MOTORING went back in time at Kirkheaton, when 1960s bubble cars met for a rally.

The Heinkel-Trojan Club held its second annual rally at The Blacksmith's Arms on Heaton Moor Road.

The three-wheeled cars set off with their owners to Compo's Cafe in Holmfirth on Friday night.

Twelve of the cars, which have a top speed of 50mph, travelled from the Blacksmith's to Leeds on Saturday.

And yesterday they headed off to Cannon Hall at Cawthorne and Kirklees Light Railway at Clayton West, before travelling home.

Club members came from as far away as Wales, Cambridge, Hull and Edinburgh.

As well as Heinkel-Trojan cars, there were models made by BMW and Messerschmidt.

Most of the cars were made around 1959 to 1960 and now cost between £5,000 and £8,000.

Rally organiser Jim Hacking, of Mirfield, said the rally was a great way to meet people.

He added: "We meet up all over England. We all like to get together and have a good laugh."

Mr Hacking had two cars at the rally, a BMW Isetta and a Messerschmidt KR2000.

The BMW Isetta started his collection. He said: "That was seven or eight years ago. I wanted one in the 1960s, but couldn't afford. My wife started me wanting one again. It went on from there into a bit of an obsession."

Mr Hacking restored both cars and has 10 more in the pipeline.

But he has the parts handy - he makes them himself at his firm, 1-Off Sheet Metal in Ravensthorpe.

He added that it was a myth that bubble cars had no reverse gear.

He said the law allowed you to drive one using a motorbike licence, as long as the reverse gear was disabled. But people parking against walls found it impossible to open the door, which is at the front.

Cars were fitted with sun-roofs as escape routes, but eventually reverse gear was allowed with a bike licence.