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Hello from new member, and car identification help request

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Admiral Beez

Freshman Member
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Hello. I’m in Toronto, Canada. I was born in the UK in 1971 and moved to Canada in 1976. I’ve been a huge fan of British cars, having grown up seeing my UK family’s MGs, TVRs and Rovers. My motorcycle for over ten years was a 1969 Triumph Tiger 100, but I’ve yet to pull the trigger on a British car. Maybe at next years British car show in Burlington, ON.

My friend has a photo of a mystery car and asked me if I know what brand it is. See below. The front looks a little like a Gilbern, but the tail is wrong. There were so many fibreglass one-offs and customs back then that perhaps I’ll never know.

CB09A072-9C9C-486D-9CAA-D5EE4F0218F6.jpg

819F23C0-D1C8-4161-9731-0868E42072A4.jpg

369F31DD-035A-4B92-8301-EE7DDCB7DC2C.jpg
 
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No help at all with the car - In the side picture the rear fenders look a lot like a big Healey - and you are right about the Gilbern front - the back sure looks ugly though.

whereabouts in Toronto are you? I'm in Etobicoke
 
Welcome Admiral, I haven't the foggiest what that car is. It is very interesting though.
 
JPSmit said:
No help at all with the car - In the side picture the rear fenders look a lot like a big Healey - and you are right about the Gilbern front - the back sure looks ugly though.

whereabouts in Toronto are you? I'm in Etobicoke
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I'm downtown Toronto, Cabbagetown.
 
I've asked on another forum, where usually if you post a pic of some obscure car someone will reply in minutes with the manufacturer and model and whether the guy who assembled it took sugar, but so far nothing certain although suggestion is it might have started life as an Ashley Sportiva, but has been modified.

The bumpers (shiny bits across front and back, do you call them bumpers on the left hand side of the pond? :smile: ) and rear wings/fenders look like big Healey but the front doesn't look like anything I can think of!
 
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john_j said:
I've asked on another forum, where usually if you post a pic of some obscure car someone will reply in minutes with the manufacturer and model and whether the guy who assembled it took sugar, but so far nothing certain although suggestion is it might have started life as an Ashley Sportiva, but has been modified.

The bumpers (shiny bits across front and back, do you call them bumpers on the left hand side of the pond? :smile: ) and rear wings/fenders look like big Healey but the front doesn't look like anything I can think of!
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Looking at the Sportiva here I’d say that’s the likely genesis of this one-off. https://www.taketotheroad.co.uk/ebay-find-1962-ashley-sportive-gt/

The front is definitely in Gilbern territory.

Thanks for the investigative work!
 
Yes, pretty much. Daimler was in a hurry, and cash strapped, so most parts came from someone else's parts bin. The engine, obviously, was their creation, and so was the glassfibre body, but most other components can still be sourced. Mine had a frame-off about 10 years ago, and it took 4 years. But, the time was partly because of the changes I wanted. Example: it took almost a year to get a bell housing to mate the toyo 5-speed.
 
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