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BUCKLERS LEAD -- OTHERS FOLLOW |
  
GHT
866 DD2
This car had an
interesting history. It was photographed for a number of
Buckler advertisements and also used by the Mistral
company for advertising purposes
was imported from the UK some time in the 90's.
It is owned by Grant Bowring in New Zealand
Letter from Malcolm Buckler
Enclosed are photos of the first Buckler I ever owned.
The one that broke my toe before I drove it....remember?
Built by Twemlow at Fodens in very de luxe trim with
1172 engine and normal live axle. When the son had got
his test they decided to convert it for motor sport. The
rear was converted to De Dion and the engine converted
to a Climax 1100. Twin tanks were fitted, one for
methanol mixture and wire wheels were fitted and later,
an aero screen. The car was raced and hillclimbed.
 I
bought it blind . The previous owner had "thrown away"
the clapped out Coventry Climax. Cut off the entire
front of the chassis and grafted on a heavy ladder
chassis front with Healey 3000 suspension and steering
and fitted a Jag 3.4 engine (also clapped out I was to
find). However he was an engineering graduate and apart
from the weight it handled VERY well indeed. The De Dion
and the weight of the engine must have been a major
factor.
I put a BMC 1500 in it because I could not afford to
have the Jag sorted and got Carole's father (ex Works
Crowthorne ) to convert the front back to a space frame.
There was difficulty keeping it under cover as I had no
garage and after having done a tremendous amount of work
on it, I was persuaded to sell it locally. That chap
left it in a field for all my work to rust away but then
sold her, blind to NZ.
Around that time I bought PMO528, which was shipped to
the island in a container for a bottle of gin.
I built a garage and bought the Backbone and the rest is
history...
You had better put these pics and this text into the
existing file GHT.
Malc.
The TOE
Briefly. Went to Stafford to collect car. Should have
been ready but on arrival found it in a local garage in
the middle of MOT test. They had gone for lunch leaving
the Buckler up on a lift. I had not seen any Buckler
since I was a kid let alone the one I had bought.
The office girl left the phone and came and pushed the
down button for the electric car lift then returned to
her office. As the car reached the ground, I lent over
it to see the cockpit and soon found my foot trapped
between the concrete floor and the lift, which was still
slowly winching itself down (they are supposed to stop
with 4 inches ground clearance).
My shouts brought the girl back but instead of stopping
the lift she 'helpfully' said "try pulling". Finally she
pressed the off button, which was on the far side of the
lift. By that time one of my toes was almost chopped off
and another broken.
The garage also did Taxi hire but we got a driver who
slowed down 100 yards before every set of traffic
lights, waiting for them to go red. Finally I arrived at
Accident Dept of Royal Staffs Infirmary. They said with
a chopped off toe I would have to wait but if it was a
chopped off leg they could get me quicker service! I
feel bad now just remembering how toe nails were cut and
pulled out from my toes with no anaesthetic whatsoever
but by a really nice nurse, who had no other options
available to her.
Nature supplied some natural numbness, thank God, but
that night was the most painful time of my life and a
double dose of the painkillers supplied had no effect at
all and a doc had to be called to get me something
stronger. By then I was in plaster with crutches.
My pal Joe saved the day by driving the DD2 up the
motorway to the ferry at Liverpool. He said it had no
brakes at all. At the other side Joe Frances helped out.
He was World Speedway Champion before the war. I told
him "It has no brakes at all and drive it very very
slowly". We followed him round a couple of bends. Next
thing was smoke from the tyres and he shot away like I
have never seen, no way could we keep up or even see
where the car had gone.
Yes I could have sued the garage and their installation
would have been condemned also, but then I would have
not got my illegal but most essential M.O.T. certificate
and the Buckler, at that time, came before all else in
my life, maybe even life itself. Totally crazy and I am
reminded every time I put my socks on. Cutting my big
toe nail now, means a trip to the garage and a major
engineering job with hacksaw, files and emery paper. I
even tried an angle grinder once but it was too painful.
Hope you enjoyed my "brief account".....file under GHT
Malcolm
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