Mr. Bill Reiter at the 1964 Racing Car show, checking out the Emery G.T.

Emery GT

The Emery GT had a tuned Hillman Imp engine at the rear, along with the Imp gearbox which got inverted. The prototype had an aluminium body on a tubular space frame chassis; the 3 others specimens used fibreglass bodies. Independent suspension all round with coil spring damper units and wish bones. It had anti-dive at the front and anti-dip at the rear.
As it was constructed on an uneven floor, one door sill was deeper than the other. So the doors were of different heights.
A Ford engine was optional.

The Paul Emery stand at the 1964 Racing Car show exhibited the Emery GT (next to the DART).

In my Site evaluation guestbook:
Name: Bill Reiter
Tuesday, June 4th 2013 - 08:08 PM
Why did you visit: Trying to find my long lost Emery GT-P
Your general impression: Great! I'm a life long cohort of Paul Emery and his racing ventures.

As per the Emery-GTP: That was/is my car. I bought it from Paul Emery at the London Race Car Show and raced in Germany before taking it back to So. California. I raced it at Santa Barbra, and Riverside before losing my job at JPL. I left the car with Bob Boggio, who I had invested some $$$ in his RCA F-Vee Kit Car enterprise. I had to leave the car with Bob when moving to NC, and never heard from him since. As far as I'm concerned: This is a STOLEN Car!

From: Bill Reiter
Cc: Marty Reiter
Subject: Re: Emery GT-P
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013

As far as the engine: Paul first built the car with a 1000 cc Hillman Imp engine with a VW transaxle inverted. The shift pattern was in reverse, but I managed to get through the gates with no effort.

I ran the car in Int. Hill Climbs and closed race courses at AvD and ADAC events in Germany. [...]

Later on I took the car back to Paul for installation of a 1300 cc -stretched conversion block of his own design. I left the car and the VW with Paul, as I was subsequently sent back to Southern Cal. -where I had the car shipped to me upon completion of the work.

I may still have the shipping documents to verify all of this ---I will have to check later.

[...] Bob Boggio (my friend) took custody of my Emery when I left California for North Carolina and subsequently never responded to any of my follow-up queries after my departure. I feel that Boggio eventually disposed of the car, and I have had no further information until seeing this photo of the car - supposedly from the San Francisco area.

I have nothing but great memories of my relationship with Paul Emery and the opportunity he gave me to compete in what was truly a phenomenal race car. Even though it was lacking CC's/power, I nonetheless did creditable battle with the likes of the C-Sports racing Lotus 23's and Brabhams, and especially the Elva/Porsche's at Riverside/Ontario/Willow Springs/Santa Barbara tracks. I was able to pass the Elva with ease in the tight turns but was blown away on the straights. But there was no way I could hang with the Lotus 23's or BT-Brabhams of the day.

Bill Reiter, Scuderia Stiletto

From: Bill Reiter
Cc: Marty Reiter
Subject: Re: Emery GT-P
Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2013

I never discussed the VW transaxle question with Emery.
The VW unit was easy to adapt to the mid-engine layout of the Emery GT-P [P for prototype] and by merely flipping it upside down it was cheaper than dissemble the gear box to reverse the ring and pinion gear. In addition, since the GT-P car was built with a 1000 cc engine, the sturdy VW gearbox would easily handle the power range.

In addition, VW gearbox core was the basic unit for the higher priced 'Hewland' gearbox conversions featured quick/change gears and final drive ratios and used exclusively on most mid-engine race cars. Thus, using a standard VW gearbox cut the cost by probably several thousand dollars.

I purchased the car circa 1963 at the London Race Car Show. It was not the specimen on display, as Paul set about building me one from scratch. If I recall, the delivery price was about $3700.00

The original version was delivered with a modified 1000 cc Imp engine, and was fitted with 'Wills Rings' around each combustion chamber - thus eliminating the need for a head gasket and providing much higher compression ratio.

Bill Reiter, Thu, 6 Jun 2013 08:04 - Here's a view of Paul Emery's cylinder head mod: A grove is cut around each cylinder for insertion of a 'Wills Ring'. The Wills Ring had an inert gas that expanded with temp., thus sealing each cylinder without need of a head gasket. Thus allowing higher compression ratio for the combustion chambers.

However, due to the FIA-Group C Prototype classification rules, Sports Racing and GT-Prototype engines could run up to 1300 cc's. Paul designed a new wet-sleeve liner that could be replaced increasing the displacement to a full 1300 cc's. I took the car back to England after the 1964 season to have the new engine work done, but was transferred back to So. California before it was finished. I had the car shipped to California and raced it there in the C-Sports Racing Class -which allowed engines up to 1600 cc's. Thus the little car was again put at a disadvantage, and even though it had great cornering ability it could no way match a Lotus 23, Porsche Spyder, or an Elva Porsche with a full 1600 cc's.

The 'P' stands for GT-Prototype: The FIA classified Sports Racing cars, such as the Lotus 23's, and Porsche 550 Spyders; whereas the GT-Prototypes were closed Coupes. The FIA specified that a given number of GT-P's had to be built to homologate a given 'Factory' produced car.

From: Wolfgang Melenk
Date: Wed, 25 May 2005 10:46

Hi there,
searching for some info about the Emery GT  I found your homepage.
The Emery GT, obviously from Paul Emery, was a coupé with plastic body and Imp engine in central position. This car was published - with picture - in the German annual cars catalogue vol. 1965. The price in UK was 1212 pounds with serial engine, but it was also available in kit car form.
Do you have any knowledge about it?
Best regards - Wolfgang Melenk, Hamburg/Germany

AZ of sports cars / by Mike Lawrence. - Bideford : Bay View Books, 1996

"Emery GT, 1963
Although it was designed to be a practical road car, the Emery GT was a natural racer and in 1963 John Markey won his class 15 times from 16 starts. That was not enough to save the project when the backer died."

'Klaus' at ten-tenths.com saw an Emery GT with an Imp engine at the Nuerburgring in 1966 doing the 500km race. The driver might have been John Mockford, Klaus is not 100% sure. The car did not finish. It retired at section Hohe Acht, the highest point of the track. Klaus speculates that perhaps the engine overheated as a result of the ascending 3 miles from the bottom at Breitscheid. Apparently most cars stopping at that high part of the Ring, do so because of overheating problems.
The Emery at the Ring 500km in 66 was dark green, had a very long-tailed boot (LeMans Alpine A63 like) with a huge rear window.
The photo Klaus supplied is called Emery 66 front, suggesting there is also a photo of the rear...

According to Rob29, the Emery GT was a regular at British club meetings around 1966, driven by John Markey.

'Klaus' also sent in a photo to ten-tenths.com of the Ring in 1964, with the 500km race showing the north curve, with a low-nose-bonnet Marcos Fastback against a Diva, a rare Emery, a flock of DKW, BMW 700 , BMW Martini, Saab , Mini and Abarth.
There is also a video of this Nürburgring race in 1964, which briefly shows the earlier short tailed coupé. [1963]

he 500 km run of 1965, 5th Sept. on the Nürburgring had an Emery GTI listed (Emery - Hillman Imp GTI), entered by Paul Emery in group P850, driven by Bob Beavers, comp.no. 35. It did 13 laps, but did not finish. The other Emery entrant was an Emery - Hillman Imp in group P1.0, driven by Emery / Jeremy Delmar-Morgan, comp.no. 23. This one did not finish either, after 12 laps.

From: S. Bertrand in San Francisco, California
Subject: Emery GT
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2009

[...] Imps make nice vintage racers, but are very rare here. I am seeking information on Emery GTs. I know that one came to the US. It was white in color, had a 'Scuderia Stiletto' decal on it and a 1964 Brands Hatch decal on it as well. It appeared to be Imp based and not Ford 105e based as the Markey car. I wonder if any of your viewers might know of or have any pictures/ information other than those on your website regarding any Emery GTs.

	S. Bertrand [23 Nov. 2011]: The white Emery GT seen in the US years ago.
	S. Bertrand [23 Nov. 2011]: GT seen in the US. Subject of e-mail: Emery GT Scuderia Stiletto

From: S. Bertrand (via Stephen Booth)
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2011

Regarding the Emery GT cars, there was indeed a white fiberglass car owned by a collector in the San Francisco area. I saw it several years ago and took a picture. It had the circular Scuderia Stilleto badge on it. It was complete except for engine and trans. Frame was brazed joined. Everything there waiting for restoration. I wonder if this was the same car seen by Mr. Gay in the 60s in Germany, and maybe brought to the US by fellow identified by Mr. Gay who founded Scuderia Stilleto. If I can find any pictures, I will try to forward the same.

S. Bertrand

Literature

The Encyclopaedia of Motor Sport / Nick Georgano. - at p.435

The New encyclopedia of motorcars, 1885 to the present / G. N. Georgano, Thorkil Ry Andersen. - Dutton, 1982. - 688 p.

The 12 highly tuned Emery GTIs, Imps with their roofs chopped down by four inches, were of a later date.

Not Imp-related

4 Sep 1966 John Markey entered and drove a Emery GT Ford (comp.#24) in the Nürburgring 500 Km, in group WCS (Prototype 1000), but he DNF.
It was dark green, had a very long-tailed boot (Lemans Alpine A63 like) and a huge rear screen.