Phillips Panda - On The Road

On The Road

On sitting astride the Panda, ones first impression is immediately of how small the moped feels with its 23 inch wheels and upright riding position. Starting the machine is easy with a push-down button choke on the Bing carburettor and decompressor lever on the right hand handlebar. Once started on its stand with the clutch disengaged, the choke is reset by fully opening the twist-grip throttle momentarily.

Pulling away from rest is easily achievable without pedal assistance owing to the relatively high torque the motor delivers but this is not recommended practice as the frail clutch will fail rapidly with this sort of treatment. Pedal assisted starts are therefore much recommended. In fact, engine starting can be done by pedalling away from rest with the clutch engaged using the decompressor.

Once under way the machine pulls strongly up to about 25 mph but any increase tails off rapidly only just managing 30 mph in favourable conditions. This is no doubt due to the fairly low single speed gearing but it does enable most hills to be tackled without resort to pedalling.

The Rex engine is, however, stoically consistent and reliable. Always a reliable starter under all conditions and a reliable and consistent runner, though you do need time on your side to enjoy the docile character of the machine. The low maximum speed is compensated for to some extent by a good fuel consumption of 180 – 200 mpg. In common with most British-built two-stroke machines of the time, the petroil mixture ratio recommended is a little cautious erring on the 'oily' side at 16:1 using self-mixing two-stroke oil (16 parts of petrol to 1 part oil). The manual advises stretching it to 20:1 if using SAE20 motor engine oil. This British tendency to add rather more oil than the Continentals gave two-strokes a 'blue smokey exhaust' reputation in the UK but the Panda exhaust is not particularly smokey.

The low riding position gives the moped a 'safe' feeling to ride and the sturdy cycle frame seems to plough through road bumps reasonably well despite having no suspension front or rear on the mark 1 version.

The Phillips Panda looks quite pleasant once the side panels are fitted, hiding the rather ugly frame construction in the engine mounting area.

Night riding is no problem but headlamp illumination is a little dismal at 15 watts and surprisingly has a main/dip feature!

Accessories available included a pair of plastic legshields and a windscreen.

As a reliable work horse, the Panda makes a sensible choice despite not having the performance of some of its continental competitors. Phillips set out to produce a reliable machine that was cheaper than most of its rivals. The Panda mark 1 cost £54-11s-0d in 1960.