| Tornado
Cars Ltd was founded in 1957 by Bill
Woodhouse and Tony Bullen and was based in
Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, UK. Their first
model was the Tornado Typhoon Sports, which was
available as either a body for fitting directly
on to the Ford 8/10 chassis (following the then
current market trend for "specials"
based on Ford mechanical components) or with a
Tornado designed and manufactured chassis to
which a range of engines and transmissions could
be fitted. The Typhoon continued in production
until 1962 by which time some 400 models are
believed to have been made. The Tornado Tempest was
announced in 1960 and exhibited at the London
Racing Car shows in 1961 and 1962. The Tornado
Tempest was an intermediate model which bridged
the gap between the Ford side valve based Typhoon
and the as yet to be introduced Talisman. The
body was basically the same as the Tornado
Typhoon, but the model had a more complex tubular
chassis and coil spring front suspension. Power
came from the more modern overhead valve 997cc Ford 105E power unit. With a kerb
weight of 9 3/4 cwt for the two seater and a
power output of 39 bph at 5000 rpm the Tornado
Tempest performed reasonably well.
Produced
in kit form, the Tornado Tempest was marketed in
many different forms, 2 seater, 2 seater Coupe, 4
seater, 4 seater Coupe and a Sportsback. The
original price of a kit, which came as a complete
package of new parts was £595, an assembled car
was available ex-works at £1167.
In 1962, the
company introduced the Talisman 2+2 coupe
carrying an attractively styled fibreglass body
on a more sophisticated tubular steel chassis
with either Ford 1340cc or 1500cc engines, which
were available in various states of tune. This
model was available either in component form or
factory finished and was praised for having
lively performance combined with good ride and
handling characteristics, and a high standard of
finish. Cash-flow problems forced the company
into liquidation in 1964 after approximatley 186
Talismans had been made.
| |
Tornado
Tempest |
| Production |
1960 - 1962:
15 Built |
| Bodystyle |
Various |
| Engine |
997cc Ford
105E |
| Engine position |
Front |
| Driven wheels |
Rear |
It is believed that only 15 examples of all body
types of the Tornado Tempest were produced.
(Article Copyright © MellY
Designs - Please do not Reproduce without
Permission)
|
