Guest Jesse Lyon Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 (edited) Need some help from my classic car friends, identifying the car in this photo of my Mom and her sister, taken somewhere around 1958. I thought I knew my cars pretty well, but apparently not. Its driving me crazy! Any ideas? Thanks! BTW, this photo was taken in Dunnville, Ontario, Canada Edited October 1, 2017 by Jesse Lyon update to text (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stude17 Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 1960 Morris Minor 1000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jesse Lyon Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 (edited) Wow, that was quick! Thank you! Edited October 2, 2017 by Jesse Lyon (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzcarnerd Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 4 hours ago, Stude17 said: 1960 Morris Minor 1000. Could be as early as 1956, the first year of the 1000 with the one piece windshield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 (edited) Canada was a big market for Morris Minors. They were sold here in the thousands. I suspect they were quite a bit more popular than VW Bugs until at least the early 1960's. Simple in the extreme, and reasonably dependable . Seems like almost everyone I know who was driving in the 1950's or 1960's had at least one at some time. They weren't all that good in the winter and road salt claimed many. Survivors are still reasonably common. And finally somewhat sought after. I have owned a couple over the years, a 1964 Woody, and a 1957 Convert, as well my circa 1960 Buckler sports car uses quite a bit of MM for the suspension and drive line. These photo's are of a Buckler similar to mine, but in much better condition. All the black parts in the second picture are straight out of a Morris Minor. Greg in Canada Edited October 1, 2017 by 1912Staver (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryB Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Sales brochure for Morris Minor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jesse Lyon Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 1 hour ago, 1912Staver said: Canada was a big market for Morris Minors. They were sold here in the thousands. I suspect they were quite a bit more popular than VW Bugs until at least the early 1960's. Simple in the extreme, and reasonably dependable . Seems like almost everyone I know who was driving in the 1950's or 1960's had at least one at some time. They weren't all that good in the winter and road salt claimed many. Survivors are still reasonably common. And finally somewhat sought after. I have owned a couple over the years, a 1964 Woody, and a 1957 Convert, as well my circa 1960 Buckler sports car uses quite a bit of MM for the suspension and drive line. These photo's are of a Buckler similar to mine, but in much better condition. All the black parts in the second picture are straight out of a Morris Minor. Greg in Canada Very cool! Thanks for sharing Greg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjay Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Very hard to pin the year down more. It appears to be a black car with a black grille and Probably Birch Grey wheels as black was the only color to get a wheel color, which would make it a very early "1000", so probably a 57. If there was more of a side view, we could see the longer, older body moulding below the rear window. Buckler, that another adaptation. I learned of another recently that didn't move the engine back as far and the torsion bar went through the foot wells. The Buckler appears to have the foot wells behind the torsion bar anchors. Love to learn more about it. What's the wheelbase? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 (edited) The one in the two photo's is a Mark fifteen. The wheelbase is 90". My car is a mark sixteen. It is the same as a fifteen except it has a 96" wheelbase and was intended for either MG "T" series power or MGA power. Roughly the same W.B. as a MGA or TR 3. For years I wanted a Lotus 7, but at 6'2" I was a bit tall for a comfortable fit. The Buckler is a similar concept but a bit bigger . The seating space ends up being very close to that of an MGA . And definitely more comfortable for someone my size. The mark fifteen's were perfect for an entry level racing class here in Canada called , wait for it.......Canada class. The mechanical components had to come from a low cost production car but the rest of the car was up to the builder. Buckler Mark fifteens were ideally suited , the best known one the "Autosport Special" won the championship at least twice. Several other Bucklers competed as well. The other Morris Minor based Buckler is the Mark 5-MM , which I don't really know anything about. The regular Mk 5 is English Ford based { like the majority of Buckler models} and built in decent numbers. But there was a version adapted to use Morris parts, they seem to be quite rare. Perhaps that was the one you saw. They are listed as being 90" W.B. Greg The "Autosport Special" sometime in the late 1950's/ early 1960's Edited October 4, 2017 by 1912Staver (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjay Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 The Buckler looks like in was for Canada and for racing. Below is a link to on in England called Mistral and it looks like it could be used on the road. They had moved the rack in front of the kingpins and the current owner is working on reversing the Ackerman arms as originally they weren't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjay Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 This link may show all of the photos. https://flickr.com/photos/22719913@N04/sets/72157678954165291 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 (edited) Thanks for the link ! The chassis however is not Buckler, he describes it as Halifax style. It's one that I have not seen before, but there were dozens of "special" builders in the post war years . And many more owner creations. Buckler was one of the" better " efforts along with Lotus , Lola , Elva , TVR etc. But the variety of aftermarket bodies and chassis is quite remarkable, as well as the quality being quite variable. I am sure placing the rack in front of the spindles creates quite a few problems. It looks like they have swapped the spindles left to right in order to do it. More re-engineering than I would want to undertake. As you can see from the photos of the gray chassis, Buckler uses the MM parts in exactly the same position as in a stock Minor. But the Wheel Base is long enough to place the engine behind the rack. All in all probably a better solution. The Microplas Mistral was a very popular body. Quite a few Bucklers ; of varying chassis model, used it. I believe Buckler's were even an official agent for Microplas. My chassis was originally fitted with one, but it has been lost before my ownership. They are available in the U.K . but shipping is hefty, I will probably fit something more along the lines of a simplified version of the "Autosport". Greg Edited October 5, 2017 by 1912Staver (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjay Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 So Mistral was just bodies. Thanks for the information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzcarnerd Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 A Mistral body even found its way onto this car for a while. Built in 1953 this pic is at the Goodwood festival of Speed 2009. Know locally as The Crop Duster. http://www.mistral.net.nz/racing.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 Wow, that's an adaption I could not have even dreamt of. I know you gents in N.Z. are very resourceful but that is amazing ! 173 MPH !! Greg in Canada I know the current owner of the car - he has had it for many years. Back in the '70s I briefly knew the guy who built it, with his brother, and raced it. In his retirement he restored a 1930 Buick and used to come along to the local Buick owner's group we had going then. The current owner is a developer and the names of the builders, Charlie and Maurice Stanton, are remembered in the names of a coupe of cul-de-sacs in Christchurch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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