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I had a Gilbern Invader Mk11 in the 80’s. They had some very good points in that they were a fibreglass body of very high quality and made reasonably well considering the sheds that they were manufactured in. The one memory that stands out was the poor heating system which my wife complained about on numerous occasions. Interestingly enough the current owner contacted me recently to say that he is nearing a full restoration of the car.

Oh yes, the heater was terrible, and had no water control valve as standard, although somebody had fitted one on mine. I remember now on the motorway that the heater blew cold at 70!!

There was no ducting to the radiator either which just sat behind the grille in open space in the engine bay. They also used a hot shoe starter, which was neither inertia nor pre engaged, and boy, one of them took some finding. Until I fixed that, starting was hit and miss. I had a contact at Reliant through MG, and he sourced one.

Yes I agree, I don't think I've met anybody that would fit in there

We had two Invaders, one of them a rare estate. The saloon was my wife's car and was her transport as a District Nurse. Both very reliable and used for relatively big mileage. I don't remember a heater problem. It was an air blender system with the core permanently hot. Yes Dave, no water valve. A adjustable flap modulated the proportions of air going through the core or straight through. Important to bleed air from the coolant to make sure the core was full of water. Sold the estate to a local chef who used it for many years. The saloon went to a collection. We moved on to a DB Mk3 that I saw advertised a few years ago for an obscene amount of money. Memories.

Gilbern - the failed in Wales kit car!

Having said that I still have my late Mums Invader Mk3 tucked away as I can't bear to part with it.

A very late Mk3, purchased from the factory dispersal/liquidation sale with all paperwork to prove.

Arwyn

The Mk3 was probably the best sorted and best looking. Mine was a purple "Mk2" Estate. The shape worked well from some angles but not from others. It was my daily driver for 12 months, even though it challenged me constantly.

Arwyn .... with your skills have you never thought of reworking the Gilbern into the 'car it should have been' ?.... maybe a retirement project! 🙂

K

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.

I've always thought they were attractive looking cars. Here's one for sale which seemingly had a long-term owner.

https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1623058

That brings back memories. Mine was purple though.

Bought for £3500 in 1990, and sold a year later for the same amount.