Lot 412: Argyll GT Turbo

Most students of automotive history will be familiar with the name ‘Argyll’. This manufacturer built motor vehicles of good quality in Glasgow until 1928, having been founded during 1899. During a period immediately prior to the Great War they were in fact one of Britain’s five largest car manufacturers with an extensive factory close to Loch Lomond. The name was re-used in 1976 by a new company who made a mid-engined sports car, the Argyll GT in Lochgilphead, Scotland. The new manufacturing company was founded by ex-Mini racer and turbocharger expert Bob Henderson. The car being named after the original Argyll of 1898, in honour of a grandfather of one of the investors who worked in the Argyll factory at Alexandria. The only model was the Argyll GT (or "Turbo GT"), which was based on a sturdy box section chassis with space frame clothed in a fibreglass bodyshell made next door to the old Arrol-Johnston factory in Dumfries by Solway Marine.The suspension came from the Triumph 2500 and the gearbox was a ZF 5 speed unit. The car was mid-engined and powered by a choice of engines including a normal or turbocharged Rover V8 engine, a Straight-4 Saab and the Douvrin Euro V6 as used by Renault, Peugot and others. By undoing 10 bolts, the entire rear end, suspension, gearbox and engine comes away. A top speed of 160 mph