OK, so Gilbern was the only Welsh marque ever, but even so, just look at it! The Mustang-meets-Longchamp lines, the gaping maw inhaling a gryphon, the howling Essex six-pot up front … it’s positively nwydwyllt, in the local vowel-challenged tongue. Gilbern’s first offering was the GT, a tube-framed number with Austin mechanicals and a glassfibre body. It was apparently flash enough to attract the attention of Prince Charles (well, look at Camila – the man has strange taste!), and Anthony Hopkins bought one while in London on what was assuredly a massive bender. Gilbern casually screwed together close to 500 cars before offering the Invader, based on the earlier Genie, but packing the aforementioned Ford V6 giving the 1,990 lbs car 140 HP and 180 ft-lbs of torque, although for some reason this was only good for a 10.7 second run up to 60. But hey, when you look as dapper as this Welshman in that synthetic suit, who needs to move quickly or not fall apart? And for the sporting set, there’s always the shooting brake version of the Invader to hold all your hounds, shotguns, and pieces of the car that inevitably fall off. Although, let me caution you that any Invader is not to be driven without wearing a couple of yards of tweed … you better just get over it and get some. Bonus points for a “Fluellen” vanity plate and a wheel-spinning leek emblem (a la the Road Runner). And to clarify, I’m taking the piss out of the Invader out of love … you can’t deny it was a heap of crap, but I would drive one in a heartbeat. Classic and Performance Car, Simoncars
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