Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

I`d like to wish all the Fairthorpe enthusiasts around the world a very Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year. If you have a car that needs restoring or just a bit of tinkering to get it back on the road 2012 is `the year` to make it happen. Fairthorpes are appearing at events in increasing numbers so why not come and join in, i will be adding a list here shortly of all the main events Fairthorpes will be taking part in during 2012.
If you would like any advice or encouragement drop me a line and i will be pleased to help. I hope you have enjoyed the blog over the last twelve months, there will be plenty more next year, if there is something you would like to see on here to do with Fairthorpes let me know.............Martin

Pictures of the week, MKV Electron Minor.

This weeks car is the MKV Fairthorpe Electron Minor of Barry Stock which is fitted with a 1300 Spitfire engine. Barry won the furthest Travelled Fairthorpe to this years Gathering at Donington having driven from his home in Ammanford in Wales. The car was registered in 1971 and was previously owned by another club member Alan Lowes, as can be seen from the pictures the car is in very nice condition and unusually for an Electron Minor the MKV`s were built as a 2+2`s. The MKV is a rare beast, i have only seen pictures of 3 cars and probably only a handful were made.

Picture of the week...... American racing Fairthorpe.

This weeks pictures are of a Fairthorpe EM race car in America, they were taken a number of years ago and obviously the owner has a good sense of humour! The car was owned by Bill Clark, then a member of the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club, does anyone know of Bills current whereabouts and whether he still owns the Fairthorpe, his last known address was in Nashville Tennessee.

Electron Minor lost in France!

A while back on the blog i was asking if anyone knew where the MK1 Electron Minor 6037EV was now, the car is seen above alongside my car 789ERO 20 years ago. Following a dig through the Fairthorpe club archives i found the car on a membership form which had a date 10 years after i last saw the car. The guy was only a member for one year so i called the telephone number to enquire if he still owed it. The car was long gone, he had bought it in a dilapidated state having been left open to the elements for a number of years. The hardtop and wire wheels which had been on the car when we sold it were gone and all the trim was soggy and rotten. He had given the Fairthorpe a make over, removing the racing roll bar, respraying it a light blue and having it all re trimmed. The car was then sold to a guy in France but he had no contact information, as he had just bought the car to do up and sell on. The trail looked like it had gone cold but i mentioned the facts to a couple of club members and hey presto the picture below turned up in my inbox.

This car was pictured at the Le Mans Classic in 2008 but unfortunately the owner was not found. I think you will agree if you look at the boot lid and the position of the indicator lamps and Fairthorpe script badge that this is indeed John Ward`s old racecar 6037EV. Another pointer for me is the use of Hillman Imp bonnet hinges on the boot lid and doors, i fitted these as the old original hinges were shot, most people replacing the originals use Herald boot hinges. I am sure the current owner is blissfully unaware of the cars previous competition history, another car with plenty of stories to tell!

HSCC RoadSports Championship Fairthorpe eligibility

Following a recent conversation with Dave Randall the Historic Sports Car Club Road Sports Championship registrar there is some good news for people considering racing their Fairthorpes in that championship. Electron Minors will be accepted with 1147 and 1300cc Triumph engines and now also with 1200cc Ford pre crossflow engines. I dropped Dave an email with a scan of an original Fairthorpe brochure which listed the Ford 1500 GT engine as an option. Dave`s reply was `I would also be prepared to consider a 1500 Ford pre x flow engined car to run in Class C. Our basic rules haven't changed, and this isn't written in the regs, it is at the discretion of the registrar and on a by application basis, but I can assure you that any reasonable application will positively encouraged.` Climax powered Electrons are also eligible so hopefully we may see a Fairthorpe or two competing at some point in the future, they have a very competitive history in the Roadsports championship having won it outright plus winning the class championship a couple of times. For anyone wanting more information about the championship you can contact Dave Randall at the HSCC or take a look on their website http://www.hscc.org.uk/championships.html

Fairthorpe pictures of the week.

Picture of the week this week is of Gethin Jones in his first Electron Minor taken in the early sixties. Shown at an autotest in the Steel Company of Wales car park.
The second picture shows PBW 889 The photo was taken at the start of a Spanish Rally in 2003, Gethin owned this car as well.

789 ERO `tested` in the 70`s!

Whilst on the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club stand at the Classic Car show held at the NEC recently i met with Rob Finegan who is an old friend of Mick Moore. Mick owned my Fairthorpe 789 ERO from the late 60`s through to about 1987, he then sold it to the guy i bought it from in 1989. I have spoken to Mick on several occasions and asked him about photos taken when he was competing in `Little Nero` unfortunately although he has some he is unsure where they are. Rob has come up trumps though and kindly sent me a picture of Mick in 789 at Moor Lane car park, Bolton, 1976, in the Warburton sponsored Autotest. Of his time with the car Rob said `Mickey was pretty quick in those days, there was nothing really to touch him!` The car is now 53 years old and it has been owned for all but five or six by just three people, my Father Frank, myself and Mick.

Fairthorpe `The good old days`

I have been in contact recently with a couple of past Fairthorpe owners who have kindly sent me some pictures taken when Fairthorpes were the competition car of choice. They have given me permission to post them on here for posterity and i`m sure you will get as much enjoyment as i have from looking at them. The picture above was taken at what looks like a grass Autocross and was probably taken in 1959 as the Fairthorpe on the right looks like it might be registered 100 UMY which is Peter Butt`s EM. This car was supplied in light blue gel coat but Was painted crimson red at a very early stage of it`s life, it is still in it`s gel colour here. I think the centre Fairthorpe might be John Green`s car SBL 88 as there is a red hardtop in front of it which John had, his bonnet was later changed to a one off Lenham style as you can see in another picture in this post. The Fairthorpe on the left is an Atomota which may have been driven by Don, Torix or Noreen Bennett. The picture below was taken at Snetterton race track and shows Peter`s Electron Minor 100 UMY ( now in red )on the start line waiting for the flag to be dropped. Both these pictures were taken by former Fairthorpe owner Graham Butcher.

Graham has also sent a picture of himself competing in an Autotest in the mid sixties, Graham`s car was registered 9 AXU and was painted Black. The car was a regular at Autotests and Autocross events for several years before being sold on.

The final picture for todays post was sent by another former owner Ken Coad, his car was registered 100 HX and was generally acknowledged to have been one of the better finished Fairthorpes at that time. Ken`s car was also light blue and is on the left of this picture taken on Ealing Common, probably in 1960.

In the picture from left to right are Ken Coad, John Green who was then also the Fairthorpe works manager, Peter Butt, Gerald Golding and Eric Coad. As mentioned earlier John`s car was now sporting an Ashley style bonnet and was powerd by a Ford Anglia engine as opposed to the original Standard 10 engines in the other cars. Peter Butt still owns his car to this day and for the first thirty years it was campaigned in races, sprints, hillclimbs, Autocrosses and Autotests, i was given my first drive of a Fairthorpe at a Denham grass Autotest in Peter`s car and promptly won the class! There is also an interesting story attached to Ken`s car which i will write about shortly so watch this space!

Fairthorpe windscreen and frame wanted urgently.

Neils Abild is currently looking for a Fairthorpe windscreen frame and pillers, with or with out the screen itself. Neils is racing his car which was featured in an earlier article on this blog, at the moment he is running with an aero screen but for some events he has to have an original type screen and frame on the car. If you have one which you no longer need and are willing to sell please contact me at kartman.nascar24@btinternet.com and i will put you in contact.

Electron Minor wiring loom colour chart.

I have been asked by several owners recently about wiring colours for Electron Minors.

I`m sure many Fairthorpe owners are confronted by the usual birds nest of different coloured wires behind the dash board and under the engine bay! Most classic cars of that age have had the wiring added to or modified over the years so to give you a helping hand here is the original sheet supplied to Fairthorpe builders when they received their kit. This as can be seen from it`s title relates to kits supplied in 1960 but it should be pretty similar for most years. Please bear in mind that your car may have had something different done to it since it was originally put together, this is what it should have had when new.

Another Fairthorpe returns to the roads of Europe.

Henry Brentjens from Holland has owned his Fairthorpe Electron Minor mk1 since 1978, he bought it from a chap in Berkshire and did a lot of work to it before getting a Dutch MOT and licence plate. Henry drove the car over to the UK several times in the early eighties, but like many classic cars lack of time and money meant that the car subsequently sat unused for 15 years. Encouraged by some of his old friends in the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club Henry once again embarked on a rebuild that took him over a year to complete, now that he has it on the road again he is looking forward to putting some more miles on the car. How about another trip to the UK next year Henry, we`d love to see you at a club event with the car.

Fairthorpe in print:- December issue of Classic & Sports Car magazine

In the latest issue of Classic & Sports Car magazine is a piece on the Fairthorpe Electrina 423 NDV which i bought from the original owner Frank Oak earlier this year. The item is in the `Lost & Found` section of the magazine. More details on the car plus pictures can be found in an earlier post on this blog.

The return of Frank the Fairthorpe!

I had a call recently from Bob Balding to say he was thinking of purchasing a mk1 EM and wanted to chat about Fairthorpes, i`m pleased to say a week later he called back to confirm he was the new owner of the car. It is a 1960 EM which has had an age related plate fitted, CSL 674 has a Dolomite 1300cc engine with a single S.U carb on it. It is British Racing Green and fitted with a nice hood and has a beige leather interior (yes i did say leather) so someone has spent some money on the car in the past. Having dug around in the depths of the F.S.C.C Fairthorpe records i managed to match the chassis number with the cars original registration number which was 349 PRA. This car and i have crossed paths in the past, my father Frank and i purchased the low mileage car from it`s original owner 20 odd years ago at which point it was sprayed an old English white with red trim and hood.

The car was bought from us by Denise Howe, she is pictured here having just bought the Fairthorpe and promptly named it Frank!

We lost track of the car after that but i have seen pictures of the car later painted in BRG still with it`s original number, this picture was taken at the Specials day at Burford Wildlife park, hmm ditch those wheel trims.......

The car is now fitted with wire wheels, Bob would have liked to reunite the car with it`s original number but an RAC data check reveals it is now on a BMW Z4 (sacrilege!) Once the spring arrives he hopes to be attending club events in the EM and is not that far from our Sunday meets at the Greyhound Pub in Northampton, making the sight of five or six Fairthorpes in the car park a distinct possibility.

Spirit of the 60`s Dyrham Park event.

On October 6th a Spirit of the 60`s event was organised at Dyrham Park, this was a venue for Hillclimb events during the 1960`s and various clubs catering for cars of the type that would have competed in period were invited to attend for a parade up the old hill circuit. Chris Gale took part in his Green Electron Minor and his car certainly looks every inch a racer with the screen off, Chris has done a bit of competing in the car in the past and it would be great to see it run in anger again, how about it Chris?

There is a chance for a bit of gentle competition for those of you wanting to see what your Fairthorpes are capable of, each May some of the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club members take their cars to the Prescott Hill climb. The event is open for those that just wish to take part in a parade up the hill or timed runs are available for those who want to throw their cars about a bit. I will post more details nearer to the event.

Fairthorpes in competition.

I have been loaned an MG Car Club race programme for the Brands Hatch Speed Trial which took place on 12th March 1961. Brian Gent kindly contacted me with details of it as in class F were a certain Miss N. Bennett and her brother T. Bennett in Fairthorpes running numbers 46 and 47. Having spoken to Noreen on the phone she had no recollection of their placings on the day but recalls those days racing the cars as great fun.

I have scanned the cover and entry listing for them, Brian has also turned up another Fairthorpe in competition, it was at the Valence Hill Climb, Valence School, Nr. Westerham, Kent on 13th July 1974. The event was held by The Sevenoaks & District Motor Club, the car ran in Class C - Modified Sports Cars up to 1300 c.c. it was driven by Martin Brazil and was car number 46, it was described as a Fairthorpe Electron Minor. The programme stated that he was a member of The Gilbern Owners Club. Does anyone know or know of Martin Brazil or have any further details of his EM?

TX Tripper for sale on ebay with Mot, ready to drive away.

There is a TX Tripper currently listed on ebay, the car looks quite nice and has a current MOT and is tax exempt. It is fitted with a twin carb Triumph 1300 engine and the starting price is very reasonable at £1000. Here is the link:- http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120792404388&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

I would appreciate it if someone who is reading this buys the car could you let me know so i can add the ownership details to my Fairthorpe club records.

SOLD Fairthorpe EM1 for sale. SOLD

I have had a call from FSCC club member David Boucher who has decided to sell his MK1 Electron Minor which is Standard 10 based. The car has been restored to a rolling chassis stage with engine and gearbox done also. The bodyshell etc is all there but needs fitting and the restoration completing, this is comparatively a quick resto job as a lot of the graft and expense has been done. Much money has been spent on among other things a new set of Dampertech adjustable shock absorbers with springs ( cost £460 ), all new braking system and cylinders, ball joints, trunnions etc. The engine is a 948cc Standard 10/ Triumph with twin SU carbs and has had a new water pump and timing chain fitted. The car comes with a period Smiths heater, original Fairthorpe bonnet badge and a good hood. Dave tells me that the body work is not bad, the car has the electron style nose, the interior trim is all there but only good for patterns now and the original Fairthorpe `tin bucket seats` are there but rotten (i have a mold to make new fibreglass ones). There is no logbook with the car but he has the original chassis plate, number plates and an old tax disc. The car should be eligible for it`s original number and a log book from the DVLA by going through the Fairthorpe club once the car is nearing completion.
You can see pictures now on http://www.photobucket.com/

You can sign in using the word DGBOUCHER and use the word ELECTRON as the password (all upper case). The car is in Berkshire, Slough area and he is looking for £3000 which i think is not bad as a car needing full restoration sold at auction in the last couple of months for £2200 ( see an earlier post). He has asked for contact by email as he does shift work, he can be contacted on d.boucher789@btinternet.com

The car has now been sold to FSCC member David Martin, i will put a progress report on here as he gets near to getting the car back on the road.

Atomota survivor

I recently met with Brian Waters the owner of one of only two known complete Fairthorpe Atomotas, Brian has owned the car since the mid 80`s when he bought it from Fairthorpe. AVM Don Bennett had the car as a restoration project but realising he would not get round to the rebuild agreed to sell it to Brian, a princely sum of £100 was agreed and Brian still has the receipt. The Atomota came with it`s original log book which shows the original colour to be blue but this was later changed to Rolls Royce Sand, the colour it is in now.

The car needs a full restoration but is mostly complete and is fitted with a 948cc Standard 10 engine with twin Su carburetters, he also purchased a complete BSA engine as fitted to some Atomota`s from Fairthorpe at the same time. Brian intends to restore the car in due course, i`m sure many of you like me look forward to seeing the car on the road again. The other known complete car is in America but it has been fitted with a Subaru engine, i hope to post some information on that car at some point in the future. The remains of a third car are known but the bodyshell was sadly scrapped some years back and whilst the FSCC holds the molds to many of the Fairthorpe models the ones for the Atomota are sadly missing presumed disposed of in one of Fairthorpes factory moves.

Fairthorpe in print, October issue of Classic & Sportscar magazine.

This months Classic & Sports Car magazine has a piece about Brian Jacksons mk2 Electron Minor UNJ203, it is on page 38 in the section titled `Lost & found`. A couple of nice pictures are included along with some background history of the car.

2011 Fairthorpe Gathering report

Following several days of nervously watching the changing weather forecast Sunday dawned bright and dry with no rain forecast for the Donington area.....

Electrina

Brian Jackson`s mk2

Following last years excellent turnout of 13 cars I was hopeful that we might make 15 Fairthorpes at the event, but we had a couple withdraw the week before and two no shows on the day, due to a mechanical issue and persistent heavy rain on the South coast and no hood, the number on the day was nine cars plus a number of owners currently rebuilding their pride and joys. The only car present that was at last year's event in Essex and this year's event in Derby was mine! So we had eight `new cars` at the Gathering, this possibly being a by product of moving the event round the country each year to help owners in different areas attend........it would be nice to get them all together in one place though! From the nine cars only two had the same style of bonnet, showing how Fairthorpe had changed the look of the car as the years went by. Those present were treated as usual to a fine selection of my wife Sarah`s baking skills, the highlight of which was her infamous Fairythorpe cakes, which went so fast I didn`t even get one :-(

There was also a table selling F.S.C.C club regalia and various Fairthorpe spares to help those undergoing rebuilds. In the end the breakdown was three mk1 cars, which belonged to Richard Holden, David Kennedy and myself; four mk2 cars, owned by Terry Armson, Brian Jackson, Rob James and Adrian Mancha; and one mk 5 car, of which only a handful were made, this one belonging to Barry Stock.

Terry Armson`s mk2


Rob James`s mk2 and Richard Holden`s mk1

And finally to add a bit of spice my own Electrina, one of only two known complete survivors. Also present of interest was the nicely built Dare Ginetta G4 of Tony Thorpe. There was obviously plenty to talk about and everywhere you looked there were groups of people huddled under bonnets discussing their cars, Alan Green and Brian Townsend who are both part way through rebuilds were wandering amongst the Fairthorpes with a bracket from Brian's trying to identify the location of said bracket on the assembled cars (i`m told now that it holds the fuel pipe clear of the cylinder head on the 948cc engine). A welcome attendee was Chris Mole who has not one, but two Fairthorpes in bits, hopefully he was taking some inspiration from the event and will be commencing work in the near future, go on Chris you know you want to!


Adrian Mancha`s mk2 rebuild

The awards presentation took place at 2pm and we were privileged to have the F.S.C.C founder and president Barry Gibbs along to present them, Adrian Mancha`s car was built by Barry back in 1963. Furthest travelled to the event went to Barry Stock who had come all the way from Ammanford, South West Wales a total of 192 miles, many thanks Barry we were very impressed.

Barry Stock`s mk5

Special mention must also go to David Kennedy who had driven all the way from Morecombe, David came down directly on the motorway otherwise the result may have been different!

David Kennedy`s mk1

Those assembled voted for the Best Fairthorpe present and amongst all the nicely turned out cars Richard Holdens lovely green mk1 won the award, well done Richard.



Richard Holden`s mk1 winner of the Best Fairthorpe award

Many then took the opportunity to have a look round the excellent F1 collection in the museum only to emerge into torrential rain....those with hoods quickly put them up and others scrabbled for sheets or jumped in their cars and raced off, as the rain mostly stays off you once you are rolling. One by one the cars departed for the various parts of the country they had arrived from, many thanks to you all for the effort to bring your Fairthorpes to this the third Annual Gathering. Next years event is already in the planning and will be around the same time of the year, more details will be on the blog when date and venue are fixed.

Hope to see you there!

Photo credit: Sarah Collins, Marian & Brian Townsend.

Here is the link to the Youtube movie from pictures and videos taken at the event..........

Fairthorpe Gathering 2011

An excellent day was had by all those who attended today's Fairthorpe Gathering, there were 9 Fairthorpes in attendance comprising 8 Electron Minors and 1 Electrina. The awards were picked up by Richard Holden (best Fairthorpe) and Barry Stock (furthest travelled in a Fairthorpe at 192 miles!) The awards were presented by the Fairthorpe S.C.C founder & President Barry Gibbs. A full report plus pictures and video will follow later this week, as a taster here are a couple of pictures to wet your appetite.

2011 Fairthorpe Gathering this Sunday

If you have read the previous post you will know that this years Gathering is this coming Sunday the 7th. As a little taster if you have not already watched it here is the link to the video from last years event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTnSF6gPLcQ

We will be doing another video to put on Youtube this year so if you see a camera pointing in your direction smile! Hopefully the weather will be fine on the day, hope to see you there.

2011 Fairthorpe Gathering information

This years Fairthorpe Gathering is nearly here it is on 7th August at the Donington Park Museum, Castle Donington, Derby, DE74 2RP. The museum is close to J23a of the M1 and is accessed by the A453. Entry to the Fairthorpe Gathering is FREE and there will be refreshments and snacks provided free of charge to those attending, my wife Sarah will be baking some more of her delicious Fairythorpe cakes which went like Errr.........hot cakes last year! There will be trophies presented for the best Fairthorpe at the event (voted for by those attending) and also the furthest distance travelled to the event with a Fairthorpe.
We have negotiated a discount of £2 over the normal admission price to the Grand Prix Collection so admission to the museum will now be £6 for those attending the event.
`The Donington Grand Prix Museum houses the largest collection of McLaren and Williams racing cars in the world (outside of their respective factories), and the only complete collection of Vanwalls. A notable exhibit is Stirling Moss's Lotus in which he defeated the might of the Ferrari Works Team in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix.`
More information on the museum can be found at http://www.donington-park.co.uk/pages/motorsport-museum.html there is also an excellent cafeteria on site if you want something more substantial to eat.
We will be arriving from 9.30am onwards and have a designated parking area to put the Fairthorpes, last years event had 13 cars in attendance, i am hoping for 15 this year. If you have a Fairthorpe or are just interested in them please come along and join in, the more the merrier. We have 13 cars attending so far although that will be dependant on the weather so i have fingers crossed for a dry day!

Electron Minor up for auction

I have been tipped off by Dave Malins the Tornado Registrar that there is a Fairthorpe Electron Minor mk1 up for auction tomorrow (20th July) at H&H Auctions. The EM was previously held by a museum and looks to be fairly complete and is fitted with a 948cc Standard 10 engine. If you are after a rebuild project this could go at the right price.

Here is a link to the auction page:- http://www.classic-auctions.com/Auctions/20-07-2011-ThePavilionGardens-1291/1960FairthorpeElectron-33449.aspx

The Electron Minor sold for £2200, hopefully the new owner will contact myself or the club so we can help with advice or parts for the rebuild.

Pictures of the week

This week i have a couple of interesting pictures for you to enjoy, the first of these was taken in Genova, Italy in the early 60`s. There was a Fairthorpe dealer appointed in the area and he had a new tail designed for his cars, one of which is shown in this picture. I am not aware of how many cars were built with these and have no knowledge of any of them surviving. If anyone in Italy reading this fancies a bit of detective work here is your opportunity, i think there are at least 2 Fairthorpes there with the conventional rear bodywork. Below is a scan of the front of the agents brochure.

The second picture was taken in February 1986 at the CCH Sprint at Brands Hatch, my Father Frank (pictured with the car) and i had rebuilt this EM1 with a Ford Escort axle with a limited slip diff, a 160bhp Race tuned Lotus Twin Cam and 5 speed gearbox and as you can imagine it was VERY impressive to drive. Unfortunately we arrived too late to practice due to the snow and a steep slope out of our workshop! So we were therefore a non starter, no harm in unloading it from the trailer and giving it a run round the paddock! A couple of months later we took it to Silverstone for the 8 Clubs race meeting again arriving late for practice (i see a pattern here!) but due to a friend being clerk of the course i did a couple of practice laps behind the pace car (thanks Ken ;¬)

I had a great dice during the race with someone in a hot 2.8i Capri, i`d out brake him and pull away through the corners and under acceleration but he would be on my tail again at the end of the straights. Alas it was over all too soon, after 3 laps the large oil warning light flicked on and a glance at the pressure gauge showed the needle rapidly descending towards zero so i switched the engine off and coasted to a halt on the grass on the exit of Copse corner. The cause was diagnosed as a broken cam bucket and with metal all round the inside of the engine an expensive rebuild was on the cards.............money we unfortunately didn`t have at the time, a familiar story for many would be racers. We had someone who was interested in the car so we resprayed it to their choice of colour which was British Racing Green and fitted it with a tuned 1600 Ford x-flow engine with twin 40 Weber carbs, still a potent machine but a bit more reliable for the road.

Pictures of the week

This weeks pictures were taken at the recent F.S.C.C meet up at the Classic car weekend at the Prescott Hillclimb. Some of you might recognise the registration number on the picture below as it was featured some months back on the blog but was then a bright Orange colour. Just to remind you WAY 327 is the trusty steed of Steve Colling who has owned her for many a year and has rebuilt her at least twice, once following a fire which virtually destroyed the car. Following several years in France which saw the car parked under a tree (not good for the paintwork) Steve decided it was time for a motor make over! Gone is the bright paint work and in it`s place is a tasteful dark Grey Metallic finish which turns it in to a Wolf in sheep's clothing as under the bonnet is a tuned 1600 Ford engine with high lift cam and Twin 40 Weber carbs. In a lightweight car like the Fairthorpe Steve has embarrassed many a hot hatch at the lights :¬)

The second car pictured belongs to Richard Holden who had a four hour drive from Leeds the day before to get to the event, he said it was well worth the trip. Richard`s car has a 1296cc Spitfire under the bonnet which he thinks has about 90BHP at the flywheel, the car was resprayed about 10 years ago but still looks great in it`s BRG finish. Both cars will hopefully be at the upcoming Silverstone Classic event on 23/24 July.

Another racing Fairthorpe hits the tracks of Europe.

New Fairthorpe owner Niels Abild from Denmark recently competed in his first race since buying and modifying the car for competition, the engine is a 1296 Triumph with 12 to 1 compression ratio and a ported head, twin 40 webers, tubular exhaust manifold, GT 6 gearbox, and a race kent cam. Niels was happy with the way it went and thinks it has around 105 bhp, he is sure he can improve the handling with more testing and expects lap times to come down further once he has had more time to adjust the set up. It is quite possible we may see the car competing in the UK at some point in the future, Niels has been racing since the early sixties in a wide variety of cars so he knows his way round a race track! The car looks very smart as you can see from the pictures, i will keep you updated with his progress.