Buckler

Derek Buckler's prototype car, DDP201 known originally as the Buckler "Colonial" and subsequently designated the Mark 5, caused quite a stir in the car-starved post-war Britain of 1947. Car and driver quickly made their mark in trials, speed hill-climbs, circuit racing, rallying and reliability runs.

By January 1949 his Reading-based engineering company was offering replicas of DDP201, and together with other marks of multi-tube frame cars. It is believed that the Buckler was the first British kit-car and 1999 was a celebrating year :)

Aluminium and later one of the first glassfibre bodies were available but most Buckler builders made their own, a wide range of tuning parts including close ratio gears, split front axles, high ratio differentials and twin carburettors also became available, this established Bucklers as the leading supplier to 1950s "special" builders.

The Buckler Car Register was formed in the early 1970s to bring together owners of the surviving Buckler cars and karts. It now has around one hundred members in Britain, Europe, North America and New Zealand.
Here are a few pictures from their meeting at the 1999 Historic Specials Day in August:

From nearest the camera Keith Ambrose's DD2 (reg. no. 800 KBH) ; Ken Green in a Mk5 (reg. no. DFB 140) and Rhona Boswell in a Mk6 (reg. no. JVS 347).

"The DD2 and the Mk5 were driven to the event a 100 mile round trip for the DD2 and a 168 mile round trip for the Mk 5 in the most appalling weather, the Mk 5 had to deal with diversions due to flooding, trees washed across the road an torrential rain for the latter half of the journey home but the car never missed a beat unlike a lot of modern cars that it passed with flooded electrics.
The Mk 5 won the Pete Boswell Memorial Trophy for the Buckler driven the furthest distance to the event under its own power" - wrote the registar, Ken Green

Here are some more illustrations from a Silverstone, 1999 run:

An update from Buckler registrar, Ken Green:

"Thanks to the site we had an E-mail from France about a car that has lived there since 1976. This turns out to be Buckler Mk5 ERD 96 . This is a very important car in Buckler history as it was the first production car to come out of the factory, the car produced in 1947 was the prototype registered DDP 201.

ERD 96 was first owned by Mr M Parrot who used the car in competitions for some time ( see picture of the car at Trengwainton Hill Climb in Devon England) and was later sold to an RAF officer Geoffrey Carill-Worsley who won a gold medal with the car at Silverstone in 1955. The car left England in 1976 and has been in France since then.

The second find was from the a lead discovered through classic car show at the NEC in Birmingham. Ths car turned out to be a MK 10 with a "Works Body" built by C.F.Taylor for Bucklers. It has twin SU carburettors and the correct Buckler exhaust manifold - a rare item these days - as well as Aquaplane Head and a Panhard Rod, the registration Number is ANJ 234 this car is new to us and no history is known but from the modifications it may well have done some racing in the past, a full restoration of ther car is underway."

And here are some memories about an Mk 5:
"I bought the car in London in 1961 aand commuted from Epsom in Surrey to London and back every day for 2 years. The car had a Ford 1172 engine with Aquaplane head, 3 speed Ford box with remote control gearchange. Transverse leaf springs and Ballamy split front axle. It had a very rigid spaceframe and aluminium body. I had anew hoodframe and cover made with sidescreens, but it always leaked water through the floor and the bonnet edges. I cannot remember who I sold it to, but 3 or 4 years ago an article on the car (MYG 10) appeared in one of the motoring magazines, it having been found in a garage in Berkshire I think" recalled Mike Lovatt.

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