Cars from Peel coachworks?
Discussion
I've lately started to compile a overview over cars that received bodywork by Peels coachwork at Kingston upon Thames. This have proved harder than thought as there are little information out there surrounding their cars. One of the information sources I've found is this article from Classic & Sports car.
http://www.sebringsprite.com/pdf-files/WSMarticleC...
The problem though is that this articles main focus is not on the coachbuiler so they only provide a small snippet of information and there are few other sources providing more. So this means that I have no idea which Bugattis that received bodies by them and if they built the bodies for all of the HRG cars? A Bugatti that seems like a likely contender for having come from Peel to me is this Type 43 with bodywork that is usually attributed to V. W. Derrington Ltd, a company that was located right next door to Peels and usually did not build bodies.
But as I understand it this forum have some users/a user that are involved with the Classic & Sports car magazine, so I was wondering if him/her/they or anyone else could help me out? And are there anyone here who knows about more cars from Peel?
http://www.sebringsprite.com/pdf-files/WSMarticleC...
The problem though is that this articles main focus is not on the coachbuiler so they only provide a small snippet of information and there are few other sources providing more. So this means that I have no idea which Bugattis that received bodies by them and if they built the bodies for all of the HRG cars? A Bugatti that seems like a likely contender for having come from Peel to me is this Type 43 with bodywork that is usually attributed to V. W. Derrington Ltd, a company that was located right next door to Peels and usually did not build bodies.
But as I understand it this forum have some users/a user that are involved with the Classic & Sports car magazine, so I was wondering if him/her/they or anyone else could help me out? And are there anyone here who knows about more cars from Peel?
There was a big book- a weighty book which had most (all??) of the coashbuilders in there, details etc.
As for individual chassis recors, this might be very hard to find. I would try going local: what does the local library archive have? Write to the local paper asking for old employees who have images/memories.
People keep all sorts of stuff. You might find someone has just what you are looking for
As for individual chassis recors, this might be very hard to find. I would try going local: what does the local library archive have? Write to the local paper asking for old employees who have images/memories.
People keep all sorts of stuff. You might find someone has just what you are looking for
Here are the cars I currently have from them:
Cooper-consul coupé.
1966 Mg 1100 coupé. Scrapped.
1957 Frazer Nash coupé (1956 chassis). Body scrapped and the chassis re-bodied into a Le Mans replica replica.
Frazer Nash Continental coupe. Still with us.
1966 Bentley R-type (1954 chassis).
Allard J2. Not confirmed to be from Peel, but claimed to be from "someone like Peel at kingston". Still with us but in need of restoration.
1966 Unipower GT prototype. Not sure of the current state.
Pluss all the famous cars based on Austin-Healey bases.
Cooper-consul coupé.
1966 Mg 1100 coupé. Scrapped.
1957 Frazer Nash coupé (1956 chassis). Body scrapped and the chassis re-bodied into a Le Mans replica replica.
Frazer Nash Continental coupe. Still with us.
1966 Bentley R-type (1954 chassis).
Allard J2. Not confirmed to be from Peel, but claimed to be from "someone like Peel at kingston". Still with us but in need of restoration.
1966 Unipower GT prototype. Not sure of the current state.
Pluss all the famous cars based on Austin-Healey bases.
Thansk for your answer.
I do not have it myself, but as I understand there is very little information about Peel in there (which is understandable when you are covering over 300 coachbuilders on 240 pages with additional chapters not related to them too). It is on my wish list though along with many other books.
Truth be told I do not expect to get much information here either as I believe I found the majority of their known cars, but I was at least hoping someone would be able to shine a light on which HRG and Bugatti cars they bodies as those cars are referred to in the article.
williamp said:
There was a big book- a weighty book which had most (all??) of the coashbuilders in there, details etc.
Are you thinking of this book? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Z-British-Coachbuilders-1...I do not have it myself, but as I understand there is very little information about Peel in there (which is understandable when you are covering over 300 coachbuilders on 240 pages with additional chapters not related to them too). It is on my wish list though along with many other books.
williamp said:
As for individual chassis recors, this might be very hard to find. I would try going local: what does the local library archive have? Write to the local paper asking for old employees who have images/memories.
People keep all sorts of stuff. You might find someone has just what you are looking for
I'm not British. I've pretty much raided the main library in Oslo for everything concerning coachbuilding and special cars, but they do not stock much concerning foreign firm.People keep all sorts of stuff. You might find someone has just what you are looking for
Truth be told I do not expect to get much information here either as I believe I found the majority of their known cars, but I was at least hoping someone would be able to shine a light on which HRG and Bugatti cars they bodies as those cars are referred to in the article.
The Bentley is known as the "Gooda Special".
It's really quite ugly in the flesh and the design of the back end (the non-Bentley bit) is poorly designed IMHO.
From Motorsport (Dec 2014): "The fastback body was fashioned by Peel Coachworks of Kingston-upon-Thames, a coachbuilder steeped in motor sport. The firm took its name from the nearby Sir Robert Peel pub, partners Alec Goldie and Fred Faulkner becoming renowned within the British racing car industry for their ability to shape car bodies out of aluminium in double-quick time. More often than not, the ex-Hawker Aircraft men did so armed with little more than customers’ doodles."
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/...
The T43 has T35B Grand Prix car's straight-eight supercharged engine in a touring car chassis.
It's really quite ugly in the flesh and the design of the back end (the non-Bentley bit) is poorly designed IMHO.
From Motorsport (Dec 2014): "The fastback body was fashioned by Peel Coachworks of Kingston-upon-Thames, a coachbuilder steeped in motor sport. The firm took its name from the nearby Sir Robert Peel pub, partners Alec Goldie and Fred Faulkner becoming renowned within the British racing car industry for their ability to shape car bodies out of aluminium in double-quick time. More often than not, the ex-Hawker Aircraft men did so armed with little more than customers’ doodles."
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/...
galro said:
A Bugatti that seems like a likely contender for having come from Peel to me is this Type 43 with bodywork that is usually attributed to V. W. Derrington Ltd, a company that was located right next door to Peels and usually did not build bodies.
That 1930 Bugatti T43 (GK17/chassis 43239) is still around, but has been re-bodied with a more conventional Grand Sport body.The T43 has T35B Grand Prix car's straight-eight supercharged engine in a touring car chassis.
Edited by Roy C on Tuesday 29th November 10:50
I think that Bentley looks hideous.
Are those Vauxhall Viva rear lights on the Unipower?
That Cooper Consul looks interesting.
Whenever I see some of these kit / coachbuilt cars, I'm left thinking that part of it looks really good, and part doesn't.
The front usually looks good, but from the 'A' pillars back things always seem to go awry for some reason (usually proportions are wrong).
I guess they were striving for a long sweeping bonnet (and in the case of front engined cars, a low bonnet line) which didn't leave much space behind the A' pillars...
Are those Vauxhall Viva rear lights on the Unipower?
That Cooper Consul looks interesting.
Whenever I see some of these kit / coachbuilt cars, I'm left thinking that part of it looks really good, and part doesn't.
The front usually looks good, but from the 'A' pillars back things always seem to go awry for some reason (usually proportions are wrong).
I guess they were striving for a long sweeping bonnet (and in the case of front engined cars, a low bonnet line) which didn't leave much space behind the A' pillars...
Edited by TonyRPH on Wednesday 30th November 10:17
TonyRPH said:
Whenever I see some of these kit / coachbuilt cars, I'm left thinking that part of it looks really good, and part doesn't.
The front usually looks good, but from the 'A' pillars back things always seem to go awry for some reason (usually proportions are wrong).
I guess they were striving for a long sweeping bonnet (and in the case of front engined cars, a low bonnet line) which didn't leave much space behind the A' pillars...
I do not think Peel were stylists and I'm not sure they had any particular stylistic features in mind when they built the bodies. It can seems like they just built whatever designs customers brought there and what the base chassis allowed them to do. In the case with the cars with the unusually long bonnet lines (the Allard, the Cooper and the first Frazer Nash coupé), they are all just a result of the chassis' constructions with engines placed far back in the cars. These cars had similar proportions when they had bodies that were not constructed by Peel too. Just take a look at the Frazer Nash coupe then (Peel body) and now (replica of the Le Mans Replica body). The front usually looks good, but from the 'A' pillars back things always seem to go awry for some reason (usually proportions are wrong).
I guess they were striving for a long sweeping bonnet (and in the case of front engined cars, a low bonnet line) which didn't leave much space behind the A' pillars...
I think those proportions make the car seems purposeful and interesting even if they are not outright beautiful. I find it much more pleasing than the proportions on the MG 1100 coupe by Peels which have the cabin placed way too far forward to my eyes.
galro said:
I do not think Peel were stylists and I'm not sure they had any particular stylistic features in mind when they built the bodies. It can seems like they just built whatever designs customers brought there and what the base chassis allowed them to do. In the case with the cars with the unusually long bonnet lines (the Allard, the Cooper and the first Frazer Nash coupé), they are all just a result of the chassis' constructions with engines placed far back in the cars. These cars had similar proportions when they had bodies that were not constructed by Peel too. Just take a look at the Frazer Nash coupe then (Peel body) and now (replica of the Le Mans Replica body).
I think those proportions make the car seems purposeful and interesting even if they are not outright beautiful. I find it much more pleasing than the proportions on the MG 1100 coupe by Peels which have the cabin placed way too far forward to my eyes.
Thanks - this is a new field to me, although I have often seen pictures of various cars built in this way, I have never questioned them or their heritage.I think those proportions make the car seems purposeful and interesting even if they are not outright beautiful. I find it much more pleasing than the proportions on the MG 1100 coupe by Peels which have the cabin placed way too far forward to my eyes.
I agree that the replica Le Mans body (the green one in case of doubt!) looks lovely and as you say, the MG's cabin is too far forward, or the rear is simply too long (I presume it remained front engined?).
I'm not normally a fan of the Le Mans type shape pictured above, but I do like that.
galro said:
Iva Barchetta said:
Anyone got the Kingston address of Peel coachworks, couldn't find it by searching.
The Robert Peel pub closed down sometime ago.
Here is their business card with it on.The Robert Peel pub closed down sometime ago.
However if you are visiting the area you can still see the original AC Cars factory in Thames Ditton, and Cooper Cars down the road in Surbiton.
galro said:
Edit...The WSM website says that it is a WSM car with bodywork by Peel Coachworks.
Edited by john2443 on Wednesday 30th November 17:11
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