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BUCKLERS LEAD -- OTHERS FOLLOW
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The History of John
Hissey’s Buckler Part I (KBU 744)
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I have been asked by my family and members of the
Buckler Register to write some notes on the this car. As
the events recorded here happened half a century ago and
in my 74th year my memory is not what it was, I cannot
vouch for total accuracy. On the other hand I have the
cups, press cuttings and my letters home from Kenya
which together have enabled me to relive those days and
put the modern version of "pen to paper".
After leaving public school in 1947 I served in the
Grenadier Guards and Sandhurst and it was there that I
became interested in motoring. I should explain that
this was soon after World War II and that petrol was
still rationed and the idea of getting about the place
when and where I wanted instead of being tied to public
transport was the attraction. I had passed my motor
transport tests and even won the motor cycle despatch
riding competition which mostly involved riding over
Bagshot Heath in trials like conditions with a heavy
army BSA 500cc sidevalver. Thus my first buy was a motor
cycle and this was a 350cc "Cammy" Velocette followed by
a 1938 model Triumph 500cc Speed Twin. This served me
well into civilian life when I started work in the City
but a very cold winter caused me to trade it in for an
elderly (1935) Austin 7. I joined a motor club and took
part in some minor rallies.
After a desk-bound couple of years in insurance, at the
end of 1952 I was offered a job at the company’s Nairobi
office as underwriter and claims assessor. I was able to
buy an Austin A30 with the grand capacity of 800cc to
take with me. I joined the local motor club, entering
the small saloon car class in hill climbs, speed trials
and even races. I often won the under 1100cc saloon car
classes. I entered it in the 1954 Safari rally of some
2000 miles throughout East Africa but the rough roads
caused a front shock absorber to give up leading to the
bending of the lower suspension members causing
retirement half way.
Flooding and ruts on Kenya’s main road between Nairobi
and Mombasa
Clearly I needed a sports car but it had to have tough
suspension and good ground clearance to cope with the
local roads. At that time few sports cars were made but
they were beyond my pocket and anyway did not fit my
specification. I had visited the Buckler works north of
Reading and had been impressed. Building my own car
would be rather fun and give me something to do. My
letters home will tell the tale:-
22 Oct 1953 "I have bought a 1948 Ford 10 which went
upside down. All the parts I need are in good order and
I have a buyer for the rest. I have the Bucklers booklet
and a letter with all my questions answered in a most
efficient manner. I am ordering now and am going for the
longer Mk VI chassis with all supports and fittings,
independent front suspension, radiator, petrol tank,
remote gear change, special steering and silencer. It
should make the local MGs hop!"
The crashed Ford 10 purchased for the mechanical parts
5 Dec 1953 "I have had a letter from Bucklers to say
that all is ready for shipment. Total cost £182-9-2."
30 Jan 1954 "The engine has been reconditioned with an
8hp head fitted (this was the usual trick to increase
compression) and the gearbox and rear axle assemblies
are ready. I am having to have two new stub axles
(£3-15-0 each), two new wheels (ditto each), battery @
£7 & two tyres @ £6 each. I have just got a rise taking
my salary to £655 pa."
12 March 1954 "The Buckler has still not yet arrived.
The railways are pretty hopeless here because they are a
monopoly. No road haulage is permitted (I think this was
because of the roads) so we just have to wait for them
to send stuff when they like which is any time up to 6
weeks."
19 March 1954 "At Mombasa my Buckler has taken a month
to get from the dock onto the train and it should be in
Nairobi on Tuesday – great excitement. I will have to
get it onto its wheels quickly as I am being turned out
of my digs but have found others although without cover
for car building."
26 March 1954 "Believe it or not the Buckler has
arrived! It got to Nairobi on Friday but I couldn’t get
it out of customs until Thursday and even then I had to
pay £60 as I had not the correct signed invoices. I have
sent for these and should get half back. I borrowed the
firm’s pick up van and took it to my digs myself at
lunch time. It was a very odd sight. The crate with the
bits was built inside the frame. I got a couple of
planks off and peered into the interior. It was so well
packed that I couldn’t see what was there. In the
evening I had to attend a meeting of the East Africa
Motor Sports Club about the rally (the Safari – see
above) so I didn’t get back till after 6 when I got to
work helped by one of our boys (as our African servants
were called irrespective of age!). It was dark by the
time we got all of it out of the case (we had to use the
external "car port" without lighting). There was a very
shiny remote control gear lever, a very odd shaped
petrol tank, radiator, a strong and efficient looking
front suspension unit all painted black complete with
spring and hinged on rubber bushes everywhere. There
were also bits of body support which are rather a jig
saw and I will have fun in the absence of an instruction
book. Oh, and there is a very long steering column. The
radius arms are a huge V, and you could see straight
through the rather flat silencer which had a pipe to fit
but I’m not sure how. It is quite undamaged but there is
some surface rust due to the long delay. This evening I
will try to get it onto its wheels so we can tow it to
my new digs but it still has most of the crate inside."
The Buckler frame and with the mechanical components
attached
7 April 1954 "Very busy these days building the Buckler
and moving digs. The digs are quite comfortable but
there is no cover so I am having to do with a tarpaulin
for the Buckler and it is the wet season! In spite of
the signed invoices the Customs are refusing to return
my £30. I am having some small problems. The steering
column is too close to the engine, altering the pedals
to fit are a bit of a ‘do’. The radiator fixing will
take a bit if ingenuity and the rear shock absorbers
won’t reach but all things considered it is beginning to
look like a car. The body is going to take a little
thought too."
28 April 1954 "Hooray the Buckler is now on the road but
without seat, dynamo, instruments or body. As it is
still very wet I won’t take it about much."
I had two L shaped fittings that I thought must be the
special dynamo (with fan) mounting but I could not work
out how they went. I wrote to Bucklers who said they
were strengthening plates for the stub axle arms which
bolted to the brake backplates. The dynamo mounting
didn’t arrive until August as it had been sent by sea
mail. The stub axle arms were indeed not up to the job
on the rough untarmaced roads and I remember returning
from an event steering on one wheel only! This only
meant turning the steering wheel twice the normal amount
and the idle wheel tended to follow the other. This
didn’t work in the ruts however and climbing a single
track escarpment without a barrier and a drop of many
hundreds of feet was quite exciting!
7 May 1954 "All has gone well with the Buckler. I have
done about 50 miles on the road but I am still without a
body or dynamo so I use the handle for starting to save
the battery which then only has to run the ignition. The
local agents have fitted the shock absorbers and
adjusted the tracking. I have taken a couple of leaves
out of the rear spring and it rides very well now."
18 May 1954 "The Buckler is coming on well and I am
trying to save the £100 quoted for a body from my Police
Reserve pay." (The Mau Mau ‘emergency’ was in full
flight and with my military background I had volunteered
for some night duties).
24 June 1954 "The Brackenhurst hill climb went quite
well although I had trouble at the hairpin as there is
insufficient left lock but plenty to the right! (later
corrected). I did 71.3 secs against the best in my class
7.5 sec faster which is not bad for a start. Driving on
gravel without mudguards or even a body is not to be
recommended as one gets peppered. The mileage is already
250."
The car in the "nude" as run at Brackenhurst and on
right at the Menengai Hill Climb
7 July 1954 "I did the Menengai hill climb last week
end. I took Jack with me and still bodyless we did the
100 tarmac miles to Nakuru on Saturday morning without
trouble other than sore bottoms. (I had used the wood
from the crate for a temporary floor and we sat on the
tarpaulin.) We had lunch at the Stags Head and went off
to the hill for practice. It was a most interesting
climb about a mile long with several twists and turns &
rather narrow. The Buckler boiled a bit when reaching
the car park but didn’t seem to overheat on the hill
itself. I found that once I had started I could do it in
top at about 30mph. I managed 1min 53 secs on my first
run which I was quite pleased with. Again as at
Brackenhurst I was faster than any saloon car. On Sunday
it was the real thing but the course had become rather
dusty and rutted and I took a second more on my first
run. During a sandwich lunch there was a cloudburst and
2 inches of rain was recorded in 1½ hours so the
morning’s runs had to stand. On going back to the car
which was completely exposed, I found each plug sitting
in its own pool of water on the cylinder head (remember
it was a side valve). Many of the other cars were having
trouble starting but the Buckler fired first turn on the
handle and it was fun watching the water evaporate. The
mud had become black and sticky so we helped each other
out and slid down the hill one by one very slowly. The
prize giving was at the Stags Head and did we laugh?
Everyone was covered in mud from head to foot. We
started back but got benighted so fixed up torches each
side. After the heat of the day we got very cold as we
rose to some 8000 feet out of the Rift Valley up the
escarpment. I don’t think I have ever suffered from
sunburn and frostbite on the same day! I now have 500
miles on the speedo and it shows great reliability yet
there is much to be done."
15 July 1954 "The Buckler body is coming on well. My
main difficulties are carburettors and gears. I am
thinking of ordering both from the UK for some £35. The
carbs are the special aquaplane twin SUs. I have ordered
some aluminium mudguards from V.W.Derrington of 159
London Road, Kingston on Thames."
26 July 1954 "I hope to be going to Eldoret some 200
miles NW with the Buckler to do a bit of racing there on
a new circuit next week end. Most of the body is done
but I am still without fan, dynamo, lights, handbrake or
mudgards. The body looks very nice."
10 Aug 1954 "Eldoret races were great fun. I took Dicky
Edwards with me as he wanted a lift. We got as far as
Niavasha but then boiled. On to Nakuru we pressed as the
skies darkened and soon we were engulfed in a tropical
downpour. As we neared the equator it actually hailed
and being without a windscreen we simply had to stop as
it was too painful. Up went our tarpaulin over the car
and we sat on the bare wet boards and roared with
laughter at our ridiculous predicament! The hail came
down even harder and actually hurt us through the
tarpaulin. We clung on for an hour and then gave up as
the roads were then just mud so we returned to Nakuru
soaked as we had no hope of getting another 100 miles
before dark. We were revived with hot tea and baths at
the Stags Head followed by an excellent dinner and much
further liquid refreshment. We restarted at the crack of
dawn. The weather had cleared but it was very cold and
hard going through the mud and we boiled again on a
steep hill. I went straight into practice on the oval
grass circuit with a chicane halfway down one straight.
I overheated again but equalled the time of the fastest
sports car in my class. Being without mudguards or
lights I was however put in the unlimited racing car
class in spite of being a two seater. Still I won my
heat as the others didn’t seem to be able to cope on the
slippery wet grass that soon turned to mud. Indeed I
might have won the final but had to accept second as the
race was stopped in the 7th lap out of 10 as heavy rain
had started again."
The car as run at Eldoret in the mud and the broken
half-shaft at Menengai II.
14 Sept 1954 "We have at last traced the boiling problem
to the incorrect pressure cap on the radiator for 6000
feet elevation with the result that we blow out water. I
thought it was the absence of a fan but when it was
fitted with all the electrics, it made no difference. We
were not actually overheating as water boils at a lower
temperature at these altitudes."
4 Oct 1954 "The Buckler’s carburettors and mudguards
have arrived. Having fitted the former I can now reach
75mph on standard gear ratios, not bad for an 1172
sidevalver! Standing start to 50 is about 13 secs. The
mudguards and headlamps go on this week and the double
valve springs next week then all is set for the Nakuru
races on the 17th. I gather it is a grass circuit of
exactly a mile. I am down for the under 1500cc sports
car race of 10 laps and the 20 lap all comers handicap."
14 Oct 1954 "Nakuru motor races are this Sunday with a
dance on Saturday night. The Buckler looks grand with
headlights and mudguards and is now a proper sports car.
It will be an exciting struggle as I am up against Monty
Bank’s 1089cc OHV Singer Special (built in the police
motor workshops), David Markham’s and Bob Barret’s
1089cc OHV Skoda Specials built by the local agents and
Vic Preston in the Anglia Special (same engine as me)
built by the local Ford agents. My target is third place
which will get me on the stand."
Leaving the paddock before the Nakuru races One of the
Skodas is push-started
18 Oct 1954 "Well I can’t get over my excitement over
yesterday’s Nakuru Motor races. During practice the
clutch gave out but due to the ease of assembly, I and
some volunteers changed it in a couple of hours at the
local garage who kept open for us. I tested the car up
and down the Nakuru main road to the cheers of the
locals with the police looking the other way. We were so
quick I had time for a bath and a drink before the
dinner dance! My slow practice put me half way down the
grid but I was next to John Manussis, the Kenya motor
racing champion and Safari winner, and behind an MG. I
made short work of both of them at the start then took a
Riley 1500 on the first lap. Quite soon I was up to the
Anglia which I held on the straight and simply drove by
on the main bend due to my good roadholding. I was now
up to 3rd. I could see Monty in the lead with one of the
Skodas close to him which then began to fall back so I
passed him at the halfway mark. I now had the bit
between my teeth and the car was going beautifully and I
closed on the Singer quite easily. The dust was getting
thick and it was difficult to see when I got close. I
was faster through the chicane but there was no room to
get past. He was actually holding me up on this twisty
bit then pulling away on the straight. I decided to hold
back at the chicane, go faster through it and see if I
could get him on the main bend too but the race ended
before I was able to try this ploy. Well I got an
unexpected Second and when we first three came into the
paddock everyone was very excited and cheering and we
could hardly get through. No other car has ever been
able to challenge Monty. He says it weighs only 9cwt
with some 70bhp. I am about 10cwt and only some 40bhp.
My roadholding did the trick. I could place the car
exactly where I wanted."
The dust was a bit thick and it can be seen obscuring I
pull out to overtake the Anglia Special
the other side of the circuit
Monty with a Skoda close. I am coming up (on the
Entering the chicane but there was no room to pass,
right in the background)
Cont."The stewards decided to run the Open Handicap in
two heats of 10 laps with a 10 lap final. Monty and I
were in the first heat and we had two cars started 50
seconds ahead of me with Monty 5 secs behind. I only had
to make 3rd place to qualify for the final so I let him
through and followed at a convenient distance. We took
the all the slower cars bar one before the end so I got
my 3rd. We were six cars in the final including a Cooper
500 which blew up so we were 5. Monty was handicapped
out and in the dust I couldn’t see to get close to the
works Anglia which had started ahead. One surprise was
an A90 engined Austin Special (2600cc ?) which got close
but couldn’t catch me so I took another unexpected 2nd!
Thus I had to go to the stand twice to collect my cups
which were presented by Kay Don of Brooklands fame. What
a weekend!"
I collect a cup from Kay Don The Buckler, me and my cups
8 Dec 1954 "I am competing in my last motoring event in
East Africa at Menengai on Sunday. The Buckler is handed
to the railway on Monday for sending home."
I broke a half shaft after my first run at Menengai and
got home in time for Christmas and the Buckler followed.
Click here to see Part Two
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