The 1950s provided a shift for in the car market through the launch of the sports cars across the globe and Australia was not immune thanks to Buckle Motors.
Bill Buckle, who recently passed, was long associated with the Toyota brand as he continued his family’s history in the motoring trade and devised a plan during the late-1950s to build a sports car.
Motoring was starting to increase in popularity as the motor vehicle became a more accessible option to families as they were willing to leave the borders of their suburb to explore what Australia had to offer.
His father’s death prompted him to join Buckle Motors at the age of 19 where he entered motorsport events, which took Buckle to Europe and inspired him to enter a new venture.
After his trip to Europe, Buckle convinced the Buckle Motors board to build a prototype sports car influenced by Ferrari and Maserati.
The task of designing this new sports car was given to none other than future Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship winning engineer Ron Tauranac after a connection was made through competing in hillclimbs with Buckle.
Using Ford Zephyr components as a base, Tauranac moulded a full size plaster model to design and build the body. This was further altered when Charles Buck joined the company as it became a 2+2 layout and production began at the Buckle Motors factory in Punchbowl.
Comprised of the chassis and straight-six engine from the Mark II Zephyr as well as the fibreglass body ensured the Buckle Sports Coupe was just 865kg, which made it good for 160 km/h.
Hillclimbs were big events at the time, so the Buckle was popular and successful in this discipline as Dick Newell proved it was fast on the circuit to by winning the New South Wales GT Championship.
Only 20 Buckles were produced and has a loyal following, some have clocked up half a century of ownership.