1983 Bamby, 49cc, Project. Registration number A833 NKH. Cha...

Hammer

£850

1983 Bamby, 49cc, Project. Registration number A833 NKH. Chassis number 0030. Engine number was 2T41800719.

Bamby Cars was a British-built marque of microcars produced in small numbers in Hull, England, in the early 1980s. Bambys were designed and built by Alan Evans, who manufactured a one-off replica of the Peel P50 which also served as a prototype for further production.

The Bamby featured a fibreglass body with left side gull-wing door with three-wheels and a single wheel in the rear. Initial models were equipped with hand-started Minarelli 49 cc engines, cable brakes and single headlamps. Improvements introduced included replacing the original 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. Also introduced was a Suzuki engine, attached via a full chassis, in place of the previously used subframe. Like the Peel P50, there was no reverse gear. 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.

A833 was first registered in November 1983 by Bamby Cars and is one of the first built with gull wing door and cyclops headlight and appears in early promotional advertising. It was bought by our vendors aunt, a local nurse but she did not get on with it. Our vendor bought it in 2002 to add to his collection.

Stripped of its running gear at some point it still retains its steering column and front suspension.

Sold with the V5, period photograph of it on the assembly line, recovery photographs and a various copy literature including a copy of The Bamby Story by Bob Cotton whose son used one for several years.