They performed general motor repairs and made themselves some alloy bodies, usually single-seaters, for racing Austin 7s and other cars.

In 1954 Rochdale launched the Mark IV, using a glass fibre, two-door, two-seater body that was supplied as a bare shell.

In addition to a suitable chassis, the purchaser/builder had to provide all the interior fittings and the brackets to locate the mechanical components.

[1] The GT was designed for the Ford Popular and was based on the Rochdale F type racing body, but a roof was added to increase the chassis's torsional stiffness (flex) compared to the open ST.

Unlike many sports and low production cars of the time, wind down windows were installed.

Production started in 1960 using a Riley, twin-carburettor version, of the 1.5 litre BMC B-series engine, independent front suspension by torsion bar modified from that of the Morris Minor and a live rear axle suspended by coil springs.

[5] The Phase II Olympic was introduced in 1963 at the London Racing Car Show[3] and was now standardised on a 78  bhp Ford 116E 1500 cc engine.

The front suspension now uses Triumph wishbone units whilst the rear uses a BMC axle with coil springs.