Kieft Cars
Encyclopedia
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...
racing cars and some road going sports cars in a factory in Derry St, Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
.
Cyril Kieft
Cyril Kieft
Cyril Kieft was a Welsh industrialist and racing driver who produced Formula 3 cars in the 1950s.-References:*-External links:*...
was born in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
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
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
, Glamorgan making forgings 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
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...
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
Autodrome de Montlhéry
Autodrome de Montlhéry is an automobile racetrack, officially called L’autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry, located across the towns of Linas Bruyères-le-Châtel and Ollainville, outside Paris in the southside....
in France. One of the drivers was Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
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.
Goodwood Circuit
Goodwood Circuit is an historic venue for both two- and four-wheeled motorsport in the United Kingdom. The 2.4 mile circuit is situated near Chichester, West Sussex, close to the south coast of England, on the estate of Goodwood House, and completely encircles Chichester/Goodwood Airport...
where it won the Formula Three event driven by Moss. 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
Coventry Climax
Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...
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.
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.
Kieft Sports Car Co. Ltd. is now owned by Canadian Peter Schömer and based out of Chichester, West Sussex near Goodwood.
There is a new Sports Racer in the works using a Coventry Climax FPF 2.5 liter twin cam engine called the Kieft-Climax.
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