1983 Bamby, 49cc, Project. Registration number KAT 186Y. Cha...

Hammer

£80

1983 Bamby, 49cc, Project. Registration number KAT 186Y. Chassis number 14. Engine number was 14.

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.

KAT was first registered in May 1983 according to the V5 and owned by Bamby Cars, they sold it it to Allen Forster of Durham in 1991 or 1992. A photograph on file (of A833 NKH) states it was the last Bamby produced and reiused the registration from an earlier car. It is one of the later examples that had a steering wheel, conventional hinged door, two headlights. Our vendor bought it in 2002 to add to his collection.

Stripped of its running gear it is sold with the V5, and a copy of The Bamby Story by Bob Cotton whose son used one for several years.