Blakely Auto Works
Encyclopedia
Princeton, Wisconsin
Princeton is a city in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,504 at the 2000 census. The city is located within the Town of Princeton, though it is politically independent.-Transportion:...
in the 1970s and 1980s. Blakely produced several kit car models, the Bantam
Blakely Bantam
The Blakely Bantam was a kit car produced by Blakely Auto Works , a manufacturer of kit cars located in a series of US midwest communities in the 1970s and 1980s. Blakely Auto was founded by Dick Blakely to market affordable sports cars in the spirit of the legendary Lotus Seven: compact,...
, Bearcat, and Bernardi
Blakely Bernardi
The Blakely Bernardi is an automobile produced in the 1980s by Blakely Auto Works of Princeton, Wisconsin, USA. Blakely produced a number of automobile models, including the Bearcat and Bantam...
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History
Blakely Auto was founded by Dick Blakely to market affordable sports cars in the spirit of the legendary Lotus SevenLotus Seven
The Lotus Seven is a small, simple, lightweight two-seater open-top sports car produced by Lotus Cars between 1957 and 1972....
: compact, lightweight, and with excellent handling. The Bantam was Blakely's first offering. It was followed by the larger Bearcat and eventually by the Bernardi.
The founder had a degree in mechanical engineering and had been involved in oval track racing prior to designing the Bantam. His goal with the initial design was to maximize performance while minimizing size, weight, accessories, and other features that might conflict with acceleration and handling. Blakely took inspiration from an early model of the British Dutton Cars
Dutton Cars
Dutton Cars, based in Worthing, Sussex, England, was a maker of kit cars between 1970 and 1989. In terms of numbers of kits produced, it was for a time the largest kit car manufacturer in the world....
, itself a Lotus Seven replica. After building the first car for himself, Blakely found sufficient interest from other auto enthusiasts to warrant building more cars of the same design. Partnering with Denny Myelle, Blakely began to produce the Bantam as a kit and also to develop a new, larger car that was more versatile and suited to off-track use. This second model became the Bearcat and later developed into the Bernardi.
For both models, a key design goal was use of a single donor automobile. Designs based on a single donor simplify the build process. The car Blakely selected was the Ford Pinto, with the option to use parts from close relatives like the Mercury Bobcat and the Ford Mustang. This family of donor vehicles gave the Blakely cars rack-and-pinion
Rack and pinion
A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a pair of gears which convert rotational motion into linear motion. A circular gear called "the pinion" engages teeth on a linear "gear" bar called "the rack"; rotational motion applied to the pinion causes the rack to move, thereby...
steering, front disk brakes, and a good selection of engine choices. For the chassis, Blakely Auto provided a frame of box steel tubing, custom front upper A-arms for the suspension, new shocks, and instructions for modifying and attaching the remaining chassis components from the donor car. Blakely Auto also supplied a full replacement body, including the body tub, doors, hood, fenders, trunk, convertible or hard top, and windshield.
Around 1979, ownership of the company transferred to Art Herschberger. In the Spring of 1979 he moved production from Davis Junction, Illinois
Davis Junction, Illinois
Davis Junction is a village in Ogle County, Illinois. The population was 2,373 at the 2010 census, up significantly from 491 at the 2000 census...
to Princeton, Wisconsin. The early 1980s saw development and production of the Bernardi, a significant modification of the Bearcat model. In 1985, the company was renamed the Bernardi Auto Works. The business appears to have shut down in the late 1980s. Blakely automobiles still appear for sale in various specialist auto markets, but no new ones are being manufactured.
Major products
- BantamBlakely BantamThe Blakely Bantam was a kit car produced by Blakely Auto Works , a manufacturer of kit cars located in a series of US midwest communities in the 1970s and 1980s. Blakely Auto was founded by Dick Blakely to market affordable sports cars in the spirit of the legendary Lotus Seven: compact,...
. The Bantam was similar to the Lotus Seven in size and drivetrain, although it used a slightly boxed-in ladder frameBody-on-frameBody-on-frame is an automobile construction method. Mounting a separate body to a rigid frame that supports the drivetrain was the original method of building automobiles, and its use continues to this day. The original frames were made of wood , but steel ladder frames became common in the 1930s...
instead of the space frame favored by Lotus. It was intended primarily for track use, and was designed for light weight by avoiding inessentials such as doors, roof, or movable seats. The compact body and frame suited a small, straight-four engine choice like the Ford 1.6, 2.0, or 2.3 liter offering. Production of the Bantam continued into the 1980s, when the model was renamed the Hawk.
- Bearcat. This model had a unique appearance, not closely modeled on any of the classic sports cars usually providing inspiration to kit car designers. It was larger and twenty percent heavier than the Bantam, but much better suited to regular street use by virtue of its more spacious cab, adjustable seats, doors, removable hard- and soft-top roofs, rear trunk, and wider variety of possible engines.
- Bernardi.Blakely BernardiThe Blakely Bernardi is an automobile produced in the 1980s by Blakely Auto Works of Princeton, Wisconsin, USA. Blakely produced a number of automobile models, including the Bearcat and Bantam...
The Bernardi had the size and comfort provisions of the Bearcat, but a moderate exterior redesign made it resemble the 1950s British MG TD. Engine options included the four-cylinder choices of the Bantam, as well as the Ford 2.8 liter V6. The broader hood even made it feasible to install the 5.0 liter (302 c.i.) V8 engine used in the Ford Mustang IISecond-generation Ford MustangThe first generation Mustangs grew in size; the 1973 model had become markedly larger than the original model. The pony car market segment saw decreasing sales in the early-1970s "with many buyers turning to lower-priced, fuel-efficient compacts like Ford's own Maverick - a huge first-year success...
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