I have just been speaking with Fred Courteney, (owner of the Northland special). It was Ken McLennan who put the Jag engine in the special. His memory of the Picalo was that it had a Riley chassis, Vauxhall (?) motor and that Ken sorted out the body, perhaps making it himself.Originally Posted by stubuchanan
Fred said he hadn't seen it for "bloody years".
You're right, for the Sports Car Trophy Race
However for the Sports Car Handicap (page 43 in your programme) Ganley's Ford Special is No.136; 124 is McLennan's 'Picalo' Riley, which was seen in the occasional Northland hillclimb entered more sensibly as a Piccolo Riley. Perhaps it raced under another name in later years
Both Ganley cars are entered in the programme with 'J Ganley' as entrant and driver. Whether either or both was L W 'Jim' Ganley, or his son, the motoring writer James H Ganley, is not clear. What is certain however is that both cars were driven on the day by James Howden Ganley
That's interesting, Steve
There was a report, possibly in Motorama of a grasstrack meeting at Wahoroa or Raglan which mentioned "J Ganley (Buckler)" in the results. I once asked Howden about this and he agreed with my theory that the car in question was his father's Ford 10 special. Perhaps the Palmer car was used on another occasion
I had noted the existence of the Piccolo Riley in entries at the Dec 1960 Ardmore meeting and the 1961 GP, but didn't realise I had a slide of it until a year or two ago. Spelling was different in each programme, but probably there weren't many Italians or wind instrument players around Maungaturoto in those days. Quite a nice looking body for a home-made one.
Here is the young J. H. Ganley leaping into the Lotus Eleven cockpit for the Ardmore Trophy Race with Yeats (Orchid) to his left, and Ngan(Cooper), BobGibbons(Sprite), and John Scurrah(Lotus-Consul) to his right.
Very impressive elevation by Bob Gibbons, legs well tucked in, must have been a dab hand on the vaulting horse in his younger days, perhaps.
Stu
Still doesn't quite match the elegance of the Doug Lawrence one though!
Hi Rhys, here are some shots of my Buckler. The rear shot shows the rego number, was taken at a Gold Star hillclimb at Cossies Farm Drury , 06.02.72. The side shot at NCC Pohe Island grass track, 14.01.72, shows it had a 100e diff. As I was racing without the front on, you can see it had a divided Ford 10 front beam. It was powered by a Ford 997cc. It had passed from Vic to Wayne Harris and then to me. I sold it to John Cobbald and purchased the Cooper Imp from Ian Cullen.
Last edited by Stan B; 09-10-2013 at 12:39 AM.
That's Colin Ngan in the white with green stripe Cooper in the earlier photo. Apparently the Lawrences created one good car and one not-so good out of the parts of the 2 Bobtails. The other one, with Doug L at the wheel(almost) is at the front end of the line-up, third fastest in the green with white stripe car. Doug looks a bit more portly and middle-aged than Ngan in this photo.
Don't think I'm getting too far off-topic here, there are three Buckler-type cars in the middle of the line-up - the Elva-Ford, Marshall's Buckler, and the Orchid, which I think had an AMW body at some stage.
Stu B
PS John Scurrah's Lotus(clone)-Consul is just off the end of the picture.
Last edited by stubuchanan; 09-10-2013 at 04:50 AM. Reason: clarity
I recall the Orchid as being light blue. I'm pretty sure that white and red car is Andrew Buchanan's Buckler (ex-Mayo/Gill)
Andrew B(no kin of mine) didn't appear in programme, and car 108 (=Yeats) was in my brother's list of starters, but doesn't appear in the lap chart. However car 107 Scott Wiseman (Buckler 90) which wasn't in brother's list does appear in lap chart and finished 9th. Didn't Andy own the car after Wiseman?
I don't recall what the back end of a Jarvie body was like, with or without a headrest.
Stu Buchanan
Last edited by stubuchanan; 09-10-2013 at 10:30 AM.
According to my/Kelvin/Sutcliffe research that car was Mayo, Gill bought March 58, Wiseman bought Nov 59, Buchanan March 61, Sprague.. as it is now owned by our guru Kelvin Brown this is a very carefully researched car
Keith Yeats is probably the same one who in recent years was peddling a BMW 5 series indecently quickly in Targa events. The most innocuous looking competition car!
Last edited by Oldfart; 09-10-2013 at 06:49 PM.
Hi Rhys, here are some shots of my Buckler. The rear shot shows the rego number, was taken at a Gold Star hillclimb at Cossies Farm Drury , 06.02.72. The side shot at NCC Pohe Island grass track, 14.01.72, shows it had a 100e diff. As I was racing without the front on, you can see it had a divided Ford 10 front beam. It was powered by a Ford 997cc. It had passed from Vic to Wayne Harris and then to me. I sold it to John Cobbald and purchased the Cooper Imp from Ian Cullen.
Might have got my years wrong but, yes, same car. I remember Buchanan running it with the headrest but not sure about Wiseman (more distant memory)
Scott rolled it at Levin with damage to the body of the car, but not too much to him. Repairs included a roll bar and the headrest.Might have got my years wrong but, yes, same car. I remember Buchanan running it with the headrest but not sure about Wiseman (more distant memory
Michael, have sent you a PM
Now in Dunedin (I believe) is the Buckler that I once owned. It was reputed to be one of the last of the marque it was a Mk17 which originally had an Ashley Laminates body with two transverse rear seats. the car was apparently originally built up in UK with a BMC front suspension. Bruce Sutcliffe acquired it in very poor shape with the body past redemption. Bruce had the frame shortened by about 7 inches (the bits that had been removed were with it when I got it) to take a de Joux body. I fitted a Rootes group 1600 engine and transmission and rebuilt the front end to traditional Bellamy style with a Citroen steering rack. Other projects intervened and the car was sold to Ian Hallett who subsequently on sold it to the South Island.
You have seen that car at Roycroft Richard.
1983 - first pic only. Probably a practice day at Pukekohe.
With the signage on the side!
And without. Guest driver at the wheel...
Last edited by ERC; 04-26-2014 at 10:04 PM.
is this a genuine Buckler?
a fascinating thread - I have enjoyed the discussion immensely. I owned a "Buckler" in the late sixties-it was sold to me as a Buckler with the description that it had been raced by Jim Boyd previously but this could have been just good sales talk. It was powered by a 100E engine (3/4 race tuned) and I did buy an O/head valve conversion kit which I intended to fit but being a hardup student at Otago university it remained in the box . A pretty little car with a well made aluminum body - its only Achilles' heel was the Ford 10 gearbox - I went through quite a few but you could buy them in those days for $5-$10 dollars from the wreckers and my student flat soon got surrounded with broken gearboxes but I could eventually fit one in about 20 minutes. So the question remains- was this a genuine buckler (registered as a Buckler) or just a ford ten special? I attach a photo- apologies for the graininess. The car was eventually sold in Tauranga when I became a family manDoes anyone know of its whereabouts now?
A chap in Christchurch has a Buckler that was raced by Jim Boyd. We are tracking its racing history.
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