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BUCKLERS LEAD - OTHERS FOLLOW |
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 Thanks
to some recent correspondence from Mr Stewart Whyte we
have a lot more information on the life of...
THE BURDMONK. KGB 1
An overview by Peter Silverthorne from details held in
the Buckler Register archives.
The original owner/builder was Nigel Kennedy of Glasgow.
He placed the order for a Mk5 kit late in 1950. He
requested a Morris 10 engine. Derek suggested that the
centre cross member, front engine mounting and IFS
mounting plate should be omitted, for fabricating in
Scotland. The nett works price for a standard frame
(fitted with all Ford parts) was £52.00. Derek deducted
£3.00 for the omitted items. Other work was carried out
to modify some mechanical items and with a large amount
of advice a nominal figure added back on. The frame was
despatched by train in late April 1951. It seems that
the build may have been complicated and time consuming
as the Burdmonk (Buckler Mk5) was not registered (KGB 1)
until 30 May 1952.
The first recorded event for car and driver was Bo’ness
hill climb on 28 June 1952 where Autosport magazine
mention that “Nigel introduced his Burdmonk”. Nigel took
the class record! The Rest and be Thankful hill climb
and Prescott hill climb followed. Pity we don’t have the
results for them.
In 1953 competitions included a driving test, more hill
climbs, a seven lap handicap race and his first
autocross event where he achieved fastest time of day (FTD).
Trials were added in 1954 to the regular hill climbs
along with more autocrosses.
The final season was 1955with the final event being a
race meeting with the Aberdeen MC at Crimond. In total
Nigel competed in 22 events and gained 13 awards.
Nigel offered the Burdmonk for sale in Autosport
magazine Sept 23 1955 issue for £325 ono with some
spares.
Nothing more has been heard of the car until the e-mail
from Mr Whyte earlier this year. The car is still
missing.
Memories of KGB1
by Stewart Whyte in England
Simon:
I've just spent a happy hour or so reliving a lost part
of my youth, by browsing your most informative site. And
eventually I came across the registration number of a
car I once owned (it was my second ever car) And
astonishingly, I can actually contribute something to
your excellent register.
Sometime around mid-1964, I was living in Glasgow, and
happily running an old (1947) Morris Eight, Series E
car. This was my first car, and I was 19 at the time.
Some evenings and weekends, I put my car in the family
lockup garage, in Bilbao Street, on the South side, just
off Rutherglen Road. Another "resident" of the lockups
was an old-timer by the name of Jimmy Malcolm. I believe
he had been an engineer in one of the many metal-bashing
factories which used to characterise much of Glasgow.
Jimmy had, for as long as I had known him, dabbled in
"interesting" cars. At this time, he owned a Buckler
sports car. Once he managed to get it to run, he just
about lost interest in it, and I eventually did a deal
with him for it. I forget the fine details, but I think
I paid him £25 for it. As I recall, he then bought an
old MG TC or similar, in poor condition, but suitable
for him to fettle up.
The registration number of this Buckler car was -- wait
for it -- KGB 1. I knew little of its history, but found
out (from Graham Birrell, who ran a motor racing
accessories shop somewhere near Charing Cross) that its
first owner was a Mr Nigel Kennedy (obviously NOT the
punk violinist!).
I ran the car for about 18 months, and eventually sold
it, in order to buy a Daimler SP250 (aka Dart).
Regrettably, I have no record of the purchaser of the
Buckler, but so far as I could tell, he intended to use
it for some kind of stockcar racing. All I know is, that
I got my money back on it!
Until I saw the name on your Register, I had quite
forgotten that its "model" was given as Burdmonk. I have
no idea of the origins of this name.
I have a couple of photographs of the car "somewhere",
and I am now motivated to find these, and scan them. I
will be happy to send the digitised results to you, if
you like.
The key points of specification I can remember include:
the Ford-based, split transverse front axle (and what a
wheel-camber change they gave over bumps!!!)
cable-operated drum brakes, with multiple "compensators"
(pretty efficient)
differently-sized front and rear wheels and tyres three
speed close-ratio gearbox, of Ford E93A (??) origins
A-frame torque-tube rear axle/suspension, also of Ford
E93A origins
The original power plant was, as I understood it, a
supercharged Morris 10 unit, of "about 1200 cc". For as
long as I knew the car, the supercharger had been
replaced by twin SU carburettors. These were initially
quite difficult to set up, but at that time I was
employed as a medical technician in the University,
Glasgow. I had access to some quite sophisticated
gas-flow equipment and some early electronic
equipment, including oscilloscopes and the like. "Me and
a couple of mates" designed and built an early twin
carburettor balancing device, which helped things no
end.
During my ownership, I made some modifications to the
bodywork, on a do-it-yourself basis. My style concept
was the then-new Lotus Elan. This involved cutting away
a couple of the "less important" tubes at the back of
the chassis (the ones which held the spare wheel mount),
and fitting a couple of heavy-duty polythene tanks for
the fuel. I styled the revised back-end in aluminium
sheeting (similar to the original stuff) on an aluminium
framework, and whole thing appeared to come out just
fine! Goodness knows what might have happened if I had
ever been hit up the back!
Although I used the car fairly vigorously as everyday
transport, I never had the opportunity to get involved
in any form of motor sport (principally due to lack of
hard cash!), but I did enjoy driving this unusual
vehicle, and I guess I covered some 20 to 25,000 miles
in it overall in the 18 months ownership. So far as I
can remember, it was essentially pretty reliable (at
least according to the norms of the period).
A couple of specific incidents might add some colour to
this particular record. Quite by chance, one day I found
myself parked next to a Wolseley car with the
registration 1 KGB. This was owned by a Glasgow
solicitor, who expressed some interest in buying the
registration number of my car, so that he had the
matched pair. At that time (64-66), in the UK, the
politically correct registration authorities were trying
to stamp out the elitist practice of "cherished number
retention", and the whole thing came to nothing. I just
wish I still had title to that registration number now
-- it's probably worth quite a bit, in these days of
official cherished number auction sales in the UK.
In summer 1965, two of us took the car on an extended
tour "Down south" to visit relatives and have a bit of a
holiday. Although I had no clear idea of the geography
of southern Britain, when I found that we were quite
near to Reading, I took the opportunity to find my way
to the Buckler premises, where I was met by a "kindly
old gentleman" whose name is now alas long forgotten. He
was quite interested in the vehicle and my understanding
of its history, and we had a long and friendly chat. He
gave me what I believed to be an original blueprint of
the chassis -- and I'm sure I still have this somewhere.
Again, I am now quite motivated to search for this.
I hope that this is helpful to you and other Buckler
enthusiasts. I am afraid that I don't think I would
remember much else about the car, but if it happens that
you or any other members are particularly interested, I
would, of course, try to dredge up some recollections
upon prompting.
Thank you for what is obviously something of a labour of
love for you, and which has rekindled some very
pleasant, if slightly ancient, memories for me.
Best wishes
Stewart Whyte
Graham Gauld (from
http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=93563&hl=buckler
)
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 honorary
member of Scottish Motor Racing Club and attends all the
annual dinners. Herewith someone's 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 !!!
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