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BUCKLERS LEAD - OTHERS FOLLOW |
  
MJT981
Finished in British Racing Green
 I
have just come across your Buckler website and to my
amazement noticed the picture of my car, MJT 981. How
did that get there?
The person at the controls is not myself (Chris Longrigg),
it is my friend and fellow De Havilland student Ian
Thomas. We were "Scholarship apprentices" at De
Havilland Aircraft, Christchurch. This lasted 5 years
and included studying for the London University BSc in
Mechanical Engineering at Bournemouth Municipal College,
as it then was, now Bournemouth University, which is
where the photo was taken. The car had a supercharged
1172cc Ford engine. The supercharger was driven by a
hefty Vee belt from a pulley at the front of the
crankshaft and gave wonderful results. Unfortunately the
load on the pulley tended to shear the Woodruff key
connecting the pulley to the crankshaft, but the car
could still be driven, the blower just windmilled.
Chris Longrigg
I don't know where the rear lights came from but it must
have been from some car around at the time. The
headlight covers and side windows were moulded by myself
from Perspex sheet. The little Dzus fasteners on petrol
filler and bonnet were hand made. The windscreen was
made from brass channel section, brazed together and
chromed. The wheels were from LMB (Ballamy). The rear
axle had a low ratio cwp and the gearbox had close ratio
gears.
I can remember when the car was not quite finished but a
runner, I was so desperate to see how it went that I set
off around the country lanes at dead of night, with no
tax, insurance, MOT etc, (no MOT in those days of
course). I must have been confident it would get me back
OK!
It was sold in early
'61 to The Chequered Flag at Chiswick, when
I was working at De Havilland Engines at
Edgeware, before going to Australia. I
think!!! It's a long time ago...!
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