Bertone-styled British GT with a Chevrolet 327 V8 — and the famous tortoise badge.
The Gordon-Keeble GK1 is a British grand tourer styled by the young Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone, with a glassfibre body by Williams & Pritchard on a spaceframe chassis with De Dion rear axle and four-wheel disc brakes. Power comes from a Chevrolet Corvette 327 (5,354cc) V8 driving through a 4-speed manual gearbox.
Shown at Geneva 1960 as the Gordon GT prototype and launched in production form at the Savoy Hotel in early 1964, the GK1 was built at Eastleigh, then Southampton. The marque's tortoise badge dates from an early photoshoot: a pet tortoise wandered into the inaugural session and stayed.
One of the rarest British Anglo-American GTs and the first production commission for the young Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone. Provenance, completion history and documented originality are the defining factors.
| Variant | Years | Production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK1 | 1964–1967 | 100 | Chevrolet Corvette 327 (5,354cc) V8, around 300 hp, with a four-speed manual. 82 cars were completed before the company's 1965 collapse; subsequent completions brought the total to around 100. |
Inspect the glassfibre body by Williams & Pritchard, the spaceframe chassis and the De Dion rear axle carefully. Confirm the extent of any body restoration and originality of panels and trim against a Gordon-Keeble marque specialist. For the GK1 specifically, verify Chevrolet 327 V8 identity, De Dion rear axle originality and the Williams & Pritchard glassfibre body against a marque specialist.
Confirm the Chevrolet Corvette 327 (5,354cc) V8 and 4-speed manual against build records where available; verify service and rebuild history against a small-block Chevrolet specialist.
Production totals are contested — 82 cars completed before the 1965 collapse, with totals including later completions cited as 99–100. Confirm build date and completion history against marque-specialist sources.
Restoration standard, originality of body and driveline, and any documented ownership record are the main value drivers.
No verified public auction results are currently available for this model. We publish sale figures only from examples we have confirmed against auction house records, and will update this guide as results appear.
Rare Anglo-American British GT with an early Giugiaro-at-Bertone body. Provenance, completion history and documented originality separate the strongest examples.
Our view, not advice. This section is Car Collector International's editorial judgement on where this model sits in the collector market, based on the production, specification and market data set out in this guide. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell and it is not investment advice. Values can fall as well as rise.
Get new buyer's guides and collector market intelligence delivered to your inbox. No spam. We respect your inbox.
The valuation figures in this guide are for research purposes only and do not constitute financial or investment advice. See our full disclaimer.
