1960 Britannia GT (Tojeiro Chassis Design)

Lot details
Registration No: Un-Reg
Chassis No: 0001
Mot Expiry: None

CHASSIS DESIGNED BY JOHN TOJEIRO

Britannia Cars was established in 1957 by Accland Geddes (the son of the one-time chairman of Dunlop, Rae Geddes) and Murray Beecroft. As neither had any prior experience of car design, they commissioned the father of the AC Ace, John Tojeiro, to come up with an all-independent tubular chassis akin to that of his Ace Le Mans prototype. The stylish two-seater body was the work of renowned Scottish artist Cavendish Morton, the man who regularly penned Tojeiro's cars. The prototype chassis was finished in the spring of 1958. Suspension was by unequal length wishbones and coil springs at the front and trailing arms at the rear. Braking was by large servo-assisted discs all round - inboard at the rear. Steering was by rack and pinion. Power came from a 2553cc straight-six Ford Zephyr engine, topped by a light-alloy Raymond Mays 12-port cylinder head and fed by triple SU carburettors. The unit was coupled to a four-speed, close-ratio Moss gearbox with overdrive. This car was fitted with an aluminium body built by FLM (Panelcraft) Ltd, which was intended to serve as a mould for glassfibre production bodies. With a total weight under one ton, a 0-60 acceleration of nine seconds and a top speed of 125mph were predicted. A production facility was established in Ashwell, Herts the following year, but financial problems ensued and the company folded after no more than five production cars were completed.

H&H are indebted to the vendor for the following description: "The initial alloy-bodied Britannia prototype is said to have undergone final assembly at BRM's Bourne facility in 1958. This particular example is the first of the five production cars that appeared thereafter. The fixed head's chassis and body have been part restored and a stiff rollcage installed. It has enormous Historic competition potential or could provide a wonderful and very rare Grand Touring car for the road. The Britannia comes with two and a half engines that need rebuilding plus a Mays cylinder head and triple SU carburetors. Also included are a correct type gearbox, alloy coil over dampers and many of the parts required to complete the car. The history file provided contains extensive information on the Britannia marque and invoices for the work already done".