Buchanan (car)

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Buchanan Cobra #1 as photographed in 1993

N H Buchanan Motor Co Pty Ltd was an Australian kit car manufacturer. It made sports cars in the 1950s.

The original body produced by Buchanan was a fibreglass item based on an Aston Martin DB3-S racing car. Buchanan borrowed a DB3-S and pulled moulds from it while it was in Australia. The styling was altered by filling in the scallops either side of the bonnet and reshaping the grille opening to be oval. Because the target market was for rebodying of early model MGs, the Buchanan moulds were cut and extended between the door openings and the rear wheelarches, adding several centimetres to the body length.

Racing car kits were also produced, consisting of this type of body plus a fabricated X-frame racing chassis manufactured from steel channel sections welded face to face to form box sections. The chassis used mechanicals from an FJ Holden, with the front suspension crossmember and rear axle assembly being shortened to suit the narrower body.

The Buchanan Cobra was introduced in 1958 as a production vehicle based on Standard 10 mechanicals. Only 7 were manufactured.

Buchanan Cobra number 1 was known to be sitting in an industrial shed in Warners Bay awaiting restoration as at November 2006.

Buchanan Cobra number 3 is a complete running car and is raced through the Victorian Racing Register on a regular basis in Victoria as of May 2007

"Wally Mitchell's" MGY Based Holden Powered Buchanan is currently undergoing a full ground up restoration by current owners Mathew Liersch and Clark Watson with an estimated completion Date set for April 2009. For any information or photographs regarding any Buchanan cars please contact Clark Watson, Mathew Liersch via the Albury/Wodonga Car club.

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