Pellandini Cars was a manufacturer of

kit car A kit car is an automobile available as a set of parts that a manufacturer sells and the buyer then assembles into a functioning car. Usually, many of the major mechanical systems such as the engine and transmission are sourced from donor ve ...

s during the early 1970s that was located in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

History

Englishman Peter Pellandine founded Pellandini Cars Ltd in 1970 at Cherry Gardens, South Australia. He first produced a curvy, gull-wing coupe that used a mid-mounted BMC

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

drivetrain of 1100 or 1275cc capacity. Alloy wheels were 10-inch at the front and 12-inch to the rear. The body was made of GRP with an integral GRP

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

. The suspension points were individually mounted directly to the GRP chassis as were the engine mounts. The seats were part of the chassis and not adjustable: instead the pedals moved. Even the steering rack was bolted to the GRP bulkhead. The car weighed 480kg and did 0 to 100 km in 5 secs. It had a one-piece nose section that hinged at the front which concealed the radiator and spare wheel. Pellandine also offered a roadster version in 1974 but these proved less popular. In all, seven coupés were sold. Most of these cars still remain, some having been rebuilt after motor racing accidents. Pellandine Steam Cat

Pellandine also embarked on a project to build a practical

steam car A steam car is a car (automobile) propelled by a steam engine. A steam engine is an external combustion engine (ECE) in which the fuel is combusted outside of the engine, unlike an internal combustion engine (ICE) in which fuel is combusted ins ...

with a contract from the South Australian Government. It used a double-acting two-cylinder 40hp engine mounted in the rear of a two-seater, with the condenser mounted on the rear deck like a racing wing. This steam car is now at the National Motor Museum at Birdwood South Australia. Pellandini Cars was wound up in 1978 before Pellandine returned to England, where he produced two further models both using a fibreglass monocoque chassis and mid-mounted engines.

References

* Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885 to present -

G.N. Georgano George Nicolas "Nick" Georgano (29 February 1932 – 22 October 2017Nick Georgano
Alvis Archive Bl ...

(1982)

History

References

See also