Rochdale
Between 1948 and 1973 Rochdale Motor Panels and Engineering in Rochdale, that is Greater Manchester, England invented Rochdale cars which were mainly glass fiber bodied British sports cars. Their best invention was the Olympic coupé which was made between 1959 and 1973.
In 1948 Frank Butterworth and Harry Smith while running an old mill decided to come up with the company. Earlier on motor parts were repaired in Rochdale and they even made some alloy bodies, usually single seat, for racing Austin 7s and other cars for themselves but later they sold them as the Mk II.
The Rochdale Olympic was Manufactured by Rochdale Motor Panels and Engineering and was designed by Richard Parker. Its production was done in 1959 – 1973 about 400 cars were made Its Predecessor was Rochdale GT but it did not had any Successor. It was a class kit car it even had Transmission which was usually 4-speed manual. Wheelbase was 86.5 in (2197 mm). Length and width was 147 in (3734 mm) and 64 in (1626 mm) respectively.
In 1954 Rochdale stopped making glass fiber instead started producing the MK IV. They made about 150 of them and the body cost was £47 10shillings (£47.50). It was only available till 1961. In 1955 the ST was produced which was more of a complete kit. Which comprised of the doors and bonnet which were well fitted and it even included bulkheads.
Then Rochdale introduced most popular of its production called GT, which sold around 1350 units. There is story behind making of GT. Harry Smith’s wife wanted a proper car, with a roof and seats for her children. So she took help of a local lad named Richard Parker, for designing GT. It is said that GT little bit resembles to the E-type Jaguar which was launched four years later. In earlier times there were very few features in kit cars. The GT was a great success in market it was appealing, was very spacious it had space for small rear seats and was easy to fit.
In 1959 a new model was made that was named Riviera which was a convertible version of the GT. Its plus point was that it had two seat as well four seat model and hardtop was optional. Round about 50 of them were made till 1962 and its cost was £140. The original premises were burnt into fire in 1961 so company had shifted to little dale Mill without affecting the business they continued working mainly for heating and ventilation Industry.
In 1959 Richard Parker came up with important discovery named Monocoque Olympic it turned out to be removal of barrier to progress. The features of car were really worth its price. The second glass fiber Monocoque bodied car. It had a closed coupé style body shell and it comprised 2+2 seating but Monocoque Olympic did not had the rear seats they were very cramped and many builders often left them out. Even winds down windows were installed like many other sports and low production cars of that time.
In 1963 The Phase II Olympic was launched at the London Racing Car Show. The complete car kit price was around £735 or fully built for £930 and round about 150 of them were made. But decline of the company started at a rapid rate after 1967 but still till 1973 the body of the car was made.
In June 1981 the Rochdale Owners Club was formed by a group of owners who were keen to establish a club exclusively for the Rochdale marquee. The body moulds of the cars are now owned by the Rochdale Owners Club.
- Nitika Malhotra
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