I need to talk to the Owners Club about, if I get serious about taking it further..

I'd really appreciate it if you could. In particular, if there's any way of getting at the chassis to inject Finnegan's finest gunk into the tubes..

And I agree - the Genie/Invader is a pretty little thing. And on the roads around here, "little" is worth an awful lot for driving pleasure.

Thanks for this one.

That I can understand. I have a Blackpool Bathtub (aka TVR) which suffer with similar issues.

I'll ask. Might take a few days - I don't see him that often.

Curiously, and now you mention it, I'd been idly looking at some of those, too. Not quite got the same appeal to me, no idea why. Maybe some of the later-period hoonmobiles they did put me off all of them slightly. Never said there was any sense to this...

No hurry. Like I said, nowt's going to happen until mid-spring at the very earliest..

When it comes to classic cars, there isn't. :o)

This is me;

And isn't that the wonderful thing? I mean, if we went by common sense I suppose we'd all be driving {struggles to think of an example that has actually left a mark on my memory} Hyundai i10s, or something equally tedious.

That looks like a man having fun :-)

Ho, yus!

Some kind of Toyota, I'd suggest. "The car in front is a boring appliance of no recognisable merit other than dull things like reliability." Bit too big for a bumper sticker.

:o)

Damn right!

Well, it's an advance on "The car in the back of the car in front of it is a Toyota"..

;-)

A friend bought herself an Elise S1 for her 55th birthday present. She reckoned that after her first track day she had troub;e getting the helmet off over her grin..

I do track days and compete in the TVR Car Club Speed Championship, which is sprinting and speed hillclimbing.

I'm thinking of buying something else for track days, since the TVR is too heavy and expensive to maintain to do any number (I can destroy a set of tyres and brakes in a day). Probably a Westy, since Caterham's are too much money, assuming I can find one I can fit in.

Hi guys

I have a MK III Invader and know there is a specialist near Hereford. He does a lot of work for the Gilbern Owners Club and is a great person to speak with if you're considering buying a Gilbern. I've had mine for 5 years now and loving it -

Lovely looking car! Out of interest, what are the door handles from? They look vaguely familiar, but I can't place them.