Bucklers!

[Oldfart]

IF my ownership database is accurate (and we are constantly correcting it) that car (Ken Whites) is now in the hands of Steve Day who ran it at Leadfoot and Roycroft this year. The next previous owner was Dallas Crampton.
Could also be the car now owned by Steve Sharp which was in the hands of Ron Roycroft for a time. If that is correct it was a car which we show as being first owned by Arthur Harris.

[Oldfart]

Stu, I have been asked by Kelvin if you are sure that the photo from Ostrich Farm is Alwyn. The reason for asking is that he wonders if that might be Cliff Judd, as his car had the body mounted lower on the chassis than most and hence the carbs protruded.
Thanks (and no criticism)

[Oldfart]

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Here are some of Vic Simkin (should that be Simpkin?), very distinctive scoop for Humber 80 motor.
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These photos from Brian Skudder

[Oldfart]

And now the Billington "Elfo" which may or may not have been an "authorised" copy.
Thanks to Stu who sent me this one some time back (I think)

[stubuchanan]

Stu, I have been asked by Kelvin if you are sure that the photo from Ostrich Farm is Alwyn. The reason for asking is that he wonders if that might be Cliff Judd, as his car had the body mounted lower on the chassis than most and hence the carbs protruded.
Thanks (and no criticism)

In response to your delicately-worded query, nothing is ever certain in this world, and yes, I do now believe it is Cliff Judd after considerable reference to programmes, photos, news clippings and another forum! An interesting exercise.

The colour slide in question turns out to have been taken at the NSCC Ostrich Farm Road climb on 18 March 1962. This was a busy weekend, because the previous day we were at the Auckland CC North Island Beach Race Champ at Muriwai. I hope we paid for the petrol in the family car!

Both Judd and Marshall ran in the Le Mans start sports car race at the 1962 GP meeting at Ardmore in January, and I took 4 shots of the start(on my basic 35mm wide angle camera).

Marshall (62) obviously won the foot-race across the track, and was first away, followed by Simon Taylor (33) and Spinner Black (59) in a Mistral.



Further back Ron Roycroft (having a run in the Averys' HWM #34) is alongside Judd's Buckler(159),although Ron might have had to ease off as he was off the track proper and would have to dodge round a marker board up ahead.



It looks clear to me that the "9" on the car at Ostrich Farm is what's left of Judd's "159" from Ardmore. Also, the driver's helmet is different, although Marshall could have shouted himself a new one in the interim, I guess.

Marshall recorded second fastest time at Ostrich Farm, 2 sec slower than Sager's Cooper, Judd was 5th equal, and this was the meeting where John Riley demolished the finish timing equipment while recording 4th fastest.

Stu

(Sorry about photo quality, but they are enlarged portions of 50 year old colour slides)

[Oldfart]

Stu, thanks for the extras. At some meetings earlier (1960 GP eg) the Judd car shows as 933cc which I find rather interesting, later shows as 1172cc as you would expect.
#62 which is Alwyn shows in this pic with red wheels which might help in identifying some shots too.
31 Sports car entries for the 62 GP meeting, 9 are Bucklers!

[David McKinney]

Judd first raced his car with a Ford 8 engine (933cc), later Ford 10 (1172)

[stubuchanan]

Stu, thanks for the extras. At some meetings earlier (1960 GP eg) the Judd car shows as 933cc which I find rather interesting, later shows as 1172cc as you would expect.
#62 which is Alwyn shows in this pic with red wheels which might help in identifying some shots too.
31 Sports car entries for the 62 GP meeting, 9 are Bucklers!

Somewhere I have a news clipping describing the Marshall car as immaculate. I should have realised it wasn't the one in the Ostrich Farm photo.

The Elfo Special (Reg 422-146) appeared on the AMW display at the pre-1958 GP Car Show at the Newmarket CarPark Building. It was entered by Billington as a Ford 10 Special, which supports the non-Buckler theory.



A nicely-finished car, all the doors and panels fitted properly. Photo not helped by my non-functioning flash unit.

Stu

[Royce]

Hi guys Does anyone know where the Rick Harris car is? My darling wife is his daughter and she is would like to know of its present location .

[Oldfart]

The Rick Harris car (which I owned for a while) is now in superb restored condition with Mark Garmey. I know that he would like any history that can be offered. Check your private messages for an email address Royce.

[Oldfart]

Thought it might be interesting to start a list of drivers who went on to bigger things and competed in Bucklers.
In no particular order, and certainly not purporting to be the complete list!
Jim Palmer
Howden Ganley
Phil Kerr
Jim Boyd
Andy Buchanan
Scott Wiseman
Roy Billington
Dewar Thomas
Malcolm Gill
Barry Cottle
Doc Langley
Leo Leonard
Merv Mayo
Allan McCully
Fred McLean
Ivy Stephenson

[David McKinney]

Impressive list, OF, but the car Howden Ganley's father built, and the son raced once or twice, was a Ford 10 Special, not a Buckler, regardless of what contemporary reports might have said

[Oldfart]

Impressive list, OF, but the car Howden Ganley's father built, and the son raced once or twice, was a Ford 10 Special, not a Buckler, regardless of what contemporary reports might have said

I thought I could rely on race programmes which I thought would have been compiled from entries! I did have record of the special but assumed a different car when one was entered as Ford Special, and the other Buckler. As the youth now says "My bad".
Does anyone have a photo showing Buckler, race #94 at 59 GP at Ardmore?

[David McKinney]

Only the one in Kelvin Brown's book, which shows what appears to be a standard AMW body with twin aeroscreens

The Ganley Ford 10 Special was, IIRC, Jarvie-bodied

In those days a lot of cars of that type were called Bucklers when they weren't, just as anything with a motorbike engine in the back was called a Cooper

[David McKinney]

Only the one in Kelvin Brown's book, which shows what appears to be a standard AMW body with twin aeroscreens

The Ganley Ford 10 Special was, IIRC, Jarvie-bodied

In those days a lot of cars of that type were called Bucklers when they weren't, just as anything with a motorbike engine in the back was called a Cooper

[Oldfart]

Only the one in Kelvin Brown's book, which shows what appears to be a standard AMW body with twin aeroscreens

The Ganley Ford 10 Special was, IIRC, Jarvie-bodied

In those days a lot of cars of that type were called Bucklers when they weren't, just as anything with a motorbike engine in the back was called a Cooper

Agreed, in fact I said this very early in the thread.

[stubuchanan]

Only the one in Kelvin Brown's book, which shows what appears to be a standard AMW body with twin aeroscreens

The Ganley Ford 10 Special was, IIRC, Jarvie-bodied

In those days a lot of cars of that type were called Bucklers when they weren't, just as anything with a motorbike engine in the back was called a Cooper

Your recall appears to be spot-on. In the late 50's and early 60's the NZIGP ran a handicap race after the Grand Prix, perhaps to let some of the exit traffic clear while the diehards watched another race. Waiting for the winners' parade to clear the track after the 1961 GP was the field for the Sports Car Handicap Race.



The second and third cars in the line-up are the Jarvie-bodied Ford 10 Specials of Ganley and S(Steve?) Norrish, followed by Pat Fafeita's Healey Sprite.

Car 124, the limit man, was K(Ken?) McLennan in the 'Picalo Riley". Does anybody know anything about this car? It doesn't look familiar and I don't recall a mention of it anywhere else.

There are genuine(?) Bucklers in the field, Smyth Judd and Simpkin, but this is only an enlargement of a larger slide and I cannot identify many of the cars, even with a list of the handicaps and a lap chart. Howden ran the Lotus XI in
the Sports Car race, and aslo presumably won the Ultimate Ekco Handicap in it as well, but did he or his father run the Ford 10 Special in the above race?


Stu

[Oldfart]

Don't credit me with memory! I have the luxury of extracts from programmes. From Jan 61. The programme shows J Ganley #109. It does not show #124
Genuine are Cottle #94, Marshall #102, Smyth #105, Wiseman #107, Judd #120 Simpkin #128, Hawke #137 (MkX), Ivy #142

[SSharp]

Impressive list, OF, but the car Howden Ganley's father built, and the son raced once or twice, was a Ford 10 Special, not a Buckler, regardless of what contemporary reports might have said

Although they never owned a Buckler, Jim and Howden (Ganley) did drive the Palmer car on at least one occasion. It was entered for Howden and Jim drove, or the other way around, I can't remember now.

[SSharp]

[quote="Roger Dowding"]Interesting stuff, thanks BMC BOY for the photos, question, who is in the Car - dark body white stripe and Roundel for the race number, the Gent has a beard, from a 1982 TACCOC sprint, ??, From memory he was quite an authority on Bucklers like Bruce Sutcliffe, and a member of the Waitemata branch of the Vintage Car Club, that ran Chelsea and other sprints / hillclimbs.

That's David Childs.