BAMBY

Made in Hull, UK, 1984
49cc
3 wheels
Single seat

Bamby cars were made in small numbers at Hull, England, in the early nineteen-eighties. Designed and built by Alan Evans, whose introduction to car manufacture was a one-off replica of a Peel P.50, the original car, which also served as a prototype, featured a glass-fibre body with gull-wing door on the left. All Bamby cars were three-wheelers with the single wheel at the back, and the first models were equipped with hand-start Minarelli 49cc engines, cable brakes and single headlamps. Improvements introduced during the early stages included replacing the Minarelli engines with the type fitted by Yamaha to their Passola moped, using the main frame components as a subframe for attaching to the body of the car. Brakes were converted to hydraulic discs, but the single headlamp was retained until a further face-lift, from which time two headlights were fitted. At this time the gull-wing entry was deleted and a front-hinged door installed instead. Simultaneous with these improvements was the introduction of a Suzuki power unit, attached via a full chassis, in place of the previously used subframe.

The new model was exhibited at the Ideal Home Exhibition of 1984, meeting with overall public approval, but few were made and the final Bamby left the factory within a few months.

The car illustrated is one of the latest type, as exemplified by the hinged door and twin headlamps. A Bamby feature, written with the co-operation of Alan Evans, was published in RUMCar News issue 36, and several Bamby cars are owned by subscribers.