34 replies to this topic

[Flathead]

I would be very interested to hear from anyone who may stumble across any Buckler cars ( 1947-1965) or Buckler specials in old motorsports programmes or results sheets etc. Also from anyone who has any memories of a Buckler car or knows of any old and unidentified multi-tubular space frame chassis laying.

I seriously archive on this subject and there are still a good handful of Bucklers that went missing when they ceased to be competitive after the company closed inthe 1960's.

Some Bucklers were made as complete cars at the works in Berkshire but most were sold in component form and did not always appear in motor sports as Bucklers but often as 1172cc Specials, Ford Specials or under some imaginary name of the constructor e.g The Birdmonk, assembled by Mr Bird with his pal Mr Monk. This makes my job a bit difficult. All of them were pretty individual but the space frame chassis is the main identifying factor .

Bucklers also supplied close ratio gear boxes to Lotus and produced the first chassis for Jack Brabham, and a number of interesting one off projects.

I am a newboy on this Forum and adding an image seems a lot harder than adjusting tappets. Anyway there are a variety of photos on www.bucklercars.com

[David McKinney]

There were at least 20 Bucklers in New Zealand, some imported built-up, some imported as kits and some built from NZ-made kits

[Flathead]

Thanks for the NZ info David and I do have some good Buckler contacts in Kiwi land. They were imported to NZ and mostly assembled into cars by the importer. They are still hugely popular for Classic motor sport out there and one gained FTD only recently, at a speed hill climb run by the Waitamata branch of the Vintage Sports Car Club of NZ. .

There were also successful agents in Canada ( Toronto and Vancouver), an agent in Tasmania and one or two exports to South Africa and a works built Climax engined Buckler DD2 was exported to Australia and is now being restored out there.

[CoulthardD]

Great web site, where I saw a picture of 'The Wisp'. I know a car listed as an 'MG Wisp' competed at the BARC Yorkshire Centre's Montague Burton sprint at the Burton Mill, 28th April 1957. It was driven by I.H.S. Smith. Is this a Buckler? I've also seen a couple of race results for the MG Wisp.

HTH,

David

[johnwilliamdavies]

Buckler at Wiscombe 2004

It's easy to add a photograph. If it's already on your site get the url, e.g. the one above is http://www.bucklerca...agneto woes.JPG, click on img in your reply, and viola! it appears. If it's not on your site load it onto a photo host, I use Flickr, and link from there.

-----------------------------


Welsh Motor Sport History

[Flathead]

Thanks for the info on the "Wisp". A number of Buckler Specials were fitted with various MG engines, so it is a possible.

Thanks also for the instructions re uploading a photo, I will have to work on that one. What exactly do you mean by " get" the url ? Do you mean copy and paste it into this post? I tried that and adding the img in brackets as per the official help instructions but all that appeared was the URL not the photo.

I certainly have a photo of the chassis of the Buckler 500 single seater at Wiscombe. I tend to get more interest from chassis photos than cars but there's now't so queer as folk!

[raceannouncer2003]

The late Claire Wilson, then of New Westminster, B.C., one of major founders of the Westwood track, built and raced a Buckler MG Special in 1957 and till the early 60's. "...MG-based, with a British Buckler tubular steel chassis and a Mistral fibreglass body..." This, with photos and more info, is on p. 332 of Tom Johnston's book, "Sports Car Road Racing in Western Canada". See post 2364 at:

http://forums.autosp...947#post2657947

Vince Howlett, Victoria, B.C., Canada

[Flathead]

That is very useful information Vince. The Autosport Championship in Canada was won by a Buckler (in 1954? )and that car has been fully restored in recent years although I am not sure of it's status at this moment. Many of the Canadian Bucklers were MG powered as that fitted in with a popular Canadian Formula.

I have a photo of a superbly/expensively bodied Canadian Buckler, with a streamlined all enveloping body, which has a chromed metal logo on the side "Canadaire" ( spelt with an e at the end ). So far, no one in Canada can explain this to me but the remains of the car are thought to exist. The aircraft company Canadair is normally spelled without an e at the end, unless you know otherwise?

I will try and get hold of a copy of that book. Thanks very much.

Incidently the Englishman who purchased the first Buckler ever sold (1949/50), now lives in Vancouver and his car now lives in France, beautifully restored and very active.

[Peter Leversedge]

Flathead - Kelvin Brown did a lot of research on Buckler cars in New Zealand, he may have even written and book on the subject, contact me if you wish more info - Peter

[Flathead]

Thanks, I have the excellent privately printed Buckler book by Kelvin Brown and the equally useful Buckler history by Brian Malin, both very detailed and non profit making and available via www.bucklercars.com

[Milan Fistonic]

You might be interested in this advert from the September 1962 edition of Motorman.

[silicanza]

Buckler also supplied crown wheel and pinion ratios for the Ford 10 differentials typically found in Bucklers. From memory Roger Munns Buckler has a 4.1 rather than the standard.

[Flathead]

Thankyou very much indeed for the NZ results info. This is really useful data for my archives.

Bucklers did make a choice of crownwheel and pinions in England but I am not sure what was supplied by the NZ Agents but I imagine almost anything to order. The 1172 sidevalve cars were popularly fitted with a 4.7:1 diff which, with a set of Buckler close ratio gears, was very versatile in most forms of motor sport provided that you also had a set of various wheel diameters.

With the use of Elva and Willment OHIV conversions on the sidevalve cars then 4.4:1 could be used to effect especially for racing.

I do not hear much about blowers on the NZ sidevalve Bucklers. The Shorrocks C75B was used to good effect on some of the British Bucklers and gave a good engine life if the pressure was kept to a modest 6 - 7 lbs inch. Shoe horning a blower into a Buckler was always a bit of an engineering challenge and I would be interested to see photos of any such conversions.

[David McKinney]

Originally posted by Flathead
Thankyou very much indeed for the NZ results info. This is really useful data for my archives.

Actually they're being a bit naughty there. The results are class results - not overall - which makes reference to the Lycoming, the D-type and the Tec-Mec less than honest.

I do not hear much about blowers on the NZ sidevalve Bucklers

I know there were a couple - such as Alwyn Marshall's - but can't add much more to that

[Bucklerman]

Flathead, you are a bit adrift with your info about the Buckler named Birdmonk.

It was actually called Burdmonk where the Bu is from Buckler, rd is from Ford, mo is from Morris and nk the initials of the builder, Nigel Kennedy (no, not the violinist)

[Sharman]

From the sound of things he liked fiddling about

[Leigh Trevail]

During 1951 the Eastern Counties Motor Club organised three race meetings at Fersfield near Diss, Norfolk. At the 2nd meeting on 17th of June two Buckler based cars were entered. One was raced by William ‘Bill’ Last of Ipswich, Bill went on to own a T.V.R. dealership and then built his own cars under the name of Trident. The second was built by Richard ‘Dick’ Rayner around a Buckler space frame chassis and known as the Rayner Special, Dick owned a garage in Woolpit, Suffolk before moving to Clacton to run a garage, I believe that one of his sons was later involved with the sport. Both of these cars were powered by 1172cc Ford engines.

[Graham Gauld]

Bucklerman

Having navigated for Nigel Kennedy - no not the fiddler - in the Burdmonk and your description of its name is quite correct. However, Nigel, who retains his sense of humour, used to tell people that he called it Burdmonk because he painted it bright yellow which was the colour of both Birds Custard and Monks Custard ! Nigel is very much alive and well in his mid eighties, is an honourary member of Scottish Motor Racing Club and attends all the annual dinners. Herewith someones box brownie photo of the Burdmonk with me (!) in the navigators seat: bear in mind the photo was taken on a Scottish Sporting Car Club rally 52 years ago !!!

[S Sharp]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Flathead
They are still hugely popular for Classic motor sport out there and one gained FTD only recently, at a speed hill climb run by the Waitamata branch of the Vintage Sports Car Club of NZ. .




That was my '90' at last years event, didn't do quite as well this year, finishing 3rd behind a replica C type Jag' and the Gee Cee Ess, but only half a second covered the first three places.

It would be nice to see a few more Bucklers out and about. A few have changed hands recently and a few '90s' (three that I know of without even thinking very hard about it) are under restoration in Auckland at present so hopefully we will see them at events in the near future. I've had a great run out of mine and with a bit of luck and a lot of encouragement we potentially have a grid of about 6 or 7 cars in the Auckland area alone right now, with several others locked away in storage or requiring restoration.

Kelvin Brown's well researched tome just about covers the lot.

[Leigh Trevail]

http://[IMG]http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3277/raynerspecialkh4.th.jpg[/IMG]

This unlikely looking special is Dick Rayner’s 1172 Buckler, he ran Woolpit Garage near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. The picture was taken at Fersfield in South Norfolk in October 1951. He did not have time to make the body; so a temporary on was cobbled together for the June event. Looks can deceive as on the day he won the Mann Egerton Trophy, not bad for first time out! A young lad named Dallas Smith would help in the garage after school, he is now a Senior Scrutineer for the R.A.C.

[Milan Fistonic]

Here are a couple of New Zealand Bucklers in a paddock - literally in a paddock.

[fines]

What's the white bolster tank car on the left?

[David McKinney]

I was going to ask too, until I remembered about something similar being built up in recent years and thought it was probably that (and thus of little interest)
Perhaps Milan can help us when the Earth's orbit takes it to a more suitable time for him

[brakedisc]

52 years after Mr Gauld had a ride in one I too had a run in a Buckler.

Production car trials exhibit at the Scottish Speedfair this year.

[S Sharp]

Originally posted by fines
What's the white bolster tank car on the left?

That is Wallace McNair's Sunbeam 'Maori' (Aircraft) engined retrospective special. Quite a machine!

[Allan Lupton]

Originally posted by S Sharp


That is Wallace McNair's Sunbeam 'Maori' (Aircraft) engined retrospective special. Quite a machine!

OT but here is a view of it in action (Ann Thompson "up" )



and another with the bonnet up showing the V12 Maori:

[bradbury west]

[i]Originally posted by S Sharp That is Wallace McNair's Sunbeam 'Maori' (Aircraft) engined retrospective special. Quite a machine! [/B]

Fascinating device. Continuing OT. Google and Wikipedia give some quite interesting pointers , well worth following if that is your thing.
Coatalen designed the engine, essentially as an aero unit, fitted in airships, reconnaissance bi-planes and sea-planes. 250/265 bhp running to 2,100 rpm with 1600 as the norm. I could not find a capacity
Roger Lund

[Allan Lupton]

Originally posted by bradbury west

Fascinating device. Continuing OT. Google and Wikipedia give some quite interesting pointers
I could not find a capacity
Roger Lund

Someone on Wiki says 14.7 litres. .. .

[Patrick Fletcher]

Listed in Bucklers [NZ] Limited price list 1959

Close Ratio Gears, heavy duty, fitted to client's clutch shaft and cluster. Both F.8/10 boxes - 16 NZ pounds.
Mark 90 Frame complete with mountings and dural undertray / floor - 145 NZ pounds.
Mark DD2 Frame as above - 145 NZ pounds
ELVA I.O.E. Cyl Head Conversions complete 57-70 bhp - 86 NZ pounds.
A.M.W. Mk.2 Glass/Plastic Body - 130 NZ pounds.
Jarvie Plastic Body - 130 NZ pounds

[bradbury west]

Allan, many thanks. RL

[Leigh Trevail]

On another thread regarding Bucklers I mentioned that back in May I had a letter in the Ipswich based East Anglian Daily Times about the Bucklers built in that area. I was surprised by the response to the letter, and from it soon I realised why there was some confusion with the cars. The story involves Bill Last who lived at Grove Farm, Dallinghoe and ran the Grove Road Garage on the A12 near Woodbridge. At least two other cars were built at the Grove Works in Ipswich, this establishment was totally unconnected with the other two! ..Hence the confusion.

Speaking to the papers editor it was suggested that I write an article on the cars in question, I have included it here as it may help some else in their research.
____________________________________________________

EADT Bucklers


If in the 1950’s you wished to purchase a new car you had a problem to overcome… finding one! The government of the day had a policy known as ‘Export or Die’, basically motor manufactures had to sell their products abroad to earn foreign currency or go out of business, and as the government was in control of steel allocation that could be a very real possibility

However in this country there was an air of optimism, the Second World War was gradually fading into the past, although food was still rationed, petrol was not! Motoring as a pastime was returning, and around the country clubs were being formed to cater for these enthusiasts, (the Eastern Counties Motor Club being one of them), and within a short time these clubs were organising low key racing events. A few competitors who were fortunate enough to own them entered new cars, most resurrected pre war sports cars, whilst others built their own, and these were known as ‘Specials’.

One such man was Derek Buckler from Berkshire, who had been having success racing his own special, but unlike others who built their cars on an existing chassis, Buckler made a frame (a multi tubular steel space frame) and fixed a light weight body around it. This formed a reasonably light but strong structure that was ideal for racing. He really wanted to manufacture his own racing cars, but although he could obtain the steel, the major motor manufactures were prevented by Government regulations to provide him with the mechanical components. However; his way around this problem started a whole new back street industry of its own. He made available to the public Buckler Space Frames, the first being the Mk. V, onto this the customers would fit their own components. In theory each Buckler would be different, unless one person built a batch of them, some were never registered as a Buckler, being known instead by the name of the builder. The most common engine to be fitted was the Ford 1172cc side valve, these were plentiful and in time companies such as Aquaplane of Oulton Broad would produce tuning kits for these engines, however the choice of running gear was up to the customer. Also by building a car in this way the customer avoided paying the hefty 33% Purchase Tax levied on new cars.

One customer was E.C.M .C. member W.J. ‘Bill’ Last of Grove Farm, Dallinghoo, he raced his Buckler at Fersfield near Diss during June of 1951. Last’s car was powered by the ubiquitous 1172 cc Ford engine, as was an identical car raced by Simon Mitchell of Norwich, this carried the registration ONG 3. It is possible that a third car was built, there are photographs of J.D. Read racing a Buckler registered LRT 509, but this may have been Last’s original car, and it is feasible that he built more. Last owned Grove Road Garage on the A12 at Woodbridge and later in the 1960’s manufactured Trident Cars in Turrett Lane, Ipswich, obviously he was more than capable of building small batch of racing cars.


Here the story gets confusing, around about the same time two more cars were being built in Ipswich, it is confusing because they were built at the Grove Works in the town, and as far as it is known this had no connection with Bill Last.

This was on the site of a former mansion owned by the Cobbold family. In a wooden lock up garage down the side of the main building operated a father and son business fabricating commercial vehicle bodies, these gentlemen were ex Daimler employee; Charlie Carr and his son Gerald, both originally from Coventry. Between them they bodied two more cars, probably Bucklers; one for Bert Gosling who ran a garage on the London Road and the other for the Manager of Mann Egerton’s (Ipswich) Ltd., Geoff Hennessy. Along the A45 (now A14) towards Bury St. Edmunds at Woolpit; garage owner Dick Rayner built the ‘Rayner Special’, again using a Buckler frame as his starting point, All three of these men were members of the E.C.M.C. and raced their cars at club level.

Derek Buckler died in 1964 and his company ceased trading, unfortunately the records of who purchased what and when were destroyed, luckily his son Malcolm kept the photos that the pleased customers had sent in. These are now invaluable to the owners of the surviving cars. In all Buckler was responsible for between 300 - 400 cars; which would have given countless owners a chance to go racing.

Thank you to all those who replied to my original letter on this subject.

[S Sharp]

[quote name="S Sharp" post="2920681" timestamp="1194292569"]

[quote]Originally posted by Flathead
They are still hugely popular for Classic motor sport out there and one gained FTD only recently, at a speed hill climb run by the Waitamata branch of the Vintage Sports Car Club of NZ. .




That was my '90' at last years event, didn't do quite as well this year, finishing 3rd behind a replica C type Jag' and the Gee Cee Ess, but only half a second covered the first three places.

It would be nice to see a few more Bucklers out and about. A few have changed hands recently and a few '90s' (three that I know of without even thinking very hard about it) are under restoration in Auckland at present so hopefully we will see them at events in the near future. I've had a great run out of mine and with a bit of luck and a lot of encouragement we potentially have a grid of about 6 or 7 cars in the Auckland area alone right now, with several others locked away in storage or requiring restoration.

Kelvin Brown's well researched tome just about covers the lot.[/quote]

[S Sharp]

This car is now for sale, and listed on 'classiccarsforsaleuk.com'

[Jagjon]

I would be very interested to hear from anyone who may stumble across any Buckler cars ( 1947-1965) or Buckler specials in old motorsports programmes or results sheets etc. Also from anyone who has any memories of a Buckler car or knows of any old and unidentified multi-tubular space frame chassis laying.

I seriously archive on this subject and there are still a good handful of Bucklers that went missing when they ceased to be competitive after the company closed inthe 1960's.

Some Bucklers were made as complete cars at the works in Berkshire but most were sold in component form and did not always appear in motor sports as Bucklers but often as 1172cc Specials, Ford Specials or under some imaginary name of the constructor e.g The Birdmonk, assembled by Mr Bird with his pal Mr Monk. This makes my job a bit difficult. All of them were pretty individual but the space frame chassis is the main identifying factor .

Bucklers also supplied close ratio gear boxes to Lotus and produced the first chassis for Jack Brabham, and a number of interesting one off projects.

I am a newboy on this Forum and adding an image seems a lot harder than adjusting tappets. Anyway there are a variety of photos on www.bucklercars.com

I had a cycle winged trials type Buckler KUD161 in the 1970's & I sold a later chassis to a guy in the timber yard next to where Hewland gearboxes were based around 1970, he was something of a Buckler enthusiast.

[delcomb]

That is very useful information Vince. The Autosport Championship in Canada was won by a Buckler (in 1954? )and that car has been fully restored in recent years although I am not sure of it's status at this moment. Many of the Canadian Bucklers were MG powered as that fitted in with a popular Canadian Formula.

I have a photo of a superbly/expensively bodied Canadian Buckler, with a streamlined all enveloping body, which has a chromed metal logo on the side "Canadaire" ( spelt with an e at the end ). So far, no one in Canada can explain this to me but the remains of the car are thought to exist. The aircraft company Canadair is normally spelled without an e at the end, unless you know otherwise?

I will try and get hold of a copy of that book. Thanks very much.

Incidently the Englishman who purchased the first Buckler ever sold (1949/50), now lives in Vancouver and his car now lives in France, beautifully restored and very active.

As of last September, the Canadaire resides in my garage for restoration. It is in quite bad shape having sat outside for who knows how long. About 4 litres of water came out of the pan. The frame has been 'naturally' lightened in quite a few places. The body has been beat up by school buses (I found the car in a school bus yard in Sarnia). It was raced by Lew Franco at Harewood Acres in Ontario in '56 and '57.