The Emery GT: still shrouded in mystery

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It's been many years since we wrote about the Emery GT. And to be honest, not much has happened since. And so the 1963 GT, introduced at that year's Racing Car Show in London by its instigator Paul Emery, remains a bit of an enigma. A pity, because we really like the thing. Maybe this update could bring some news?

Paul Emery, already known for his engineering on specials and racers, was a bit of a wizard when it came to the Hillman Imp powertrain, so it is perhaps no surprise that his Emery GT was Imp-powered as well. It was placed in a spaceframe and, with its ultra-low and shapely body, it truly was a lightweight, smartly styled machine.

It was not exactly a hit, though. No more than four Emery GTs are believed to have been built, the first of them with an aluminium body, the others in fibreglass. Jeremy Delmar-Morgan raced one at Brands, Mallory Park, Aintree, Silverstone and even the Nürburgring. Other pilots who raced one were Brian Lambert, P. McHugh, R.J. Leslie and Laurie Goodwin. And most of all John Markey, who campaigned a works car for a few years, and later as a privateer.

Yet these cars have slipped entirely from public view. Not a single example has been seen for ages. Still, one of them is believed to be hiding in the United States – and in fact a few pictures have popped up before, but these must be decades old by now. Another is rumoured to reside in Germany, possibly the Nürburgring entrant. Whether these cars still exist, or whether they lie dormant in barns awaiting rediscovery, remains unknown.

Words and picture: Jeroen Booij

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