The Frisky was the idea of Captain Raymond Flower, a racing driver and member of the Flower brewing family who ran a motor business in Cairo. When plans to build cars in Egypt collapsed with the Suez Crisis, he took his idea of a small, economical car for everyone to Henry Meadows Ltd, the Wolverhampton engine makers. Gordon Bedson and Keith Peckmore, both formerly of Kieft, built a prototype nicknamed “The Bug” with gull-wing doors and a 250 cc Villiers twin, which ran day and night for a week at Oulton Park in December 1956.
Vignale of Turin, through Giovanni Michelotti, styled the body shown at the 1957 Geneva Motor Show, still with gull-wing doors, to great acclaim. It proved too expensive to build, and the open Friskysport that appeared at Earls Court that October had conventional doors and a 324 cc engine. Production began at Fallings Park, Wolverhampton, in March 1958, and the range grew to include the Frisky Coupe and the three-wheeled Family Three, which qualified for lower tax and could be driven on a motorcycle licence.
Frisky Cars Ltd was wound up in 1959 over a debt to its body supplier, and a Wolverhampton businessman restarted production with the Family Three Mk2 and the Frisky Prince. In 1961 the business moved to Petbow of Sandwich, Kent, but facing the new Mini, the Prince sold poorly and production ended late that year.
