Bamby
Overview
A microcar enthusiast called Alan Evans was inspired by his acquisition of a Peel P50 to create a modern equivalent. Like the Peel, the Bamby was a single-seater glassfibre-bodied 3-wheeler with a 49cc engine. Braking was by hydraulic discs on the front wheels, there was handlebar steering (later a conventional wheel) and the transmission was a 3-speed automatic. It weighed only 235lb (107kg) and could return 100mpg. Early examples had a single gull-wing door, later changed to a conventionally hinged door. The engine was progressively upgraded from a 49cc Minarelli to Yamaha, then Suzuki moped units. An initial production rate of 20 per month proved over optimistic, and then Bamby was too expensive at £1389 plus tax to score much success with its target market of 16-year olds and housewives. Probably around 50 Bambys were made.