Ashley 1172

Ashley Laminates of Loughton, Essex were one of a number of small companies offering fibreglass bodies for the Austin 7 and 1172 93A Ford 10. They started in 1954 and bodies were open or a coupe. From 1958 they supplied their own ladder frame chassis which could take various engines including Ford, BMC A-series and the MGA A and MGB units. By 1961 Ashley Laminates were offering the Sportiva with coupe and convertible bodies with two or four seats. It was to become the basis for the Reliant Sabre.
From the mid 1950's there were a number of companies offering fibreglass body kits for the older chassis in modern styles. They developed into complete cars supplied as kits for home assembly as this avoided the purchase tax payable on factory built cars.