Rob's 1930 BSA FWD 3-wheeler resto

The Discovery

It was one of those moments that only seem to happen to other people. One of my Father's friends said "My mate's neighbour has an old car in his shed that he wants to get rid of. Are you interested?" Now, how can anyone say no to something like that? So my Father and I went to look at it, not really knowing what to expect. Inside a derelict shed, buried under several layers of household junk, we could just make out a small car sitting on four very flat tyres. After much lifting, moving, heaving and swearing we uncovered a home-built monstrosity that could easily have won an award for one of the ugliest cars ever built. However, on the radiator grille was a BSA badge. Interesting.

I initially assumed that someone had made a 'special' with a BSA motor. After managing to get the bonnet off, I was more than surprised to see a 90 degree V-twin hiding inside. Further examination showed that while the body was obviously of the home-built variety, the mechanicals were the real thing. So the deal was done, and with the handshake, the seller said "you'll also have to take all of those", pointing to a mass of boxes in a corner - spares!

The Recovery

Several trailer trips later, when everything had been rescued from its darkened tomb, we took stock of what we had - one very ugly homebuilt car and enough spares to build another two! There was even an envelope containing the original registration papers! They described the car as a "1930 BSA Sports", and listed all 26 previous owners (yes, 26). The last entry was the most telling: 11/8/56 - "converted to four wheels and re-registered as GRV407 on 24/5/57".

Now we knew what we actually had, our attention turned back to the car. With a new battery fitted, the engine turned over, there seemed to be compression, and the plugs gave a spark, so the only thing to do was add some fuel and see what happened. To say I was surprised to hear it start was an understatement! I was stunned to see the V-twin burst into life. With only a few short feet of exhaust, the sound was most impressive, too.

The Restoration

After the initial surprise of finding an actual running engine, it was time to start the restoration. The body work was simple - straight down the tip! This left a rolling chassis with the poorly modified rear end. We were dismayed to see the chassis outer rails had simply been cut off and a crude beam axle located at the rear. The original trailing arm and the chassis-mounted casting that located it were nowhere to be seen. The BSA FWD Club in the UK (www.bsafwdc.co.uk) has an impressive spares scheme, and they were able to locate a good rear casting with the trailing arm still attached. They also hold all the factory drawings, so I was able to get a copy of an original chassis drawing to help me with repairs.

While waiting for the arm to arrive, it was time to check over the mechanicals. Surprisingly, there was little wrong, and most parts just needed a good clean and some paint. The only items needing replacement were the fabric universal joints of the front wheel drive, a relatively simple item to find.

With the arrival of the trailing arm and its associated drawing, it was quite simple to bend some new chassis rails and weld them into place. Finally, we had returned the BSA to its original configuration and with the newly refurbished running gear in place, I had a real rolling chassis. I could now turn my attention to the body.

Again, the BSA club in the UK came to my rescue with various drawings. BSA trikes were available with fabric over a wooden frame, or alternatively, aluminium paneling over a wooden frame. Neither of these were of interest - I hate woodwork! As I'm in the aircraft industry, I took the decision to build the body as per the factory drawing, but in the style of aircraft construction, that is, an aluminium skin over an aluminium frame with bracing stringers. With the body drawing for reference, it was a reasonably simple matter to scale up all the dimensions and curves.

After the basic shape of the lower rails was made and mounted, the next step was to make and heat-treat the various frames and bulkhead. These were then mounted to the rails and stringers run between them for strength. The resulting frame was then skinned and rivetted, leaving an identically shaped body to the original, but in polished aluminium.

All was going well until I tried to find a radiator grille. Of course, the v-twin is air-cooled, so "radiator grille" is a bit of a fib! Getting one from the UK proved impossible, so I was forced to make one from scratch. I had originally hoped to make a form block and press out a surround, but this proved impractical. The alternative was to make two halves and shrink-form them into shape and then weld the joins. Some beading for the edges and honeycomb mesh finished things off more or less as per the original. The result was passable - thankfully there are no other BSA trikes around for people to compare it to! A bonnet mascot - again sourced from the BSA club in the UK - featuring the famous BSA "piled arms" completed the picture.

All that was left was to make a simple bonnet - I decided to leave the sides open to show the engine in all its glory.

On the road

Driving a vintage trike is certainly different! Originally, the accelerator pedal was central - between the brake and clutch - but this was changed to the conventional layout in the interests of safety. The gear lever is unusually located, emerging from between the pedals and perfectly positioned to slide straight up your trouser leg when you get in! Although the braking system is somewhat strange (a single front drum brake beside the differential and a single drum on the rear wheel), it is quite effective. There's the convenience of electric start and all three wheels are interchangeable to even out tyre wear. On the road, the car handles quite well, I love the sound of the V-Twin and it pulls quite well. Top speed would be around 50 mph (80 kph), although it's much happier cruising around 40 (64 kph). I have entered the BSA in the Rob Roy Hillclimb a few times, and while the experience was great fun, the car was simply not competitive. Being front wheel drive, it would lift the inside wheel going through Rob Roy's sweeping left hander, and speed would rapidly diminish - but it was proof that you can actually corner on two wheels. After 11 years of my personal ownership, a move means it's time for a new owner to take on one of BSA's finer vehicles. Someone who enjoys the pleasure (and pain!) of British prewar motoring. Someone who enjoys cornering on three wheels… or maybe even two.

ROB WHITING

POSTSCRIPT: Since sharing his story with us, Rob has sold his BSA and is looking forward to a new challenge. Another trike, perhaps? We'll wait and see…