Fairthorpe EM racer reappears in Japan.

I found this Video on Youtube and was very pleased as it is a Fairthorpe I owned and rebuilt in the mid 80`s, even winning a race with it at an 8 Clubs meeting at Silverstone. Obviously the original registration number has been removed as the car is in Japan, but if you compare the indicators on the bootlid and the position of the script badge.

                                       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJfVARUMdZw

Also on the bonnet which is from a later EM ( I moulded that in the garage at home) note the front indicators, not the usual round Fairthorpe type ones but rectangular with an angle at one end. Those are from an early Toyota Carina which I fitted as a change from the norm, I doubt you will ever see another Fairthorpe with those on! Also the turned aluminium dashboard I made and fitted is still on the car, you can see the swirls as the sunlight hits them.

I sold the car to a woman named Charlotte Thornton who later damaged the rear of the car after losing it in the wet on a roundabout, we moulded her a new tail section and a friend of hers fitted it. The car was then sold on to a chap named John Watson (not the F1 driver) who raced it in HSCC events and he sold it to a Historic racing car dealer who found a buyer..................in Japan. That was in the 90`s and that was the last I had heard of the car till yesterday. I am hoping to make contact with the owner as I have many rebuild and racing photos which I can send him copies of, so if you know the owner please make contact.

Fairthorpe EM Mk5 restoration gathers pace.

I have recently heard  from Peter Jones, he purchased the Mk5 EM project that was advertised on this site some months back. He has sent me a number of pictures which show it is moving on rapidly, the chassis is repaired and painted and now sits on it`s wheels with the Triumph engine and overdrive gearbox fitted. Peter has made a few mods including a sturdy chassis hoop which goes across the car from the side rails and makes a strong support for the steering column as well as stiffening up the bulk head to stop the dreaded scuttle shake on rough roads.

 The pedal assembly on the Mk5 also hangs from the bulk head rather than pivoting on the floor like earlier EM`s and this area suffers from flexing also so Peter is using some Dural sheet to spread the stress more evenly. Work is now moving on to the bodyshell and the removal of the non standard rear lights, I have an old tail section here and the relevant parts have been cut off and sent to Peter to help with the restoration. Keep up the good work Peter and we look forward to seeing more pictures as the restoration progresses.

Kop Hillclimb - 789 ERO makes a run.

Bob Balding kindly sent this video of me taking the start at the 2014 Kop Hillclimb event (many thanks Bob). The hill is surprisingly steep at the top so next year I will have to go armed with a bit more power to make the run a bit more entertaining!
The picture of me sitting on the start line waiting for the flag to drop was taken by Richard Holden (Thanks Richard).