Bohanna Stables

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1966/67: Ford GT40 in the aerodynamically improved “Mirage” lightweight version - one of the first vehicles on which Peter Bohanna worked as a technician

The Bohanna Stables Ltd. was an independent English automotive design and construction agency.

Founded in 1972 and dissolved in 1977, the company was based in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire , England west of London ; Founders and owners were Peter Bohanna and Robin Stables. In 1972 they presented the mid-engine prototype Diablo , which was later used by the traditional company AC Cars Ltd. (known from the AC Cobra from the 1960s) the model AC 3000ME was created. From 1975 to 1977 Bohanna Stables Ltd. briefly became an independent vehicle manufacturer with the BS Nymph recreational vehicle , which was mainly manufactured as a kit car .

The owners

1967: Lola T70 Mk.III - the vehicle during the development of which the designers Peter Bohanna and Robin Stables met

Robin Stables was a dealer in Lotus vehicles in the early / mid-1960s before he joined the design office of the sports and racing car manufacturer Lola .

Peter Bohanna began his professional career as a boat builder , where he learned to work with glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP) in the design and construction of boat hulls and superstructures . From there, he moved as a technician to Ford Advanced Vehicle Operations (AVO) (a motorsport division of Ford at the time ) in Slough, west of London , to work on the aerodynamically improved Mirage lightweight version of the Ford GT40 for the 1967 racing season. This was followed by wind tunnel tests for the Alan Mann Racing team (supported by Ford at the time ). In 1967 Bohanna designed, on behalf of Ford / AVO, heavily widened, bulbous front and rear fenders for the upcoming rally version of the Ford Escort Mk.1 in accordance with Group 2 regulations. Some of them were ridiculed by pointing out they were like the fender flares as Ford on the rear axle equipped with twin tires fitted Ford Transit used transporter; In fact, they helped to exhaust the FIA rules and to achieve success in rally events from 1968 onwards, against sometimes more powerful competition, by means of widened track and wider tires on light alloy wheels. 1967 changed Bohanna as a body technician for Lola , where he particularly for the design of the famous T70 Mk.III - Gullwing coupe responsible (along with Jim Clark and technicians specializing in plastics processing firm Specialized Moldings ). At Lola , the then 27-year-old met Robin Stables, who was one year older and later his partner.

From 1970 and during the early years of Bohanna Stables Ltd. Until 1974, Peter Bohanna designed various racing car models for the English manufacturer Royale together with Mike Smith, primarily for Formula Super V , but also for Formula 2 , Formula 3 and Formula Atlantic , before they were later followed by designer Rory Byrne, who was later successful in Formula 1 1975 and Pat Symonds in 1979 followed.

First own designs for mid-engine sports cars

1967: Unipower GT - a mid-engine sports car built since 1966 based on the Mini Cooper for the road and racing; In 1968, Bohanna and Stables designed a successor in cooperation with the manufacturer, which ultimately did not go into series production

Bohanna and Stables were already familiar with the mid-engine concept and working with plastic bodies and tubular space frames from racing . Inspired by this, they began to consider designing their own lightweight sports car based on these construction principles for the road. The mid-engine principle was still very unusual for road vehicles in 1967/68. For example, only brands such as Matra with the Djet (from 1962) or the successor M 530 (from 1967), Lotus with the Europa (from 1967; initially only for export to continental Europe ) produced larger, at least three to four-digit quantities and only with the engine of the Renault 16 TS), De Tomaso with the Vallelunga (from 1965) and the Mangusta supercar (from 1966) or Lamborghini with the Miura supercar (from 1966). Bohanna and Stables initially implemented their plan in their evening free time after working together at Lola .

In 1968, Peter Bohanna designed his own small, lightweight mid-engined sports car with the engine and other mechanics of the Mini Cooper ; compact and very low, it was designed for the use of the 970 to 1275 cm³ engines (possibly in a more powerful form) for both the road and racing. As the Unipower GT Mk.2, it should have replaced the Unipower GT , also a compact, very low mid-engine sports car based on the Mini Cooper, which had been built from 1966 in a small edition of around 75 units (20 of which were special lightweight competition versions ), first with the company Universal Power Drives Ltd., then from 1968 by the racing driver Piers Weld-Forrester and the former racing driver Bernie Unger with the company UWF (Unger, Weld-Forrester) . In the end, the Unipower GT Mk.2 was not produced: For reasons of cost, due to the relatively good success of the original Unipower GT and with a view to planning larger models, UWF continued production of the original model beyond 1968 until 1970.

In 1968 and 1969, Bohanna and Stables were once again involved in Weld-Forrester's planning: The latter awarded development contracts for two new models, on the one hand to another design office for a sports car with the 3.0-l V8 engine of the Triumph, which is currently being planned Stag and Bohanna and Stables for a two-seat mid-engined sports car with a 2.2-liter six-cylinder in- line engine planned by British Leyland . With the latter model - as with the Unipower GT Mk.2 - it remained with production-ready designs; There was no series production because, on the one hand, the production of the planned 2.2-liter six-cylinder at British Leyland was delayed until 1972, before the Austin 2200 , Morris 2200 and Wolsley Six models were presented, and on the other hand , because it ultimately remained open how the small company run by Unger and Weld-Forrester could have raised the costs of series production, thirdly because these two company owners discontinued automobile production, which they saw as an adventure, in order to concentrate more on their own racing driver activities and the management of racing teams.

The mid-engine prototype "Diablo"

1979: AC 3000ME - the vehicle that the traditional manufacturer AC , based on the mid-engine prototype "Diablo" by Bohanna and Stables, finally produced in small series after six years of development

Bohanna and Stables, now based as freelance designers and technicians in the simplest of rooms in a suburb of High Wycombe, were so convinced of their larger model that they took on the further planning themselves at their own expense, such as switching to the available motor / gear unit of the Austin Maxi , the revision of the drive system and the tubular space frame as well as changes to the body design. They also changed the design plans so that they could be marketed both as a kit car and as a finished vehicle.

In 1971 they came to the traditional manufacturer AC Cars Ltd. for the first time with their draft plans . approached, who at that time could not yet decide to take over the project.

Bohanna and Stables absolutely wanted to bring the vehicle to series production, on the one hand because they had invested so much time and money in their project up to now that it was hardly justifiable to give up, and on the other hand to gain the necessary reputation for necessary follow-up orders with a series-produced vehicle gain.

In 1972 they therefore founded Bohanna Stables Ltd. : Your project should be professionalized and a drivable model vehicle built in its original scale. Bohanna invested his earnings from the collaboration with the racing car manufacturer Royale , Stables sold his private AC Cobra .

At the end of 1972 Bohanna Stables Ltd. At the Racing Car Show in London, next to the Lola stand, they presented their drivable prototype, now called Diablo , with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder in-line engine and gearbox of the Austin Maxi installed across the seats . The press and the public received the vehicle very positively due to its modern mid-engine concept and its sporty exterior.

The consideration of Bohanna Stables Ltd. to manufacture the mid-engine sports car as a kit car with cooperation partners failed due to financing issues. On the other hand, contacts to TVR and again to AC Cars led to success; The latter acquired the plans and the prototype, and an agreement was (pre-) quickly on the production of a small series of 20 vehicles per week. However, this did not happen because British Leyland (as Austin's parent company) refused to deliver the engines and transmissions.

In the following period, AC developed the Diablo together with Bohanna and Stables, who moved to the AC design office as consultants for a limited period , to create the prototype AC ME 3000 , which was presented in 1973 at the Earls Court Motor Show in London as a (not yet roadworthy) design study : The design was revised; as the engine was - due to the good contacts of the company AC to Ford - a transversely mounted behind the seats 3.0-liter Ford Essex - V6 -Motor planned with separate, lying behind gear by our company. Instead of problem for mass production of a space frame should AC constructed trough-like monocoque - platform frame come from welded steel sheets. Due to these changes, new type approval regulations with mandatory crash tests and a lack of money, it took another six years before the model was produced in small series from 1979 to 1985 in a number of 104 units, now renamed AC 3000ME .

Bohanna and Stables had not worked as consultants for AC since 1973/74 and concentrated on new projects.

The brown painted Diablo prototype with a dark brown roof is now owned by an English AC brand enthusiast and collector, the original design model is owned by another member of the AC Owners Club .

The "BS Nymph" model

Mini Moke - the vehicle with which the "BS Nymph" built from 1975 to 1977 competed
Hillman Imp - the vehicle that supplied the mechanical components for the "BS Nymph"

Main article: BS Nymph

The BS Nymph was created in 1974 as a concept study of a small, buggy- like recreational vehicle similar to the Mini Moke with an open, doorless plastic body and four seats; it was built from 1975 to 1977 in only 42 copies, including six complete vehicles, the rest as a kit car. Its technical basis comes entirely from the Hillman Imp , a small car built from 1963 to 1976 with rear-wheel drive and four-cylinder rear engine with 875 cm³ and 40 hp / 29 kW.

The development goal was to build the lightest four-seater production vehicle of its time. In fact, it only weighed around 420 kg. With the Nymph , Bohanna Stables Ltd. - abbreviated to BS - 1975 for a short time as an independent vehicle manufacturer.

In the meantime, Chrysler UK had shown interest in assembling around 4000 Nymphs annually at the Chrysler plant in Ryton , which were to be sold mainly in former British colonies in the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. However, under pressure from the American parent company, Chrysler UK had to cease production of the Imp 1976 , which was technically and visually outdated , even before series production of the BS Nymph had finally started. The Bohanna Stables Ltd. therefore returned to the original plan of having the vehicle manufactured by partner companies and marketing it alone, but the sales figures fell short of expectations.

Further career

In 1977 the two partners dissolved Bohanna Stables Ltd. on.

One reason was the lack of economic success of the mid-engine Coupé Diablo and the recreational vehicle BS Nymph . Other reasons were the disappointment with the established companies involved, such as British Leyland and Chrysler , but above all external circumstances: Due to tax changes in the United Kingdom , the original tax advantage for the purchase of kit vehicles was no longer available. In addition, new, more stringent registration requirements for new vehicles had been introduced (for example crash tests ), which made it difficult, if not impossible, for small, independent vehicle manufacturers to continue to operate.

Robin Stables did not appear afterwards. Peter Bohanna continued to work on the development of some sensational vehicles:

literature

  • Nick Baldwin, GN Georgano, Michael Sedgwick, and Brian Laban: The World Guide to Automobile Manufacturers . Facts on File, New York 1987, ISBN 0-8160-1844-8 (English).
  • Jeroen Booij: Maximum Mini - The essential book of cars based on the original Mini . Veloce Publishing Limited, Dorchester, Dorset, England 2009, ISBN 978-1-84584-154-6 (English).
  • Trevor Legates: Cobra. The real sports car . Heel, Königswinter 1996, ISBN 978-3-89365-541-0 , especially p. 154/155 .
  • NN, in: Which Kit Car (magazine), "Loose Ends", June 2005 issue (article on the Unipower GT and its connection to the Diablo prototype - English)
  • NN, in: Evening Standard , "The car, Peter, Terri, Robin, Jaqueline and Judith built", January 5, 1973 (newspaper report on the Diablo prototype - English)
  • Geoff Phillips, in: Hot Car (magazine), “Nailing up a Nymph”, November 1976 issue, pages 47–49 (experience report on building a BS Nymph - English)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f http://www.imps4ever.info/specials/nymph.html (English)
  2. ↑ Len Frank in: Motor Trend , "AC-Chrysler 2.2 Turbo", May 1983 edition, pp. 58–60 (English)
  3. ↑ Graham Robson, Ford Escort Mk1, Veloce Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84584-040-2 , p. 21 (English)
  4. ↑ http://sbarro.perso.neuf.fr/voitures/lolaT70/lolat70gb.html (English)
  5. ^ Royale Registry - Marque Reference ( Memento of February 25, 2001 in the Internet Archive ) (English) Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ a b Basic Car History ( Memento from June 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English) Retrieved on May 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ Jeroen Booij, Maximum Mini - The essential book of cars based on the original Mini, keyword: Unipower GT (English)
  8. ↑ Nick Baldwin et al. a., The World Guide to Automobile Manufacturers, p. 500 (English)
  9. ↑ a b http://www.blenheimgang.com/ac-3000me (French)
  10. ↑ a b c d Legates, Cobra. The real sports car, p. 154 f. (German)
  11. ↑ Pictures of the “Diablo” prototype: Archived copy ( Memento of the original from June 22, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , AC 3000ME Factory and Production ( June 22, 2006 memento on the Internet Archive ) (5th photo from above) Retrieved May 10, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ac3000me.com
  12. ↑ Pictures of the reduced design model: Archived copy ( Memento of the original from June 22, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , AC3000ME Meeting, Kent, May 2005 ( Memento of June 22, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (top row, third photo from right) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ac3000me.com
  13. ↑ http://www.axialflow.com/projects.htm (English)
  14. ↑ http://www.imdb.de/name/nm1673436 (English)
  15. ↑ http://movies.nytimes.com/person/630996/Peter-Bohanna/filmography (English)