Ogle SX1000 GT (1962-1963): a short story of a “horned horse” with a tragic end

The life of this car, however, like its creator David Ogle, was short. The story seemed touching and worth remembering and telling about the humble 2-seater sports coupe.


The fame of car manufacturers haunts many restless minds. Chroniclers of the industry will give many examples of companies that ended their operations as soon as they started. Then the model stars flash brightly in the automotive sky and quickly go out. The hero of our review, the Ogle SX1000 GT, is one of them.

About the manufacturer

A personality that is too versatile is a disaster. He is interested in a lot of things, gets involved in different things. Often, passionate people spend their entire lives searching for their calling, never fully revealing their rich nature.


That was David Ogle (1921-1962). A lot of events fit into the short biography of the British man. As long as he lived, he studied so much: at the prestigious Rugby School, Oxford University, and London's Central School of Art. Digging into the biography, you will be pleased to learn about the “impeccable reputation” of the honorary English citizen.

Oglu was especially close to industrial design, so he created radios at Murphy Radio and Bush Radio. By the way, the iconic TR82 transistor is the work of David. Worked on other household electrical appliances.

But in a moment of danger for the homeland, when the King of Great Britain in 1940 addressed an appeal to his brothers and sisters, the young man did not hesitate. I went into military aviation. As a pilot, he earned the Distinguished Service Cross and became a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Automotive and prototype

However, cars remained a fixed idea. To this end, in 1954 he founded the Ogle Design company in Hertfordshire. Developing a design from scratch was expensive and not timely. I started with a simple thing: I took a Mini Cooper and put a new fiberglass body on the small car.


Compatriots who heard about the service flocked to the factory’s workshop. For the exclusive appearance of the cars, owners shelled out £550.

It was no coincidence that David chose Mini: the car was cheap, simply designed, and repairable. But something else prompted the master to customize – the incredible fame of “Cooper”.

The phenomenon of the tiny machine has not yet been solved. The appearance of the work of the Greek stylist Alec Issigonis is naive, doll-like, the characteristics are so-so. The only things that can be highlighted are practicality, maneuverability, and reliability of the design.


The listed qualities made the model the most popular in the 20th century. After Ford's Tin Lizzie, of course. On this occasion, studies were conducted with the participation of 120 pundits and a public opinion poll.

And the facts spoke for themselves. World celebrities, including singer Madonna, football player Lionel Messi, considered their richest car collections incomplete without the baby “Mini”.

Winemaking

So, the young industrialist developed a strategy. The business promised to be profitable. Moreover, the source code was located in England. But the donor manufacturer, British Motor Corporation, caught on.


The corporation's management strongly objected to competition. Therefore, the aspiring industrialist was soon taken by the scruff of the neck. What arguments the offender gave, history is silent, but the dispute ended peacefully. The BMC bosses agreed to leave Ogle alone on the condition that the name “Mini” would not be used in the advertising campaign (where would we be without her!).

"All right!" – David saluted and continued what he started. But in a different way: he imported ready-made chassis and dressed them in “shirts” of his own making. He gave the model a family name and assigned the index SX1000 GT.

Having started mass production (not customizing neighbors' cars) in 1962, the businessman put a price tag on the product - 1190 pounds sterling. I also developed a logo, as befits a registered car brand.

Coupe review

On the radiator grill of the car there was an unusual icon - a horned horse. The bestiary (zoological list) of mythical animals does not answer what kind of horse Oglu dreamed of. Unicorn, yes, we know: one inappropriate object in the forehead. But for three?..


Now there is a frenzied race among collectors for these nameplates, because the entrepreneur managed to create only 69 units of the coupe. One car went to auction in August 2023. The transaction amount was not disclosed. But experts are well aware of the kind of money we are talking about, so the surviving specimens are restored with great care.

Exterior, interior

Like the prototype, the Ogle SX1000 GT is a good-looking creature. The fiberglass load-bearing bodies delighted with their rich colors. The neat radiator grille of the 2-door was decorated with twin headlights.


Dimensions of the model with a weight of 590 kg:

✅ Length - 3404 mm
✅ Width - 1473 mm
✅ Height - 1181 mm

The center distance of 2032 mm was enough to comfortably accommodate two riders in the cabin. The devices on the parprise are large, laconic, and easy to read. The manufacturer avoided leather upholstery in the interior so as not to increase the cost of the product.

Motors and chassis

The mechanics, by agreement between the parties, came from Mini without changes. That is, the drive was supplied to miniature 10-inch rear wheels. Carburetor power supply.


Under the hood, a transversely mounted 4-stroke gasoline engine chugged. Characteristics of the in-line 4-cylinder engine:

✅ Volume - 1,2 l
✅ Power - 75 liters. With. at 6,0 thousand rpm
✅ Moment of force - 107 N * m at 3,0 thousand rpm

Picture from operational data: speed limit – 180 km/h, fuel consumption – 8,1 l/100 km.

However, the listed parameters applied to the top version of the Ogle SX1000 coupe. The standard version was equipped with a 55-horsepower engine from the Mini Cooper with a displacement of 997 cm³. The speedometer needle in the base reached 145 km/h.


A 4-speed manual transmission worked in tandem with the power plants. The suspension was independent rubber, the front disc brakes and hydraulic drum brakes on the rear axle.

Tragic ending to the story

Twice we focused attention on the material of the model bodies. Fiberglass. It’s clear why the promising British industrialist chose it. Bending and stamping metal cases is expensive and troublesome.

Additional production space, welding, painting with stages of priming, anti-corrosion treatment and other technological operations will be required. Fiberglass is much lighter. But is the material flammable? It will work out!.. Not this time.

On May 25, 1963, a car race took place in Kent at the Brands Hatch race track. The start of the exciting event was delayed minute by minute, awaiting the arrival of David Ogle. The latecomer flew on his brainchild with a horned horse on the front end, squeezing the impossible out of the engine.


An oncoming truck ended the auto designer's career and life. 41-year-old Ogle had no chance of getting out of the melting body engulfed in fire. After the incident, the authorities banned the use of flammable materials in the bodies. Individual elements - yes, but not the entire body.

I don’t want to end the story about an outstanding British citizen on a sad note. It’s hard to think how much David would have done if he had not yet reached adulthood in his profession. Therefore, we add: the legacy of the deceased is not limited to one Ogle SX1000 coupe. The stylist managed to develop the concept of an eccentric Aston Martin DBS V8 with 22 taillights. The car was shown to the public in Montreal in 1972.