Mystery car

Our mystery this month takes us to America and the interesting period soon after World War II, when some car designers began to think outside the square, and several unusual designs saw the light of day. This one is a three-wheeler — it did reach production, but only just, with maybe 13 to 18 produced. So what have we here? Send your solution to editor@classiccar.co.nz or mail to Mystery Car No. 264, February 2018,

Newzealand Classic Car, PO Box 46,020, Herne Bay, Auckland by mid February. Our Aussie mystery last month was the Buchanan Cobra, one of several mid- to late’50s Aussie attempts to develop a homegrown sports car. This one was developed by Nat Buchanan and the project started from his mid-1950s production of fibreglass bodyshells that could fit onto existing British or other car underpinnings. This was a fairly successful venture, as the Buchanan bodies were both lighter and more streamlined than the typical square-rigged British sports cars and, indeed, most other cars of that period, and when fitted to the likes of an MG TD chassis or other mechanical hardware (Fiat and Holden variants were certainly built), a handy little sports car resulted, with potential — depending on engine tune — for some competition success. His body design was apparently based on a set of fibreglass moulds taken from an imported Aston Martin DB3S sports racer, though the production bodies were subtly different from the original Aston design. At least 80 bodyshells were sold, and, with a background of good publicity from competition success, Buchanan tried his hand in 1958 at selling the Buchanan Cobra, a complete body-chassis unit with a fibreglass bodyshell on a box-section chassis, using a Standard 10 drivetrain: its 28kw power was enough to provide 130kph performance from the lightweight vehicle. Initial publicity was favourable, but when push came to shove, the failure of plans for series production and marketing (through Standard dealers) meant that only seven cars were built, some of which survive. Some of the earlier Buchanan bodyshells on other chassis set-ups, plus an actual Buchanan Cobra or two, can still be seen competing in vintage car race meetings in Australia. Time for a catch-up on recent Mystery Car winners. Several of you were up to speed enough to recognize Mystery No. 265 as the Lloyd 600 Alexander undergoing the assembly progress, but only two of you knew the story of the Lloyd-hartnett car-building project, and our picture showing the assembly line in the Kangaroo Point, Queensland, factory in which the car was assembled. Congratulations to our winner, first out of the bag, David North of Riverton, who, as usual, sent in a meticulously researched entry.