Rare Rides: The 1972 Gilbern Invader, Obscure and Welsh
Let’s check the company’s most successful model, the Invader.
Gilbern Sports Cars was founded in 1959, by former butcher
Giles Smith and German engineer
Bernard Friese. Friese was familiar with fiberglass construction and had previously built himself a car for fun. Said car was very handy because it became the basis for Gilbern’s new sports cars.
Gilberns were initially only available as kits, but at some point later the factory also churned out fully completed vehicles. The first kits out of their small Welsh factory were the GT, a 2+2 coupe on offer from 1959 to 1967. First powered by engines from BMC or Coventry Climax, the GT later moved on to MG engines. 280 GTs were produced.