The Buckler Cars company founded by Derek Buckler and based in Reading, Berkshire

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

, England produced approximately 500 cars between 1947 and 1962. The Company made many of its cars in Crowthorne

Crowthorne

Crowthorne is also a suburb of Johannesburg, South AfricaCrowthorne is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire. It has a population of 6,711...

 , Berkshire and a plaque can be seen on the site of the former factory.

Unusual in featuring spaceframe construction at this date, the high quality cars were supplied either fully built to order with a works body or optionally and mostly in component form for home completion. They were designed to accept a range of mechanical components to enable buyers to create a lightweight sports car suitable for road use and in rallies, trials, speed hillclimbs or racing. The first model, based on Derek Buckler's own very successful 1947 Buckler Special, was called the Mark V, allegedly because he did not want people to think it was the first car. After prolific success in the early and mid-1950s, Buckler's popularity waned during the later 1950s as other manufacturers came on the scene and when the kit-car market suffered a reversal in the early 1960s. However Bucklers had considerable success entering the new Kart market in the 1960s but the founder had to sell his company as a going concern circa 1962 due to failing health. After that time the company seemed to lose momentum and the new owners closed down after a few years of spasmodic trading. Derek Buckler who had been in poor health for some time, died in 1964.

As well as making cars, Buckler made gear sets for other companies including Lotus Cars

Lotus Cars

Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics...

. They also built the first racing car chassis for the Brabham MRD.

Car models

It was the policy of the company that the specifications of all the cars was very flexible around a central design concept, as each car, kit or chassis was built to order. Basically there were about 12 model types over a period of almost 20 years.

Model Name	Year
Mark V	1949–1955	1172 cc Ford Ford of Britain Ford of Britain is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford of Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Brentwood, Essex...  engine. Top speed 80 mi/h. Open 2 seater. 78 inches (1,981 mm) wheelbase.
Mark VI	1950–1955	Long 80 inches (2,032 mm) wheelbase version of Mark V.
Mark X	1950	1172 cc Ford engine. Closed coupé three seat body.
Mark XI	1950	Long-wheelbase Mark X.
Mark XV	1950	BMC A-Series engine BMC A-Series engine Austin Motor Company's small straight-4 automobile engine, the A-Series, is one of the most common in the world. Launched in 1951 with the Austin A30, production lasted until 2000 in the Mini. It used a cast-iron block and cylinder head, and a steel crankshaft with 3 main bearings... d cars.
Mark XVI	1950	Long-wheelbase version of Mark XV.
90	1953–1957	1172 cc Ford engine.
DD1	1956–1962	Coventry Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H... 1098 cc FWA engine. Optional de-Dion rear suspension.
DD2	1957–1962	Various engines up to 2 Litres
BB100	1958–1962	Backbone chassis