Frank Butterworth and Harry Smith founded Rochdale Motor Panels and Engineering in Rochdale in 1948, repairing car bodies and building alloy bodies for racing specials before moving into glass-fibre.
Rochdale’s glass-fibre bodies were designed to fit the chassis of popular cars, and the GT of 1957 to 1960, sold as a body for home builders, was the best-selling Rochdale, with around 1,350 made. The Riviera convertible followed.
The Olympic of 1959 was one of the first cars to enter production with a glass-fibre monocoque body, a light, strong 2+2 coupé that could be built with a variety of engines. A fire at the Hudson Street works in 1961 halted production for a time, but the company moved to Littledale Mill and carried on building the Olympic until 1973.
