Happy Christmas!

                                                   Electrina in the snow winter 2011

I`d like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and my best wishes for a good New Year.
If you own a Fairthorpe i hope your car brings you plenty of enjoyment in the coming 12 months and if you feel so inclined send me some details/pictures of your car for the blog.
All the best..........,Martin

Testing times for a Fairthorpe!

Here are a few more pictures that have been sent to me by Graham Butcher of his Electron Minor Mk1 which was registered 9 AXU, these show what a busy life the car led during his ownership. The pictures were taken of the Fairthorpe competing in Autotests and Autcross events in the mid to late 60`s.

Movie star gets a make over.......

Many of you may have seen the `Wheels ` Fairthorpe movie on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkI65UZSbek this was made by John Hincks and his friend who filmed the construction of the car back in 1961. The car is an Electron Minor Mk2 with independent rear suspension and 948cc engine, it`s reg number is 867 UTJ. Eventually the car was laid up and fell into a state of disrepair and became a plaything for his children. John reluctantly parted with the car a few years ago, and it has recently been purchased by Marcus Bradbury who has started putting the by now dismantled car back together again. He has had the original engine running and even driven the car, it can be seen here  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deyb45PGXnA, i love the `Wellie it comment`!
Marcus has now decided to fit a 1500 Spitfire engine and has painted and refurbed one to be put in the car which will certainly make it a bit more exciting to drive. He is taking his time with the restoration to make sure that John will be pleased with the final result, i am sure he is looking forward to taking a ride in the car he built 51 years ago. Hopefully Marcus will keep me updated with pictures and i will post them on here for you to see how he is getting on.

 

Nice Orange TX Tripper with 2.5 Triumph engine for sale.

There is currently a nice TX Tripper on ebay, it is fitted with a Tuned 2.5 Triumph engine, overdrive gearbox and alloy wheels. It has a hood and will be sold with a new MOT, asking price is £2995 or best offer, here is the link:-  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TX-Tripper-2-5-Triumph-running-gear-orange-1971-/271108758772?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3f1f575cf4

A Fairthorpe club regular returns.

Paul Wells has recently joined the Fairthorpe Sports Car club, his Fairthorpe is one with a long history within the club having been owned by former registrar Willie Simpson since new. The car was originally supplied to Willie as an Electrina, this was Fairthorpes 2+2 sports saloon with a roof, he used the car as daily transport during the week and at car events at weekends as can be seen in the pictures below, it was also taken abroad on the family holiday.

 





 



The car was registered 920 GMJ and after several years use Willie decided he would prefer to have the car as a convertible so purchased another Fairthorpe and fitted the Electron Minor body shell on to his Electrina chassis and disposed of the original Electrina body.  Willie then continued to enjoy his car now with open top motoring and was a regular at most FSCC meetings over several decades. The car was finally laid up when Willies health started to fail, he sadly passed away in December 09.

His family retained the Fairthorpe until Paul purchased the car in July this year, the reg number has been retained by Willies son and the car has been re registered as 127 XUY, here is a picture taken when he collected the car.

 





 

Paul has done some rewiring and replaced the radiator and carburetor, the car now has a fresh MOT and has cleaned up well, he intends to use the car next year and says it is great fun to drive (all Fairthorpe owners will be nodding their heads at this point). We look forward to seeing the car again at club meetings Paul and use it as much as you can just as Willie did.

Fairthorpe in Motoring Classics magazine

There is an article about Fairthorpes in the Winter 2012 Motoring Classics magazine, it has been written by Gordon Bruce.
 MC-12 will be in the bookstall issues of Octane and subscriber issues of Classic & Sports Car around the end of November. It will also be available from the App Store and as a pdf from the Motoring Classics website – www.motoringclassics.co.uk.

Fairthorpe Zeta on show.......

This weekend the FSCC has had a stand at the Classic Car Show at the NEC in Birmingham, my Fairthorpe Zeta 777 PPD is accompanied by a Rochdale Olympic an Ashley a Turner and a Rochdale bodied Elva. If you are attending the show drop by and say hello. Here are a couple of pictures taken at the show today.

Race prepared Fairthorpe EM for sale.

There is a race prepped Fairthorpe Electron Minor on Ebay, the car has a good competition history but needs some work to finish the restoration off. There are a number of Historic race championships the car could run in and all the expensive work has been done.
 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAIRTHORPE-OTHER-/230827765179?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item35be682dbb

Get me to the church on time!

Congratulations to FSCC members Steve and Lauren Colling who tied the knot on the 24th September, here are some pictures from the wedding with their trusty steed which Steve has owned for many years. More info on the car can be found further back on the blog under `Phoenix from the ashes`.

Five Fairthorpes for Franks farewell.

My father Franks funeral took place on the 26th September and four other owners were kind enough to bring their Fairthorpes along to join the funeral procession to the crematorium, i drove 789 ERO in tribute dad. As if by magic the rain stopped for the day and the sun shone.
I would like to thank Bob Balding, Rob James, Richard Holden and Andy and Pauline Winston for coming along with their Fairthorpes and all those from the FSCC that came along to say farewell to Frank. Also to all those that sent cards and messages to myself and the rest of the family, it has meant a lot to us at this sad time.
Here are a few pictures taken on the 26th.

Frank Collins, Fairthorpe works team driver R.I.P

I apologise for the absence but my father Frank Collins was admitted to hospital on September 7th with breathing problems associated with his lung Fibrosis. He sadly passed away on 26th  and his funeral takes place tomorrow the 16th October.
This blog was started to catalogue the rebuild of the Fairthorpe that dad built in 1958 and as a tribute i am just posting a few pictures of him and the car he loved so much.
                                                          Rest in Peace Dad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad taking his final drive in the car he built 54 years ago

 

Fairthorpe Gathering 2012 report.

The week leading up to this years Gathering was spent anxiously watching the weather reports for Sunday 5th, heavy showers being the final report for the day. A number of those who had said they were coming added the caveat that if it looked like heavy rain they would unfortunately be a non arrival as they had no weather gear. I am pleased to say that during the event apart from one small shower the rain stayed away although a number of the retreating cars were treated to thunder and heavy showers, a large golf brolly is the preferred cover according to Rob James!  After a slow start suddenly Fairthorpes started appearing with increasing frequency, the final number this year being twelve cars plus parts from Brian Waters rare Atom Major.
I was pleased that we had quite a good spread of Fairthorpe models this year with nine Electron Minors, one each of Electron, Zeta and Pathfinder, four of the cars attending had not been seen at a Gathering before, hopefully the owners can be persuaded to bring them again next year.
Here are a selection of pictures from the event starting with the Electron Minors :-

                    Chris Goss admiring the paintwork on his EM1 with Brian Waters looking on.

                                                      Richard Holdens immaculate EM1

Bob Baldings EM1 (Frank the Fairthorpe)

                                                                                                                            

Rob James`s Triumph powered EM2                                                  

The Ford Crossflow powered EM2 of Steve Colling in a very eye catching colour

Brian Gents recently purchased EM2

Brian Jacksons quick Dolomite powered EM2

Adrian Manchas EM with 1340 pre crossflow Ford

Barry Stock won the furthest travelled award for the second year running by travelling 220 miles to get there in his EM5, the Tornado Tempest of Dave Malins parked alongside was a welcome addition to the attending Fairthorpes.

Adding variety was Andy Winstons Coventry Climax engined Electron which had just returned from a trip to the Le Mans Classic.

The Zeta which has a 6 cylinder Zephyr engine with Raymond Mays head flanked by a pair of nice EM1`s. 777PPD was voted the best Fairthorpe by those present which was a pleasant surprise as there were some very well presented cars there. I`m sure some of the cars are better now than they were when freshly built back in the 50/60s.

It was very nice surprise to see the first Pathfinder V8 to attend a Gathering, the car is fitted with a 3.5 litre Rover V8 engine and was driven to the event from Southend by Martin Souster (centre) who is pictured in discussion with Honor Gibbs and Bob Balding.

Last but not least Brian Waters bought along some parts from the Atom Major which he has started restoring, a very interesting project which i look forward to seeing back on the road in due course.

I would like to give special thanks to my wife Sarah for all the effort she put into preparing the rolls and cakes which helped keep everyone fed, also to our club president Barry Gibbs for presenting the trophies and to the staff of the Stondon Motor Museum for making us so welcome.

Thanks also to Marian Townsend, Bob Balding and Lauren for some of the pictures used and to all those that attended from the various parts of the country, hope to see you all next year!

Sarah is currently putting together a video which will  be uploaded to YouTube and posted on this site.

Fairthorpe Electron Minor for sale. NOW SOLD.

David Kennedy is selling his 1959 Fairthorpe Electron Minor. Specifications - Rally Speed tuned 1296 Spitfire Engine, Spitfire Gearbox, Armstrong Racing Dampers, Dolomite Rear Axle. Fully restored and professionally repainted. Hillclimb and Sprint pedigree. Featured in Fairthorpe Owners Club Photo Gallery (page 58) and Classic Auto magazines. Price £6,500.00 or best offer.
Contact: Tel: 01524 422790  or email: jamjar64@btinternet.com. For a brief history of the car see his blog page :-
http://willows-home.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/fairthorpe-electron-minor.html

Fairthorpe Gathering 2012 taster........

The Fairthorpe Gathering on Sunday saw an excellent turnout of 12 Fairthorpes plus parts from the Atom Major which is undergoing restoration and the Tornado Tempest of Dave Malins. There will be a full report in the next few days but here are a couple of pictures as a taster.

Last call for this years Fairthorpe Gathering

Just a quick reminder that this years Fairthorpe Gathering is now upon us with the event taking place this Sunday (August 5th) at the Stondon Motor Museum in Lower Stondon, Bedfordshire postcode SG16 6JN. The museum website which has directions on it can be found at http://www.motor-museum.co.uk/contact.php hopefully we will have up to 15 Fairthorpes attending with awards for the furthest travelled and the best Fairthorpe as voted by those present, anyone with an interest in Fairthorpes is welcome. Entry to the event is free with a discounted price of £5 for those wishing to enter the excellent museum. Light refreshments will be provided and the museum has a large canteen for those wanting something a bit more substantial.
The gates will be open from 9.45 and we will be on site from then, full report with plenty of pictures will be posted here next week.

Fairthorpe Zeta blog now online.

As you may have read a couple of posts below i have been very busy over the past seven months rebuilding 777 PPD the Fairthorpe Zeta built in 1960 by Bob Linwood, i have now started another blog to run alongside this one which is aimed at everything Zeta including an insight into how this exciting car came to be reborn. You can find the blog at www.fairthorpezeta.blogspot.com

Fairthorpe EM1 project for sale. NOW SOLD

 

David Martin is reluctantly having to part with the Electron Minor he bought last year due to unforseen personal circumstances so here is your chance to buy a very good project 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. David 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 a new pair of original style Fairthorpe seats but made from fibreglass as the original tin ones have rotted badly. There is no logbook with the car but he has the original chassis plate, number plates and an old tax disc.
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). David is looking for £3250 ono which i think is not bad as a car needing full restoration sold at auction recently for £2200 ( see an earlier post).

 He can be contacted on 07764942446 for more info or to view, the car is in Amersham Bucks.