1956 Buckler MK15 Mistral

Richard Brown was something of a Buckler enthusiast. He and his brother, Creighton, started racing in Buckler karts in the 1960s, became friends with the Buckler family and he owned and competed in several models of their cars over the years. He was a quick hill climber in cars such as Mallocks, Ralts & Pilbeams and at one time he held the outright Shelsley hill record. Creighton was a quick Clubmans racer who won a few Clubmans Championships and is probably better known as a director of McLaren F1.

Richard bought this car as a project in about 2015. It came from Ireland in rather a sorry state having lost its original body and the chassis was badly corroded so he had it comprehensively rebuilt by John Sabourin of Rawlson Racing in Kent over the winter of 2015/16. He restored it around a new chassis, built around the original chassis and another MK15 chassis for jigs and using the correct welding techniques etc. A period correct Microplas Mistral body was sourced and fitted.

True to its MG/Morris roots the specification now includes:

Fullrace 1,380cc 'A-Series' engine by MAMBA/Bridge Engineering of Faringdon, Oxfordshire.
Midget tuftrided/balanced crank
'S' balanced rods. Omega pistons. MD 296 Cam. Vernier Sprocket
Composite head gasket. Roller rockers. ARP bolts. Steel flywheel
High torque starter. Aldon ignition. Weber 45DCOE carb
Very strong engine that revs to 7,600rpm
MG/Morris rear axle
Straight-cut Midget gearbox with HD layshaft and bearings by Peter May
Cam & Pawl limited-slip differential by Peter May

There is a fair pile of history with the car, including correspondence from the original owner and later owners, old adverts for the car etc., a photocopy of the programme for the 1964 Leinster Trophy races showing the car entered in the 'Holmpatrick Trophy' race, restoration photos, invoices for the 1,380cc A-Series from Mamba Motorsport and the heavy duty Midget gearbox and cam & pawl diff from Peter May Engineering.

The car is well known to the thriving Buckler Register and has competed successfully with them at Prescott, Shelsley (nearly always the quickest Buckler) and the Isle of Man Classic, where it racked up three wins in three events. We understand that it would be eligible for historic racing with series such as Motor Racing Legends' Stirling Moss Trophy, Equipe Classic Racing’s '50s Drum-Braked Sportscars, possibly FISCAR and HSCC Griffith-Haig Trophy and maybe even Goodwood?