Content deleted Content added
RB211Trent (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| (48 intermediate revisions by 36 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Kieft
| logo = Kieft racing logo.svg
| caption =
| type =
| genre =
| fate =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| foundation =
| founder = [[Cyril Kieft]]
| defunct =
| location_city = [[Wolverhampton]]
| location_country = UK
| location =
| locations =
| area_served =
| key_people =
| industry = Formula 3 cars
| products =
| services =
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| aum =
| assets =
| equity =
| owner =
| num_employees =
| parent =
| divisions =
| subsid =
| homepage =
| footnotes =
| intl =
}}
[[File:Stirling Moss Zandvoort 1951.jpg|thumb|right|[[Stirling Moss]] won the Formula 3 support race at the [[1951 Dutch Grand Prix]] driving a Kieft]]
[[
'''Kieft Cars''', founded by [[Cyril Kieft]], was a British car company that built [[Formula Three]] racing cars and some road going sports cars in a factory in Derry St, [[Wolverhampton]].<ref name="Georgano">''The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present''. By [[G.N. Georgano]], Dutton Press, New York, 2nd ed. 1973, {{ISBN|0-525-08351-0}}</ref>
[[Cyril Kieft]] was born in [[Swansea]] and spent his early working life in the steel industry. After the second World war he started up his own company Cyril Kieft and Co Ltd in [[Bridgend]], Glamorgan making fordings and pressings including components for the motor industry. He had an interest in motor racing and when the [[Marwyn]] company, who had built [[Formula Three]] cars, failed he bought the designs and used them as a base for his own 500cc car. Several of these were sold and some competition success resulted. Publicity was gained by successful attempts on a series of records at [[Autodrome de Montlhéry]] in France. One of the drivers was [[Stirling Moss]] who explained the shortcomings of the cars. As a result of this a new design was acquired and Moss joined the company which moved to new premises at Reliance Works in Derry Street, Wolverhampton.▼
==History==
▲[[Image:Kieft GP car Donington pits.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Although best known for their F3 designs, Kieft did design a [[Formula One]] car. It had to wait until 2002 to make its race debut.]]
▲[[Cyril Kieft]] was born in [[Swansea]] and spent his early working life in the steel industry. After the
For the 1951 season a new design by Gordon Bedson, who had joined the company from the aircraft industry, was produced in time for the Whit Monday Meeting at [[Goodwood Circuit|Goodwood]] where it won the Formula Three event driven by Moss. [[Don Parker (formula driver)|Don Parker]] was employed as works driver and won the British Formula Three championships in 1952 and 1953.▼
▲
In 1954 Kieft started to make a two seater sports car which could also be used as a road car. Using a [[Coventry Climax]] FWA engine, all independent suspension using transverse leaf springs at the rear and a lightweight glass fibre body the car was really a racing car and at £1560 it is doubtful if any were bought just as road cars. ▼
Between 1953 and 1954, Kieft designed a [[Formula One]] car. It was designed to accommodate a [[Coventry-Climax]] Godiva engine, but the engine was not released in time due to fears it would be uncompetitive, and the project was shelved. It would later be acquired by Bill Morris, a former ERA driver, and restored for historic racing. The car finally debuted in September 2002 at a [[Vintage Sports-Car Club|VSCC]] Silverstone meeting, with Cyril Kieft in attendance.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Kieft GP car makes debut|magazine=Motor Sport|page=7|date=November 2002|access-date=31 July 2021|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-2002/7/kieft-gp-car-makes-debut}}</ref> It also raced in the [[2006 Historic Grand Prix of Monaco]].
The company was losing money and at the end of 1954 Kieft sold the company to racing driver Berwyn Baxter. ▼
▲In 1954, Kieft started to make a two
Kieft Cars left Wolverhampton in 1956 and moved to nearby Birmingham where they concentrated on preparing and tuning other makes of cars. There were plans for a return to making Kieft cars but these failed to materialise. The company was sold again in 1960 and changed its name to Burmans.▼
▲The company was losing money and at the end of 1954 Kieft sold the company to racing driver Berwyn Baxter.
▲Kieft Cars left Wolverhampton in 1956 and moved to nearby Birmingham, where they concentrated on preparing and tuning other makes of cars. There were plans for a return to making Kieft cars but these failed to materialise. The company was sold again in 1960 and changed its name to Burmans.
== See also ==
* [[List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
*[[G.N. Georgano]] "Adams-Farwell", ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885-1968''. New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., 1974, p. 27.
*[[G.N. Georgano]], editor: ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present''. Dutton Press, New York, 2nd ed. 1973, {{ISBN|0-525-08351-0}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Kieft vehicles}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090828061758/http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051031071828/http://www.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051118231153/http://www.500race.org/Marques/Kieft.htm Kieft 500cc racing cars]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Wolverhampton]]
[[Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Sports car manufacturers]]
[[Category:British racecar constructors]]
| |||