Photograph by John Boucher. Courtesy of Howard Knox.
The following photographs were taken by a young Finlay Brothers’ employee at a fashion photography session for which Finlay Brothers had provided cars as props. The actual professional photographer can be seen at the left side of the photograph below.
Photograph by John Boucher. Courtesy of Howard Knox.
| The event took place in Spring 1959 at Albert Park, Melbourne1 – on the side closest to the city. This area would now be part of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. Both the blue Buckle coupe and white Goggomobil Dart were Finlay Brothers stock, with the Buckle having been retrieved from a sub-dealer’s yard a week or two previous to this photographic session.2
Buckle coupes were a unique sports car produced by Bill Buckle in NSW, with possibly only twenty having ever been built.3 The Finlay Brothers’ employee who took the photographs felt that this Buckle is the only one that the firm stocked.4 Records for this vehicle collected by the “Buckle Coupe Owners Register” suggest that this vehicle was on display at the 1958 Melbourne Motor Show, owned by Finlay Brothers from 1958-1959, and subsequently returned to NSW and was bought by a private owner. It was thought to have been later written off in an accident.5 Further information on this vehicle (Body #93-898 & Chassis #58253) can be seen on the Buckle Coupe Website here.
The white Dart was a Goggomobil model stocked extensively by Finlay Brothers, having also come from Buckle Motors, NSW, being of sports design with a fibreglass body. Finlay Brothers are recalled as having been the Goggomobil distributors for Victoria, the Riverina and Tasmania6 – selling from their own Melbourne premises as well as supplying car dealership yards throughout these other areas.
Photograph by John Boucher. Courtesy of Howard Knox.
| On a humorous note, it is noticeable in the following photographs that the Buckle coupe does not have a number plate affixed – the self-tapping screws that attached it having come away from the fibreglass. The Finlay Brothers’ employee who collected the vehicle from the sub-dealer’s yard recalled being stopped by police en-route back to Finlay Brothers, and receiving a lengthy talk on the “errors of his ways” for this problem!7
Photograph by John Boucher. Courtesy of Howard Knox.
Photograph by John Boucher. Courtesy of Howard Knox.
Photograph by John Boucher. Courtesy of Howard Knox.
Photograph by John Boucher. Courtesy of Howard Knox.
Photograph by John Boucher. Courtesy of Howard Knox.
Photograph by John Boucher. Courtesy of Howard Knox.
References:
1. John Boucher, personal communication, February 3, 2013.
2. John Boucher, personal communication, February 16, 2013.
3. Buckle Coupe Website, “Buckle Coupe Home Page”, http://www.carpartsandmore.com.au/buckle/index.html
4. See note 1 above.
5. Buckle Coupe Website, “Buckle Coupe Owners Register” Body #93-898, http://www.carpartsandmore.com.au/buckle/car04.htm
6. John Boucher, personal communication, February 11, 2013.
7. See note 1 above. |