Tag Archives: Buckler

Lightweight – Buckler Daimler DD2

Leave a Reply

In 1957 Buckler started manufacturing frames for it’s DD2 model like the 1958 example seen here at the Bristol Motor Club’s Family Club Day at Castle Combe.

Buckler Daimler DD2, BMC Family Club Day, Castle Combe

This was built as a “lightweight” at the Buckler works for Les Hall.

Buckler Daimler DD2, BMC Family Club Day, Castle Combe

DD2’s were fitted with a variety of motors including Ford, Daimler , MG and in one instance a Vincent V twin from a motorcycle.

Buckler Daimler DD2, BMC Family Club Day, Castle Combe

It is thought Les Hall’s car originally had a Morris motor fitted.

Buckler Daimler DD2, BMC Family Club Day, Castle Combe

DD2’s were fitted with a variety of proprietary fiberglass bodies, today’s car is fitted with a Mistral body, others were made by Falcon, Convair and AKS to name a few.

Buckler Daimler DD2, BMC Family Club Day, Castle Combe

At some point today’s car was acquired by Malcolm Buckler, son of founder Derek, and shipped to the Isle of Isle of Man sans motor on top of a cargo of building stone.

Buckler Daimler DD2, BMC Family Club Day, Castle Combe

Later the car was acquired by Malcom’s brother in law Kieth Ambrose and his son Simon credited with putting the car back on the road with a Daimler V8.

Buckler Daimler DD2, BMC Family Club Day, Castle Combe

It is thought that a journalist Mr (Alan ?) Burgess may have been the first person to fit a SP250 Daimler V8 to a DD2, it thought this car might have been used for drag racing, but evidence in the form of a race programme or photographs have yet to surface to confirm this.

If you have any information to support this hypothesis please do not hesitate to chime in below.

Thanks for joining me on this “Lightweight” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a BRM. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Supercharged 100E – Buckler MK 6

Leave a Reply

With the sales success of his Buckler MK 5 the earliest example of which was manufactured in 1949 Derek Buckler expanded his range by offering a longer wheel base Buckler Mk 6 in 1953 which could be ordered either as a turn key or car sales tax saving self build model.

Bucker MK 6, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

In kit form complete with tubular frame chassis, supports and fittings, independent front suspension, radiator, petrol tank, remote gear change, special steering and silencer for less than £200 to which could be added the cost of a motor, gearbox, rear axle and wheels which would typically come out of a wrecked donor Ford, along with the price of a home made body.

Bucker MK 6, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

The earliest known owner of today’s featured 1953 Buckler MK 6 is believed to have been M Bendall who fitted a motor from a Ford 100E Prefect/Anglia a model first seen in 1953.

Bucker MK 6, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

At some point the power of the motor in the vehicle as seen today was boosted with the aid of a supercharger.

Bucker MK 6, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Stan Hibberd owned the car in 1972 and drove it to the, now at least 200 year old, ciderhouse Coronation Tap in Clifton, Bristol for the the first meeting of the Buckler Register.

Bucker MK 6, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Although Stan remembered the meeting and the cider, served in half pints, many years later he did not remember any Bucklers being present although contemporary reports are to the contrary.

Bucker MK 6, Autumn Classic, Castle Combe

Stan’s grandson Andrew drove the car at last years Castle Combe Autumn Classic meeting, unfortunately a problem during qualifying meant Andrew did not take the start.

Thanks for joining me on this “Supercharged 100E” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another one off Formula One car from 1974. Don’t forget to come back now.

Share

Buckler Framed – Smith Special Mk2

Leave a Reply

Over the coming Saturday’s I’ll be looking a few vehicles built by Buckler of Reading including today’s Smith Special Mk2 500 Formula 3 car for which Buckler built the space frame in 1950.

‘500’ Formula 3 was a low cost formula devised by a group of enthusiasts working for the Bristol Aeroplane Company during the 1939-45 war. After the cessation of hostilities the group organised an event at the wartime Silverstone Aerodrome in 1946 which had to decamp to the nearby grounds of Lord Hesketh where a hill climb was run for open wheelers with 500 cc / 30.5 cui motorcycle motors.

Ken Smith built his first Smith Special in 1948 to run in the class and after this was damaged at Brands Hatch in October 1950 Ken ordered a new one off frame from Buckler in Reading to build the Smith Special Mk2.

Smith Special Mk2, de la Roche, Oulton Park

The 9′ 10″ car with the chain drive Norton transmission was powered by a mid mounted Norton twin cam shaft motor fed by two two fuel tanks one a 1 1/2 gallon gravity tank over the motor and another 7 1/4 gallon saddle tank mounted over the drivers legs from which fuel was directed to the gravity tank by a fuel pump.

The suspension featured upper transverse leaf springs and lower wishbones, the road wheels, front brakes, steering box, steering column and track rods were sourced from a FIAT while the brake master cylinder and rear brakes were sourced from a Morris.

Smith Special Mk2, de la Roche, Oulton Park

Ken Smith drove the car from 1951 to 1954 during which time if it finished it usually finished in the top six, more often than not in the top 3 which included several wins of which the 1953 Autosport Non production Car Trophy was it’s last in Ken’s hands.

These photo’s show the car being driven by present owner Richard de La Roche at the Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting last year, more detailed information on the Smith Special can be found on this link. I hope to be returning with a fuller history of ‘500’ Formula 3 towards the end of the year when the ‘500’ Formula 3 class cars will returning to Castle Combe for the first time since 1955 to compete for the “Bristol Aeroplane Company Motor Sports Club Challenge Trophy”, owned by the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club, on Sunday the 5th of October.

Thanks for joining me on this “Buckler Framed” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Formula One car built by one of New Zealands most accomplished race car drivers. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Champagne Super Nova – Bristol Motor Club Family Clubs Day

Leave a Reply

Last weekend I had just enough time to visit Castle Combe for a second time on Sunday afternoon to catch the end of the busy Bristol MC Family Clubs Day which saw a gathering of nearly 200 vehicles, dating from 1933 to present, enter a best in show by popular vote competition along with numerous parade laps for the participants.

Veranti, BMC Family Clubs Day, Castle Combe

Kit cars were very much in evidence, turns out the Veranti above is a 21 panel soft top rebody of a 1991 Toyota MR2. around 80 of these kits were sold between 2004 and 2007.

FFR Type 65 Coupé, BMC Family Clubs Day, Castle Combe

There were plenty of Cobra replica’s in attendance but the stand out example was this Factory Five Racing (FFR) Series 65 Coupé, which I understand are built around 4th generation (1994 – 2004) Ford Mustang running gear. FFR President Dave Smith claims driving his own example makes him “feel like Dan Gurney when I drive it” !

Buckler DD2, BMC Family Clubs Day, Castle Combe

Regular GALPOT readers may remember a blog about the Buckler Mk V some months ago the vehicle above is a 1958 Buckler DD2, originally this car was fitted with a Morris engine but it is now fitted with a Daimler V8 as evidenced by the two opposing carburetors peaking through the bonnet / hood.

Porsche 997 GT3 4.0, BMC Family Clubs Day, Castle Combe

Embarrassingly I asked the owner of this Porsche 997 GT3 RS 4.0 if this was a factory spec car as until then I had only known about the GT3 RS turns out that this 500 hp GT3 RS 4.0 is one of just 600 cars that cost well in excess of a six figure sum.

Bond Bug 700 ES, BMC Family Clubs Day, Castle Combe

When Reliant took over Bond Cars Ltd they commissioned Tom Karen of Ogle Design to design a “fun car”. The resultant Bond Bug cost £9.00 more than a Mini when new.

Nova, BMC Family Clubs Day, Castle Combe

Winner of the popular vote and the bottle of champagne was Mick Poat who’s 1965 VW Beetle based Nova features a show stopping cool hydraulic hatch through which to effect an entry.

Thanks for joining me on this “Champagne Super Nova” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow, when if all goes according to plan I’ll be reviewing the Goodwood Festival Of Speed. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Multi Tube Frame – Buckler MK V

5 Replies

In 1947 CDF Derek Buckler from Reading built a special for rallying, racing, hillclimbs, trials and speed events, of his own design featuring an unusual, for the time, space frame chassis into which a four cylinder side valve 1172cc / 71.5 cui E93A Ford engine was fitted.

Buckler MK 5, Rare Breeds, Haynes IMM

After much competition success Derek placed an advert in ‘Motor Sport’ for an export version of his his special designed for competition car called the Colonial, while also offering independent front suspension conversions kits and go faster parts for Ford Anglias and Prefects.

Buckler MK 5, Rare Breeds, Haynes IMM

Orders soon started to flood in and at some point the Colonial name seems to have been replaced by the MK 5 name, allegedly to disguise the fact that this was Derek’s first design.

Buckler MK 5, Rare Breeds, Haynes IMM

Through the early fifties Buckler Mk 5’s could be purchased either ready finished by the factory, which moved to Crowthorne in Berkshire, or in kit form saving the purchaser a fortune in car sales taxes.

Buckler MK 5, Rare Breeds, Haynes IMM

Buckler went on to introduce two further models the enclosed body MK 90 and DD1 while building several one offs and single seater racing cars that fell outside this range along with a range of successful Karts for racing.

Buckler MK 5, Rare Breeds, Haynes IMM

After building the first cars for Jack Brabhams customer racing car business Brabham MRD Derek sold up due to ill health in 1961 and the company soldiered on until 1965. Derek died in 1964 aged just 53.

Buckler MK 5, Rare Breeds, Haynes IMM

It is thought around 500 Buckler cars of all types were built between 1949 and 1964. The model seen here at the Rare Breeds show at the Haynes International Motor museum is a 1957 MK 5.

My thanks to bucklercars.com for additional information on the MK 5 and the Buckler marque.

Thanks for joining me on this Multi Tube Frame edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Share