Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) What is this?

I had an Invader Mk2 for many years. Bought as an (almost) running wreck when it was only 8 years old in 1979. I ran it from breakdown to breakdown for a year or two then rebuilt and very reliable after that. Many of the early problems were electrical and down to bad earths. It had a cracked rear screen when I bought it. I had assumed it was a front screen from a production car, it wasn't but was an unavailable screen made just for Gilberns. The Gilbern Owners Club was great and provided lots of information and a new rear screen from a batch made for them, along with some other hard to obtain items. The front suspension had MGC uprights on Gilbern wishbones, not TR6. The rear axle was also a rare MGC item. With good bushes and shock absorbers it all worked well. I replaced the heater box with one that worked, from a Dolomite, a lot of work to do but the original just heated the engine bay.

In the 80's and 90's several owners took part in hill climbs and they did well against similar opposition. Once sorted the Invader went very well and was reasonably economical to run with a high overdrive top cruising gear. My engine was rebuilt to 3.1 with unleaded big valve heads and a sensible road cam, it was a delight to drive and quick in it's time. It was featured in a couple magazine "group test" articles and beat the opposition, TR6, Vitesse, MGB etc.

I think the Mk3 Invader was a better looking car than the Mk2 but it had rather wallowing Mk3 Cortina based suspension and steel wheels as standard, it was cheaper made than the Mk2. They were expensive cars when new, nearly as expensive as an E-Type I think. The Mk2 had a classic walnut dash with lots of chrome rimmed instruments, complete with (very slow) electric windows. The interior looked good but the seats were not very comfortable. The rear seats were useless if the passengers had legs! The fuel tanks are in the boot and any leak makes the boot contents smell of fuel.

My car is still running and I am in contact with its current owner as well as a few other owners. The Gilbern Owners Club is a must for any owner. The survival rate for Gilberns is quite good, the club can even provide some panels.