This is a 1976 Piper P2, it’s a rare and surprisingly affordable British sports car with Le Mans-inspired styling, a well-designed cockpit, and a drivetrain that’s nice and easy to source parts for.
The P2 you see here was restored in 1997, then repainted in 2023. It’s the best-presented Piper we’ve seen come up for sale in quite some time, and it’s now being offered for sale on Car & Classic. These typically sell for quite reasonable sums, usually well-below 20,000 clams, making them quite an approachable classic for those looking for something a little unusual.
Fast Facts: The Piper P2
- This 1976 Piper P2 has been in the hands of its current owner since December of 1979, a remarkable 46 year period of continuous ownership with just two registered owners before that. It’s been garage-stored throughout, and all records of significant events and purchases have been retained for the new owner.
- The car is powered by a 1.7 liter Ford Crossflow inline-four fed by twin 40 Weber DCOE carburetors, mated to a 4-speed Ford 2000E gearbox and a rear axle from a 3.0 liter Capri. A replacement Stage 2 engine was installed by Anglian Engines in 1997, and the car is said to run well.
- A comprehensive body-off restoration was carried out in 1997, during which the subframe was zinc-galvanized and strengthened, a roll cage was added, and the interior was retrimmed in cloth. The bodywork was then resprayed in 2023 in the closest possible match to the original color, and the car presents well throughout.
- With just 98 Piper P2s believed built and examples only rarely appearing for sale, this extensively documented car represents a genuine rarity. It is now being offered for sale out of Surrey on Car & Classic, and the seller describes it as “one of the best examples” of the model available.
History Speedrun: Piper Cars
Piper Cars was founded in the mid-1960s as a small, garagiste-type company out of Campbell’s Garage in Kent, England. The company was similar to the likes of TVR, Marcos, Ginetta, Lotus, and countless other low-volume automakers in England that built sports cars with fiberglass bodies and tubular steel chassis – with engines, suspension, brakes, and many other parts sourced from common production cars from the time.
This is a 1976 Piper P2, it’s a rare and surprisingly affordable British sports car with Le Mans-inspired styling, a well-designed cockpit, and a drivetrain that’s nice and easy to source parts for.
The first car made by the company was the Piper Sports Racer introduced in 1966. It was an elegantly designed open-topped sports car with a lightweight fiberglass body, a tubular steel spaceframe chassis, and a choice of engines to suit various racing classes.
The team at Piper quickly realized they could do a roaring trade if they developed a hardtop coupe that could be set up as either a road-legal car or a race car. The result was the Piper GT, it was styled by Tony Hilder, the same man who had designed the Piper Sports Racer, and it was introduced at the 1967 Racing Car Show.
The interest around the Piper GT was immense, pre-orders flooded in and the company looked set to be a significant new competitor to the likes of Lotus and TVR.
As was probably predictable, the company faced some quality control issues as they ramped up production. This resulted in the Piper GT being modified to address these concerns, and turned into the Piper GTT.
Racing driver Brian Sherwood would be in charge of evolving the earlier Piper GT into the more refined Piper GTT. He had earlier bought one of the Piper Sports Racers, so he knew the design had significant potential.
Once the teething issues had been worked out the GTT was put into production as a kit car, or as a complete turnkey car depending on the buyer’s preference. At the time there was no UK Purchase Tax applied to cars that were sold in kit form, this tax loophole had greatly helped the British kit car industry.
The Piper GTT was based on simple, reliable Ford running gear – which made sourcing spare parts nice and easy for owners. As orders for the new car came in it was clear that the two wings of the Piper company, the tuning arm on one side and the automotive arm on the other, were going to need separate premises.
This car underwent a comprehensive body-off restoration in 1997. During this process, the subframe was zinc-galvanized and strengthened, a roll cage was fitted, and the interior was retrimmed in cloth to replace the original leatherette.
In December of 1969, company owner Brian Sherwood would be killed in a car accident. This tragedy very nearly spelled the end for Piper Cars, however two Piper Cars employees, Bill Atkinson and Tony Waller, would take over the company – they renamed it Emmbrook Engineering and continued building the GTT.
In 1971 Emmbrook Engineering would unveil the Piper P2, a revised version of the GTT with improvements to the chassis, body, and interior. The P2 was a notable upgrade over the earlier cars, integrating many lessons that had been learned along the way.
The P2 would remain in production until the mid-1970s – the end of production was caused by a number of factors including the entry of the UK into the European Economic Community (EEC) which closed the kit car UK Purchase Tax loophole, it also resulted in the EEC Motor Vehicles (Type Approval) Regulations coming into effect which were very difficult for small manufacturers to meet.
The Piper P2 is now seen as the best, final model from the company, and the few surviving examples are much sought after.
The 1976 Piper P2 Shown Here
Remarkably, this 1976 Piper P2 has been in the current owner’s possession since December of 1979 – a continuous period of 46 years. Before that, the car had just two registered owners. It’s been garage-stored throughout and serviced as needed despite its low mileage of 6,966 miles – the odometer and tachometer were recalibrated during a restoration in 1997.
This P2 is powered by a 1.7 liter Ford Crossflow inline-four fed by twin 40 Weber DCOE carburetors, paired with a 4-speed Ford 2000E gearbox (the three-rail version) and a 3.0 liter Capri rear axle with a 3.77:1 gear ratio.
Records covering all significant events and purchases have been kept and will be handed over to the new owner as part of an extensive documentation package. The car is registered as “MAM 870P” and is exempt from both MOT testing and road tax due to its age.
This P2 is powered by a 1.7 liter Ford Crossflow inline-four fed by twin 40 Weber DCOE carburetors, paired with a 4-speed Ford 2000E gearbox (the three-rail version) and a 3.0 liter Capri rear axle with a 3.77:1 gear ratio.
A replacement Stage 2 Ford Crossflow engine was installed in 1997 by Anglian Engines, and the car runs a Stage 2 Piper cam alongside a “Piper” all-steel rocker assembly. Additional mechanical work includes a Kenlowe electric fan, a new alternator, and a new radiator with associated pipework.
Power servo-assisted braking is fitted, and the engine is reported to run well, though it requires a leaded fuel additive, and some minor oil leaks from the gearbox and rear axle have been noted in the listing.
As mentioned higher up, this car underwent a comprehensive body-off restoration in 1997. During this process, the subframe was zinc-galvanized and strengthened, a roll cage was fitted, and the interior was retrimmed in cloth to replace the original leatherette.
The bodywork was then resprayed in 2023, finished in what is described as the closest possible match to the previous color after accounting for fading over the years. The only cosmetic wear mentioned is a few scratch marks on the driver’s side seat from getting in and out.
The bodywork was then resprayed in 2023, finished in what is described as the closest possible match to the previous color after accounting for fading over the years. The only cosmetic wear mentioned is a few scratch marks on the driver’s side seat from getting in and out.
The seller describes this as “one of the best examples” of the model available, and with just 98 P2s believed built and the model only rarely appearing on the open market, this extensively documented, long-term-ownership example is a genuinely rare opportunity for the right buyer.
It’s now bring offered for sale out of Surrey in the United Kingdom on Car & Classic, you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid.
Images courtesy of Car & Classic
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
