Bill Woodhouse and Tony Bullen founded Tornado Cars at Mill End, Rickmansworth, in 1957. The first model, the Typhoon Sports, was sold either as a body to fit the popular Ford 8 and 10 chassis, the basis of countless 1950s specials, or on a Tornado-designed chassis that could take a range of engines. About 400 Typhoons of all kinds were made up to 1962. The similar Tempest, with a Ford Anglia 105E engine, followed around 1960, although only about 15 were built.
In 1962 Tornado introduced the Talisman, a 2+2 coupé with an attractive glass-fibre body on a more sophisticated tubular steel chassis and Ford 1,340 or 1,500 cc engines in various states of tune. Available in kit form or factory-finished, it was praised for its lively performance, good ride and handling and high standard of finish.
Cash-flow problems forced Tornado into liquidation in 1964, after about 186 Talismans had been made. Jaguar racing driver John Bekaert had bought the company in 1963, and its last project was a Talisman V8 on a shortened Daimler SP250 chassis, which was shown to Jaguar and won the Rallye de la Route in France.
