OUTSTANDING GORDON KEEBLE

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30930, 10 December 1965, Page 15

OUTSTANDING GORDON KEEBLE

'A POPULAR formula for a **■ high-performance luxury car. which can be sold st a com* paritively reasonable price, is using an American V 8 engine in a European-built and designed chassis. Sueh la the pattern for the £3827 (In Britain) Gordon Keeble, which we tested briefly thia week. Because of bad weather and limited time we did not submit the Gordon Keeble to our normal road-test route, but nevertheless the journey was sufficient to give a good impression of the car’s potential and road behaviour. It was made available by the owner, Mr R. H. Stewart, of Christchurch. The Gordon Keeble concern, now Keeble Cara, has made fewer than 100 cars— Mr Stewart’s, which arrived in New Zealand only recently, was number 82. The frm has had some difficulty becoming established, but after driving the car, we can unreservedly say the venture thoroughly deserves to succeed.

The Gordon Keeble is one of the outstanding high-per-formance models of tEa de- “£•*“* 0M whkh n ®- doubtedly offers excellent value to the buyer of this class of car.

. The Gordon Keeble is a twodoor four-seat coupe, with very higb-dass fibreglass eo *s° wort - and powered by a 300 bXp. Chevrolet V 8 aaglne. Girling disc brakes are fitted, and power assist“fee is_provided by two •ervos. There an two separate brake reservoirs for nrety, and the large cross* now radiator has two thermoelectric fans, which operate only when rising engine temperatures makes them necessary.

Xa the best tradition of British quality can, the Gordon Koahle has restrained good looks. At the front are four headlights, which give excellent light for fast night driving, Mr Stewart says. The heavily-padded (for sound-proofing) bonnet has to be propped up, and reveals the capacious engine compartment, which is nevertheless well-filled by the V 8 engine, brake servos, fans and so on. The engine has a four-choke carburettor.

Large windows and slim pillars give good visibility, which is marred only by a rearvision mirror which vibrates badly. INTERIOR The Interior is trimmed in blade. luxuriously but not ostentatiously. Quilted padding is used on the front bulkhead, and a central console carries the minor controls. The stubby level which operates the fourspeed. all synchromesh gearbox is between the seats, as is the pull-up handbrake. On a small panel in the centre of the dash (there is a

very largo glovebox on the left) are the less-frequently required dials—-dock, fuel gauge and ammeter. The car does about 20 miles a gallon, and carries 11 gallons of fuel in each of two tanks.

The large, clear speedometer, reading to 180 miles an hour about 30 miles an hour above the car’s top speed—and rev. counter, together with oil and temperature gauges and warning lights for alternator, indicators and handbrake, are directly in front of the driver, dearly visible through the woodrimmed steering wheel, which is adjustable. A stalk on the left of the steering column controls indicators and headlight flasher, and that on the right the horn. SWITCHES

Toggle switches for wipers, lights, screen washer and other fittings are on the central console, dearly labelled and in easy reach of the driver's left hand. The console also has controls for the fresh-air heater and houses a self-seeking radio. When a button is pushed the radio will automatically “search” and select the next strongest station.

The Individual front seats are fully adjustable and very comfortable, giving good support in all directions. The rear seats are of the semiarmchair type, very comfortable and providing good leg room.

The windows are poweroperated. Their control buttons are on the central console. Inertia-reel seat belts are built in. The gear-lever carries a sliding collar which has to be lifted before engaging reverse gear. Outside the car there la a

vary healthy burble from the twin exhausts, but inside the occupants are very well insulated from tillage mechanical and the noise of the outside Mrarolaß WTORt'Ones in the driving seat it is easy to obtain an excellent driving position, and Were to very gmereus headroom both front and roar- The pedals are wail-placed and very light to operate, but there could be more room for resting the left foot PERFORMANCE The engine, with its compression ratio of 10.5 to 1, tolerates 86 octane fuel but would prefer a richer diet The diaphragm dutch is extremely light but has a fairly long travel. Acceleration is outstanding —the car will reach 60 m.pJ>. from a stop in leas than six seconds but remarkably smooth and silent There to never any impresston of fierce acceleration—just the rapid movement of the speedometer needle around the dial. Maximum revs are about 5500, and this gives a firstgear maximum speed of about 60 m.p.h. Third has a maximum of nearly 100 m.p.h. During the test we rarely exceeded 4000 r.p.m, reaching about 5200 r.p.m. only once. The engine also is remarkably flexible, and will propel the car smoothly in top gear when only idling. Once on the move, it is rarely necessary to use anything but top, though third gives extremely rapid acceleration for overtaking.

GEARS The gear movements are very short and fairly precise, and the synchromesh is unbeatable. The change on the test car, which had done about 2500 miles, was a little

heavy, but generally eacdleut The dtoc brakes are vaty powerful, snnotii and most progreeeive, and together with the ecceteraticn gtvw the greetaut eefety in ataxnt any sttuatton. The auapanatan to independent at the front and De Dton at the rear. R gtvea a watt*. <ta wined Mid moot cocnfect* ablerMe with very ttttie The steering to direct and reasonably light, but has only moderate feet The turning drele to good. The Gordon Keeble prefers to be cornered under power, but is In no way fussy. Normolly .there to e etigbt but noticeeMe underateer, changbig slowly to a neutral condition, beyond which we did mA explore. Hard acceleration will naturally encourage a progressive power oversteer. The car always felt safe and responded accurately to small wheel movements. Ride and handltag at speed are exceHent, the wipers dear the screen well and do not lift, and wind notoe is low, although there to a loud hiss if a window is opened only slightly. There are no front quarterHgbts. Although the performance stopping power, safety, visibility and comfort of the Gordon Keeble are all excellent, the most outstanding feature is the extremely smooth and quiet manner in which the car runs at all times, at speed on the open road or trickling along in traffic. Publicity material refers to the “whispering giant” with considerable justification.

Without doubt the Gordon Keeble is a truly outstanding car, and one which can give greet pleasure to the discerning driver.