Pellandini Cars

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pellandini Cars is a manufacturer of kit cars during the early 1970s that was located in South Australia.

[edit] History

The Pellandini roadster

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 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 GRPchassis. 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 bolted to the GRP bulkhead. It weighed 480 kilograms and did 0 to 100 kms in 5 secs It had a one-piece nose section that hinged at the front which concealed the radiator and spare wheel. He also offered a roadster version in 1974 but these proved less popular. In all, seven coupés were sold.

Pellandine also embarked on a project to build a practical steam car with backing from the 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.

Pellandini Cars was wound up in 1976 before Pellandine returned to England.