c1960 Falcon Caribbean

Lot details
Registration No: BPN 863
Chassis No: T.B.A.
Mot Expiry: None

Great Britain has for many years nurtured a very strong specialist car industry, sporting two-seater designs being particularly well represented. Having originated in the immediate post-war pre-VAT years when there was a huge demand for attractive sports bodyshells to clothe reliable if rather staid standard family car mechanicals, designs became ever more sophisticated over the years as the market became more competitive. Whilst many of the rather over-optimistic 'one man band' firms quickly succumbed to simple economics, some companies progressed to producing complete body/chassis designs of their own. One of the latter was Falcon, formed by Peter Pellandine in 1957, who produced a variety of well designed sports car bodies to suit proprietary kit-form chassis before eventually producing a chassis of their own which in later years featured independent front suspension.

The car offered for sale here is a MKIV, known as the Caribbean, which was produced primarily for the Ford 7' 6" chassis but could be mounted on other chassis of similar size. In 1960 the Caribbean became available as a complete kit with a choice of engines which by 1962 encompassed Ford 100E & 105E, Coventry-Climax 1098cc & 1216cc and MGA together with a space frame chassis based on the Len Terry Formula Terrier special. Further developed into a four seater (the Bermuda), the attractive Caribbean became Falcon's best selling shell and was also available with a professional looking factory hardtop. Kits were produced right up until the firm's closure in 1964. It is not known at the time of going to press upon which chassis this particular example is based but it is thought to be fitted with a Ford 10HP engine. Requiring complete restoration, the dashboard and instruments are still present and the car is offered without a V5 registration document. A challenging project but one that could ultimately be very rewarding.