Pelland Engineering

Automotive manufacturer of Norfolk;Great Britain from 1978 to 1992.

Pelland Engineering is a British manufacturer of kit cars , which was based in Thetford (Norfolk) from 1979 to the 1990s . Founder and owner was Peter Pellandine , who until 1978 had operated a similar company called Pellandini Cars in Australia .Pellandine brought out the sports , a car based on the previously manufactured in Australia steam car . The two-seater sports had the drive of the VW Beetle , which was however installed as a mid-engine . This should improve the dynamic characteristics of the car. The monocoque body was made of GRP . The front axle with stabilizer was taken over by the VW and the rear axle hung on a transverse leaf spring designed by Pellandine. The car was generally designed as a roadster , but there was a hard top with gullwing doors .

The construction was sold in 1980 to Ryder Cars in Coventry (Warwickshire) . This company brought the car as Rembrandt  this company was sold to Graham Autos in Tyneside . Both mentioned companies built very few copies and after some time the construction was sold to Listair .Listair redesigned the design at the end of the 1980s and had the new vehicle out as Dash . On request, there was also a version with Alfasud engine .In 1990, Dash Sports Cars took over the project in Chesterwood (Hereford) .

In 1996/1997, Dash continued to sell the design to Richard Bell , who moved to Dana Point , California . Bell owns three copies of the car today and continues to research the history of the model.Chris Evans , who lives near Inverness , is the owner, secretary and treasurer of the Pelland Rembrandt Register . The club has only a few members, but tracked down to April 2009, nineteen surviving copies of the car. Evans owns five cars, two of which are fully roadworthy, two are restored and one is being prepared for the removal of molds for new fiberglass bodies. This last derivation of the original design will be slightly larger and more practicable in use, but should retain the character of Peter Pellandine's original.

With the Pellandine Steam Cat brought out of Australia, Pellandine wanted to break the world speed record for steam-powered land vehicles, which stood at 205.45 km / h. He tried this several times, but was thrown back again and again by technical problems. The last attempt was in 1991. Subsequently, the historic car was sold at Christie's and can be visited at the Lakeland Motor Museum at Holker Hall in Cark-in-Cartmel in Cumbria .

In 1989, Peter Pellandine released a completely new version of Pelland Sports. Also this car had a fiberglass body, but was equipped with a chassis with double wishbones and was powered by a built-in mid-engine Alfasud engine. There was both a roadster and a coupe with normal folding doors instead of the wing doors from the previous model. The roadholding of the vehicle was described in the magazine Kitcar International as "superb".

In the 1990s Pellandine returned to Australia to develop his steam car.