Two (or Three) Wheel Tuesday: BSA and Busmar Sidecar Combo

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On my way to the pub this weekend I caught this very fetching old English bike and sidecar (sidecarriage seems more proper) parked by the side of the river while its crew enjoyed an ice cream
We often speak of Minis, microcars and the economy car in general, but it’s easy to forget that, before the days of no-money-down, infinite term finance schemes enabling absolutely anybody to be able to “afford” the automobile of their dreams, what you’re looking at here was The Car for many people. Though they weren’t always quite so elaborate as this fully enclosed example.
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This is a 1950 BSA which the DVLA has logged as carrying a 500cc engine. In reality this would be either 499 0r 496cc, depending on what precise model we’re looking at, I’m expecting Tanshanomi to chime in any second to confirm. I’ve a feeling this is an M33.
The sidecar is, I’m pretty sure, by Busmar of Blackpool, Lancashire. I assume it to be an Astral of some kind, though I’m struggling to find any online illustrations of one with precisely these lines to the window frames.
Of course, if I was to ever have a go in one of these I’d probably find it an intoxicating experience, whether I rode pillion on the bike or in the enclosed sidecar. Doing anything for the first time has that effect on me.I would find it very difficult, though, to imagine how living with one of these would have been back in the early ‘fifties, when travelling by bike and sidecar would have been part of the daily routine of many thousands of people in depressed, bleak, post-war England.
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Who gets the rawest deal travelling in this kind of rig? Is it the driver, exposed to the elements in all weathers whilst being hamstrung by an inability to lean the bike into corners? Or is it the passenger of the enclosed sidecar; deafened by the thinly muffled chatter of the engine whilst sealed into a claustrophobic aluminium-skinned box with no obvious source of ventilation apart from the roll-back canvas roof?
I imagine that, once installed as a passenger, you simply become ballast; a cargo to be transported safely. I assume you can’t really enter into verbal communication with the driver, nor can you navigate for him.
 
Could sidecar outfits ever make a comeback as a car alternative, rather than just as a leisure plaything or as transport for people who simply won’t be told that there’s another way?
I would assume that, even if there was some kind of sudden unexpected switch towards them, The Man would swiftly legislate them out back of existence. Anyway, it was nice to see this one getting an airing, and I hope the ice-cream (a Mr Whippy with a Flake and a waffle cone) was to their liking.
(All images copyright Chris Haining  / Hooniverse 2016)

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  1. BigRedCaveTroll Avatar
    BigRedCaveTroll

    I think I would use one of these as my daily transportation if I was insufferably rich. I’d spruce it up a bit (put some retractable shades, insulation, ventilation, heat, etc.) and get a quieter motorcycle, and then have “James” drive me to and from wherever it was that I needed to go.

  2. mdharrell Avatar

    “Who gets the rawest deal travelling in this kind of rig? Is it the driver… Or is it the passenger…?”
    Or, for the indecisive:
    https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3550/5733681301_89a874e566.jpg

    1. Alff Avatar
      Alff

      Admit it. It’s the best of both worlds.

      1. mdharrell Avatar

        True, the omitted parts of that quote did strike me as familiar.

  3. Lokki Avatar
    Lokki

    You want a sidecar with better ventilation, and a way for the passenger to escape from engine noise? You want a sidecar where the bike rider can lean in the turns?
    Have I got just the thing for you!

  4. SawdustTX Avatar
    SawdustTX

    How does the driver see to turn left? Looks like the sidecab is taller than the driver’s head would be. Maybe he can see through the cab windows…

    1. KMNTR Avatar
      KMNTR

      …and if not, he’ll have to stand on the bike:-)

    2. dead_elvis Avatar
      dead_elvis

      You sit upright on a bike like this. Unless the rider is pretty short, I doubt it would be an issue.
      Or, just listen for your passenger’s screams to alert you to oncoming traffic 😉

  5. KMNTR Avatar
    KMNTR

    Imagine piloting this thing on a windy day!

  6. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    I realize it is likely an illusion. Nevertheless, that front wheel appears badly bent.

    1. KMNTR Avatar
      KMNTR

      The wheel is probably actually twisting under the lateral load!

    2. Paul Queripel Avatar
      Paul Queripel

      Could be the toe in angle (sidecar and bike point in slightly so it tracks straight) combined with the forks being turned slightly while parked.

  7. Windbüchse Avatar
    Windbüchse

    Should these become popular and numerous? In a word , no. After riding and driving 2, 3, 4, 6 and 18 wheel vehicles for over 40 years, safely driving a sidecar is the most difficult and (for the passenger) exciting/terrifying skill I’ve acquired. The asymmetrical forces on the rig in all aspects of travel makes for semi-predictable behavior. Add in the fact that most rigs are add-ons by individuals of varying experience makes this mode of transportation a poor choice for the vast majority of drivers. Now for Hoons – excellent…

  8. Jaap Avatar
    Jaap

    The purpose of this side-caravan is to sleep in, that’s why it’s that long. Strange enough, the example pictured here does not have curtains. Perhaps cold dark 50’s England could do without.

    1. Paul Queripel Avatar
      Paul Queripel

      No, it’s a double adult Busmar, 2 seats. Spent my childhood in one.

  9. Martine Avatar
    Martine

    I remember going for picnics in this when I was a kid. My dad and my uncle on the bike, me, my mother, my sister and my brother in the sidecar. I vomited then I fell in stinging nettles. I think I had suppressed this memory until now. Around mid 1960s. Think the bike was a Norton – my uncle kept it in the upstairs bedroom to stop it being stolen.