I found that the Badsey Eagle was never featured on these pages, so why not do a little write-up about it now? Perhaps anyone can also tell wether the car survives, too?
William 'Bill' Badsey had been a furniture designer before he tried his luck with a sports car in 1978. It was based on the 1100/1300 range rather than the Mini and was a sharply styled two-seater with a Targa roof. The body was a fibreglass monocoque unit with steel reinforcement bars and was luxuriously equipped with electric windows and an onboard computer rather than the usual gauges. But the Eagle prototype was only just finished when Badsey emigrated to South-Africa. There he came up with a new vehicle: the wild Badsey Bullet three-wheeler with Suzuki GSX motorcycle engine. That generated a lot more attention than the Eagle, which was soon forgotten.
The sole Eagle prototype is believed to survive in South Africa though, but I have never seen any evidence of that. Who knows..?
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The Badsey Eagle was made in the UK but moved to South-Africa with its builder Bill Badsey
Picture Jeroen Booij archive
The 1978 car was based on the BMC 1100 or 1300 using a fibreglass monocoque shell
Picture Jeroen Booij archive
But once in South-Africa Bill Badsey concentrated on the '81 Badsey Bullet. Note SA plate
Picture Veloce.it