A racing mechanic with considerable experience of spaceframe construction, Bernie Rodger was approached by John Gordon (later of Gordon-Keeble fame) and James ‘Jimmy’ Byrnes to built the prototype of a new 2+2 sports saloon: the Warwick.

Byrnes and Rodger had decided that money could be made in the low volume production of a readily available, low-cost sports GT.

For Jimmy Byrnes, it had been a natural choice to consider using Triumph TR mechanical components, as more or less the entire management board of Standard-Triumph were regular customers at his new restaurant.

Noteworthy features of this very pretty Italianate GT included leaf-sprung De Dion rear suspension and the Triumph TR3 2.0-litre engine, overdrive gearbox, and front suspension, including its disc brakes.

By the time production began in 1958 the car had been renamed 'Peerless' with the name deriving from the Slough premises at which it was originally manufactured and where redundant World War 1 American army lorries w...