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.

Fairthorpe Pathfinder V6 for sale on ebay

There is currently a Fairthorpe Pathfinder fitted with a 2.3 V6 engine on ebay, here is the link:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FAIRTHORPE-PATHFINDER-RARE-CAR-/190533666444?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2c5cb1068c

Who is that masked man!

With the arrival of the warmer weather the itch develops to jump in the car and take it for a run and the first outing for 789 ERO this year was a short trip to the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club April Noggin & Natter at the Greyhound pub in Northampton. As you may have read in an earlier post my car was joined by 2 others in the car park one of which was fresh out of the paint shop and very nice it looks too. I`m afraid it put the bodywork of mine to shame as whilst i have fully restored the car under the skin and have had nearly two years of fun driving the car to events i have never completed the bodywork restoration. I decided that the time had come to don overalls, mask and goggles and make some mess with fibreglass dust!

May i just say that this is my method of dealing with the dreaded Gel coat crazing, others have there ways including repairing by re gel coating. I have repaired quite a few Fairthorpes in the past and this has always worked for me but if you are going to tackle this type of job yourself do plenty of research before you start. As you can see this job makes a LOT of mess and it itches like hell so a full suit like the one i am modelling here is essential as is the mask (F/G is very harmful to your lungs in dust form) gloves and goggles as dust and bits can damage your eyes.

I first of all draw around the areas which have the crazing using a felt tip pen leaving a bit of a border, the pen helps you see where needs grinding when you have your goggles on. I use 38grit sanding disks on my small angle grinder to remove the gel coat inside my drawn areas, don`t go crazy, the disk will eat right through the body if your not careful! Just go through the crazing to leave the f/g matting below the gel. Once i have done that i use 60grit green sanding paper (good old B&Q) and feather the edges of the ground area at about 60 degrees and than give it a good dust out with a clean brush and also some compressed air. Time for the old felt tip again, i then redraw my outline as you will have removed the old one with the sandpaper, then you can lay your fiberglass tissue over your line and use it like tracing paper to make a copy of your prepped area. I usually do 2 or 3 of each area as you want to build it up to your original level, then you cut these out and number each area on the car and on the pattens so you know which ones go where.

Next step is to put on some thin rubber gloves and mix up some f/g resin in a small container with the recommended amount of catalyst in it (stir it well)and paint your ground area with it before laying the first tissue pattern on top. Stipple the resin into the shape being careful not to tear it then repeat with the remaining patterns till you are happy that you are roughly at the same level before Mr grinder came out to play. Once dry (i usually leave it a few days) it`s time to take the body work back to the right shape, i use the angle grinder again on any high spots but be VERY careful with it, you just want to leave any high spots just proud and finish them off with a rubbing block, i use 80grit first then 120grit. This should leave you with a close shape to what you started with but there is an art to this as you can easily rub the surrounding original bodywork down if you get carried away! To finish off i use U-POL D filler, i have used this for years and it does not sag or crack, there is nothing worse once painted than a line around the repair where the filler has shrunk. It is a bit harder to sand than some of the other fillers but i know it works! Once sanded back as before with 80 then 120 i use a fine surface filler which is put on with a rubber applicator to get rid of any small imperfections and pin holes. As you can probably tell all this is VERY time consuming which explains why body shops charge so much for sorting crazing out in Fairthorpes and other kit cars. I will be painting her myself so when i get to that stage i will do a blog covering that, the plan (i have a cunning plan) is to get 789 painted in time for this years Silverstone Classic at the end of July.

The Tale of Electron Minor Mk11 BBD 496B

Rob James has recently aquired a Fairthorpe locally, here is the tale in Rob`s words.

`Some 4 years ago I was working locally in a farmyard full of Barn Conversions and got chatting to the farmer who was working away in the workshop you would die for(you know ,pit, lathe, benches etc 30x20) and it came to pass that his sister May had an EM in her barn which was a family heirloom it having been built in 1963 by her brother John Thompson, John having died rather tragically at the age of 54 some years before. So I ended up going to see the car to take some photos and details for the then registrar Willy Simpson. So out of the barn we pushed this lovely Yellow EM with a twin vent front and Minilite look-alikes looking just like a time warp. After the visit I reported it to Willy and wrote to May thanking her for letting me see it. Since then the car has featured as my screen saver. Health and other things have not been so good the last couple of years, so, to cheer me up one day I thought looking fondly at the screen saver I must write to May again and touch base. So I did so and was surprised when a couple of days later I had a call from May, after a brief chat I made arrangements to call and see her.

BBD 496B

Well there she was under a sheet in the new barn, the old one having collapsed under the weight of the snow a year ago and slightly damaging the EM and Mays BMW. Looking only slightly sorry for herself having been kept outside for the first time in nearly 50 years last summer while the new barn was built, unfortunately the paint suffered from being under a plastic sheet and has bubbled up so, a re-spray in the future but hey! I am now the owner/custodian of BBD 496B. We picked her up a few days later and she in now safely in my fathers garage.

Work done so far.
Fixed the wiring on the lights, now 100% with not even a bulb gone. Rewired the horn, new battery, checked and adjusted the brakes with not even a seized adjuster (drum brakes all round) She started after about 5 mins trying but the carbs were all over the place so my brother has set them up to find we still have this infuriating miss-fire which we have narrowed down to the leads so today I am replacing the lot, coil ,dizzy cap, points, leads and plugs. The O/S screen pillar had snapped when the barn collapsed so I effected a repair by putting an aluminium strap behind the split and a dome bolt either side through to the strap at the back looks neat. Martin Collins very kindly had a air box (need a bit of fibre glass work to fit) and a rear light lens which were the only bits missing. Needs new screen to scuttle rubber seal and some door rubbers but I will get them at the kit car show in May.`

Rob now has an MOT on the Fairthorpe and he bought the car to last weekends Fairthorpe Sports Car Club Noggin & Natter in Northampton, joining my car 789 ERO and the recently restored UNJ203 of Brian Jackson (see an earlier post).

Rob now has a few miles under his belt in the car and today i received the following update.

Further Adventures with “ May” (BBD 496B)

So Mot first time not even a brake pipe gone. Taxed that very day, followed by the first outing 10 miles show the family you know the type of thing, only event was a light surround fell off but safely retrieved. Second outing Sunday 3 point turn reversed into low kerb bent and split the exhaust, what fun, always have a piece of wire in the boot by the way got home all but very noisy. Needs new front pipe and back pipe with the cherry bomb surviving, found a great place that makes industrial exhausts made me a new front pipe and rear pipe all bent and welded £40 2 days RESULT.

Noggin and natter at Milton Malsor next outing bit nervous as it was 10 miles from home, Day before, fuel line T piece decides to leak with vengeance could I find a spares shop on a sat pm with a ¼’’ T piece so its Martin to the rescue again, pointed me to the best old school spares shop I have seen for a long time called Westalls in Towcester £2 job done ready for next day. Trip to pub non eventful and thoroughly enjoyed it met some fellow members compared notes etc, nice lunch by the way.

So now got quite a list of bits needed, screen bottom rubber, door seals, boot seals, new engine mountings, hoses, door stop rubbers, Importantly TEMP GAUGE (if you have a spare one give me a call) However Kit Car Show at Stoneliegh in a couple of weeks nearly 40 miles each way not sure whether to go in “May” or not its along way when she has only done 50 miles in the last 15 years

Well, Bank Holiday looms and the weather has been great for open top motoring, after far too much to drink on Saturday night I made the rash decision
“WE WILL GO IN THE FAIRTHORPE”

B/H Monday arrives wife Shelley and I go round to my Fathers to collect the car, wheeled her out of the garage loaded in the picnic (can’t go anywhere without food). Both got into the car turn on ignition, press the starter, foot on the accelerator ! twang throttle cable snaps ‘OH S___T’ what do we do now?
Off the the local Wilco store 2 miles away £.94p sees the purchase of a bike brake cable inner (V/usefull tip by the way) with the correct nipple back to Dads, thread it through, connect it up and on the road in 40 mins flat. So we are on the way at last. 45-50 most of the way she went like a dream. Of course one forgets that open air motoring puts you in touch with lots of airborne smells, such as burning smells and bonfires etc so stopped to check a couple of times that it was not us.

Arrived safely without incident met by Tony Stanton, we were the only Fairthorpe, I don’t know what Sunday was like but on our area were 4 Olympics,1 Rochdale GT, 1 Peerless GT, 1 TVR and a Gilburn 1800GT.
The place was full of Loti 7 types, I am sure there were more of them than people at the show, you have seen one you’ve seen them all.

Spares next, managed to get enough seals of various types to do the 2 doors, boot and tops of the front inner wings for £13. A new pair of engine mounts for £8 the pair, door V blocks £1 each. Still need windscreen to scuttle rubber seal and Temp gauge. ANY ONE HELP PLEASE?

Journey home was completely relaxing and uneventful took just over an hour engine purred all the way. Oh! pork and stuffing sandwiches great as well.
That’s all for now but there will be more.`
Well done Rob, glad you are getting plenty of use from the car!

Fairthorpe Pathfinder V8 for sale.

I have heard from Jeremy Mason that he is reluctantly parting with his Fairthorpe Pathfinder V8, this car is widely regarded as the best one completed. It is fitted with a new 4.6 litre Rover V8 engine supplied by Britpart in Shropshire and a 5 speed box, alloy wheels and is kitted out with beige leather interior trim. The kit was lovingly assembled by a husband and wife team and was given a top quality paint job in a very eye catching metallic burgundy. Jeremy has spent a lot of money on the car which has a had lot of new parts fitted recently. Here is some spec on the car:- New parts: msd coil, crankcase breather filter, exhaust 90 degree bend x2, straight length x2 plus flexi x 2. Starter heat shield, oil pressure gauge, dipstick and tube, lead set, rotor arm, dist cap and points. Steel to reinforce seat mounts, modified gearbox mounts (new transmission mounts x 2), a NEW HOLLEY 390CFM 4 BARREL CARB with electric choke fitted this weekend. new front brake discs, pads and rear shoes. It has a rover sd1 5 speed gearbox ( plenty of clutch left), new radiator and other ancillary parts, blue suspension polybushes all round, 20 litre steel fuel tank centrally located (3inch neck, big fuel cap). 5 new Pirelli p.600 tyres on 13 inch wheels at front and 14 inch at back . It has a good hood with side screens but no tonneau cover, it will also have a new MOT on it next week.


The car is booked into Brightwells Classic car auction on 11 MAY 2011 at Leominster, the estimate is £5000-£6000. More pictures are on the auction site:-http://www.brightwells.com/ClassicCarsMotorcyclesAutomobilia/ClassicVehicles/Catalogue.aspx

Jeremy can be contacted on 07772970411 or 01494-585101 for more information or offers on the car.

Racing Fairthorpe Electron Minor for sale.

CAR IS NOW SOLD

Rare chance to buy a fully race prepared EM with a continuous race history from new. Spencer Arnold is reluctantly parting with his well known car, here are the details:-

1964 FAIRTHORPE ELECTRON MINOR Mk 2 - MOT’d and taxed (exempt) until July 2011. · Raced, sprinted and hill-climbed, until being registered for the road in 1967. · Owned and raced in period by Ted Purcell, and subsequently in the Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) by Dave Randall (current HSCC Historic Roadsports Champion). · Finished the 2007 HSCC Historic Roadsports (HR) Championship 3rd in Class E (cars up to 1300cc) driven by its current owner. Also came 2nd in Class on its first outing at Silverstone that year, and was driven to and from each race, as the car is MOT’d, taxed and insured.

In 2008 the car was again raced in the HSCC HR Championship, before the engine (1147cc) was removed for inspection and subsequently replaced. Car not raced in 2009 season. · In 2010 a 1296cc Triumph Spitfire race engine was built for the car by Paul Adams of Classic & Modern Engine Services (C&M), with twin 1.5” SU carbs, a C&M tuned inlet manifold, lightweight Midget pistons, Piper camshaft, Phoenix stainless-steel exhaust manifold, Mocal oil cooler and new clutch, with up-rated gaskets used throughout. It was fully tested at C&M before being installed in the car, and was then run-in before being set-up on the rolling road by Tom Ayrie (of Ayrie Tuning) where it was produced 75bhp @ the wheels @ 6,700rpm (with ITG ram-pipe socks fitted). ·

The car then completed one HSCC Historic Roadsports race at Silverstone in October 2010, before being dry-stored. · AVO aluminium adjustable shocks with Faulkner race springs all round. · Aluminium foam-filled racing fuel tank. · MSA/HSCC approved roll-cage, fabricated and installed by Historic Racecar Preparation, West Sussex (HRP). · Padded, period aluminium racing seat, with (in-date) TRW four-point harness (3” straps) · Plumbed-in Lifeline fire extinguisher, and new engine kill-switch. · New battery, plugs, oil and filter. · Fitted with 4 lightweight alloy wheels (6”x13” black minilite-type), with Yokohama racing tyres . · Plus a spare set of 4 Triumph 5.5”x13” steel wheels fitted with Yokohama road tyres). · Spares package includes an unused front clamshell (front wings and bonnet combined), a used (some fibreglass damage) boot-lid, wrap-around Perspex windscreen (Lotus 11 style), tailored inner door panels, a canvas tonneau, various engine bits and items of trim. · The car has current HSCC papers, and would be eligible for FIA papers with minimal changes.

Spencer can be contacted on 07796 115455 and is inviting serious offers on the car.

Where are they now?

This week we have two more where are they now cars, the first of these is registered 6037EV and is currently on the DVLA register but has not been licenced since 2007, it is the car second from right in the picture above taken at a Fairthorpe meeting at the Denham works in 1987.

The car was rebuilt in 1985 by myself my father Frank and Fairthorpe enthusiast Peter Butt from derelict condition for Historic racing driver John Ward and finished in white with his sponsors name down the side.

John enjoyed many class wins with the car before buying a TVR and at that point i bought the car with the intention of racing it myself. Before i got to race it however dad`s old Fairthorpe EM 789ERO surfaced and i needed funds to buy back part of our family! So 6037 was advertised and a buyer found, the racing 1147cc engine was sold and a 1300 engine was fitted along with a later style of bonnet, hardtop, wire wheels and a respray in red with a white stripe. The whereabouts of the car is not currently known to the club, the DVLA register currently lists the car as being blue so in the last 26 years it has been red, white and blue.........very patriotic!

The second car was owned by Chris Harré-Young and registered 4346MV, it was a mk2 fitted with a hardtop (with sunroof). Chris say`s he had fitted a 1600 Fiat Twin Cam engine with twin 40 IDF Weber's attached to a Fiat 5 speed box. The swing arm back axle had adjustable springs to give a small amount of negative camber.

He fitted 14" wire wheels that gave a very good 5th gear pull with a 4.55 diff fitted & good acceleration, Chris would be interested to know what happened to the car, it is also on the DVLA register but has not been licenced since 1986. Any info on the current whereabouts of these two or any other `garage Queen` Fairthorpes would be appreciated..........drop me a line.

The Italian job!

This weeks featured Fairthorpe belongs to Alberto Sassi who lives near Milan Italy, as you can see from the pictures the car has been restored very nicely and has only recently taken to the roads again. Alberto bought the car in 2007 from a friend who had imported the Fairthorpe from England and he has just had the car resprayed in a lovely shade of yellow, the original colour being blue.

This EM was first registered in 1959 and retains a 948cc engine, Alberto is looking forward to using the car for trips into the hills this coming summer.

E-bay does have it`s uses!

Last week i spotted a Fairthorpe coffee mug up for auction on ebay, in the sellers description of it he mentioned that he had bought it in the 70`s when he owned a Fairthorpe. Being the inquisitive type that i am i e-mailed him asking if he could remember what the registration number of the car was as i would like to add the number to my records. I received a reply from the seller which said his family had owned two Fairthorpes at that time, 4346MV and 915PTT and he would be interested to know if either had survived. The sellers name was Chris Harré-Young and i was pleased to be able to give him some good news 915PTT is alive and well and now living in America in the capable hands of Rich Campbell, i was very pleased to be able to put the two of them in touch as their ownership of the car was 30 years apart. Several emails have been swapped over the last week with various bits of information on the car, here is Chris`s memories of it`s time spent with them.

`The car was owned by a Devon farmer & my father came across it not sure how, may have been whilst caravanning down there. The farmer has had an accident in it & the bonnet was trashed & as a result he decided he needed some roll protection. He made up & fitted the 2 "hoops" you can see in the pics. It then stood in a barn. The farmer agreed to sell and in order to get it home they removed the engine there & then & that was brought back to Kent. The farmer made a bracket that bolted to the front of the chassis so it could be towed as a trailer & it was then brought back to Kent.
The bonnet was replaced with the one in the pics from another enthusiast as Roehampton and the car was run for a while but then left. My elder brother then took it over removed the ford lump & fitted an 1147 Triumph Spitfire engine & overdrive box. This engine & box was from my own Fairthorpe as I had fitted a 1600 Fiat twin can with 5 speed box.
As far as I can remember it was then run for a time & then sold. Having thought about it I believe my brother ran it until mid 1981.`
Rich then takes up the story`The history I was given on the car was that John Heseltine had the car restored by Beaufort Restoration Services in Kent back in the early 1980s. Heseltine raced another Fairthorpe with the HSCC, and put this one together as a racer -- but then sold it to a young man in California. It was driven as a street car in California for a number of years -- then was parked for 10 or 15 years. I bought it a couple of years ago and brought it to the East Coast, and I plan to race it with the Vintage Sports Car Club of America.`

The car is fitted with a Spitfire 1147cc engine with an overdrive gearbox and whilst in Chris`s familys ownership had a single large SU carb fitted which has a purpose made stainless inlet manifold & is apparently a very effective setup, better than the twin smaller SU's in Chris`s opinion.

The car is shortly due back from the paintshop and Rich is aiming to be out racing it this year in Historic events.
915PTT in America before the visit to the paintshop.

As a foot note to the story the mug didn`t sell! So if you would like a 70`s Fairthorpe coffee mug follow the link and contact Chris through e-bay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fairthorpe-Mug-/200580736961?pt=UK_Car_Parts_Vehicles_Automobila_ET&hash=item2eb38b27c1

I`m sure many of the surviving Fairthorpes have interesting stories to tell so if you once owned a car drop me a line and i may be able to piece together some more history!

And then there were two!

Up to a couple of weeks ago i was under the impression that there was only one surviving complete Fairthorpe Electrina, that car sold on ebay a couple of years ago and went to a guy in Hungry. The car was in a very poor state but had it`s original body on although it had been damaged over the years. FSCC club stalwart Willie Simpson (now sadly departed) had built an Electrina but in later years had disposed of the body shell and fitted an Electron Minor body as the chassis wheelbase is only slightly longer on the Electrina. Whilst doing my sweep of the Fairthorpe club web page one evening i came across a message from a chap named Frank Oak advertising a 1963 Electrina, needless to say the phone was busy for the next 30 minutes and i made him an offer on the car. Frank had a couple of other people who had expressed an interest so he said he would like 24 hours to mull the offer over. As you can tell from this blog post Frank called me to ask when i would like to collect the car from the Devon/Cornwall border and the trailer was hitched up the following Saturday. Frank had owned the car from new, having built it from a kit and used it every day for 10 years, been touring in France and even done a grass Autocross race with it `no one could keep up with it, i had several bags of cement in the boot to help traction on the grass`! Eventually the car needed a head gasket replacing and it was put in to his Garage pending repairs and a Sunbeam Alpine replaced it. As in so many cases the years rolled by and the car stood there eventually getting covered by the usual things that get flung into the front of a garage. Now in retirement Frank had hoped to be able to spend some time on the car and return it to the road and it`s former glory but following heart problems he has now devoted his spare time to charity work and raising money to help people in ill health. He has raised a large amount of money with sponsored cycle rides in various far flung places of the globe and is going away again shortly. So sadly he decided to part with the car which is remarkably original in it`s pale blue gel coat finish having never been painted and there is hardly any crazing on the bodyshell. The engine is a 948cc Triumph unit with twin S.U carbs although this is currently seized, the drivers side window is broken due to the poorly designed lifting mechanism (apparently it has done this before) and the interior trim has crumbled away with age.

The chassis is in the usual condition after years of storage and will need new outriggers and siderails once the body shell is removed, but i am looking forward to getting my teeth into it once 789 ERO has been painted this spring. I am hoping to use the Electrina as my daily transport once finished and look forward to letting Frank get behind the wheel of her once again.

Needless to say i will be blogging about the rebuild on this site as the restoration progresses. For those wanting to have a look at her i will be taking the car as well as 789 to this years Fairthorpe Gathering in August , for details of the meeting see the blog post below. If anyone has contact details for the owner of the other car i would love to hear from them.

Fairthorpe Gathering 2011 date and venue set.

Following on from the success of last years event which attracted 12 Fairthorpes i am pleased to confirm that this year the 3rd Annual Fairthorpe Gathering will be on August 7th at the Donington Park Museum which houses the largest collection of Grand Prix racing cars in the world. Here is a link to their website http://www.donington-park.co.uk/pages/motorsport-museum.html We will have a designated parking area and people attending our event will receive a discount on the entry price to the museum itself (price to be confirmed). There is a large picnic area in front of the museum and a very nice cafeteria and shop inside. Anyone with an interest in Fairthorpes is welcome along, whether you own a car, are looking for a car or are just interested in them you will receive a warm welcome. Keep an eye on this site or the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club website http://www.fairthorpescc.com/ for updates.
A report on last years event and some video footage can be found further down the page.

WAY 327 a Pheonix from the ashes.........

Owner Steve Colling tells the story:-
Fairthorpe Elecron Minor WAY 327 was despatched as a complete kit 0n the 29th July 1960 to Mr A Hawley of Leicester, who impressively managed to register the car on the 17th August 1960, only 19 days later.The kit included: chassis, body, screen, hood, side screens, carpets, wipers etc. The car was fitted with a Triumph Herald 948cc engine and gearbox, twin SU carburettors, a 4.11:1 differential, independent front and rear suspension, rack and pinion steering and drum brakes all round. Once built the car was driven by Mr Hawley until his children were born and the car was left to collect dust in a garage for about 13 years until I purchased the car in November 1980. Basic repairs were carried out on the car mainly using second-hand parts, the car was resprayed and a new hood made. I drove the car as daily transport until 1986 when one evening travelling home the electric fuel pump caught fire; the results can be seen in the photos.

Now was a good time to make WAY 327 faster and handle better. With lots of help from Martin and Frank who were running Motorville at that time, a new body was made from the original moulds and a new windscreen and aluminium frame were sourced. Then the fun began. First a Ford 1600cc Kent engine was sourced, this was completely rebuilt, lightened and balanced and fitted with an Kent A2 camshaft kit, GT cylinder head, Webber 40's, lightened flywheel and a competition clutch all bolted to a Lotus bullet gearbox. A four branch stainless steel exhaust system was manufactured and installed by a company in London who make racing exhaust systems. The propshaft had to be custom made to take the extra power and to mate with the Lotus gearbox and Triumph differential. The diff has a new crown wheel and pinion to take the ratio to 3.63:1. The output shafts were also changed to the stronger larger Triumph Spitfire items. All this has the benefit of less wheel spin in first and second, better acceleration, increased top speed and lower revs at motorway cruising speed. The rear brakes are drums and work fine but discs and callipers are fitted at the front, along with stainless steel braided hoses, kunifer brake pipes and new hydraulics.All four shock absorbers were replaced by gas Spaxs with adjustable dampening and height, 180lb competition coil springs were fitted at the front and 360 lb at the rear. Both front and rear suspension has been lowered a little and the geometry modified to improve the handling further. The rear suspension arms were remanufactured in solid bar (the originals were hollow tube) and larger TR6 ball joints fitted to cope with the added loads. The chassis out-riggers were replaced with 25mm box section and steel floors; the rest of the chassis has some extra bars and bracing for strength. The loom has been replaced with a Triumph Dolomite sprint item that has a fuse box as the original loom had no fuses which contributed to the fire. Inside the car has been updated with new carpets, a three piece walnut dashboard with extra instruments, glove box, heater with demister vents, bucket seats and a new roof and side screens. A new aluminium fuel tank has been manufactured with a 13 gallon capacity and reserve feed to extend the cars range when touring in Europe; the extra weight of fuel on the independent rear suspension has the added benefit of improving the handling as the car was originally too light at the rear.

The car was completed in about 8 months and then displayed at the classic car show in 1987 when the show was held at the Metropole hotel in Brighton. The cars had to be driven onto a dodgy looking wooden platform on the ground floor and whilst sitting in the car the platform was lifted up to the first floor by a forklift, the car had to then be driven off onto the first floor, needless to say the reverse journey was a lot more scary, you can't do that now with health and safety.

WAY 327 has been driven to France and southern Spain by me along with many trips in the UK and I can confirm the work, effort and modifications have all paid off, the car is great fun to drive and the performance and handling puts lots of modern sports cars to shame.

Rare Electron Climax to hit the tracks in 2011.

Todays post is about the Fairthorpe Electron Climax owned by Rob Cobden, the car spent most of it`s life on the Isle of Wight eventually being taken off the road and languishing in a Garden with bushes not just growing round it but in it as well!

After he bought it Rob spent 18 months stripping, repairing and rebuilding the car which has Triumph TR3 running gear and a 1220cc Coventry Climax engine. The engine had been left with the spark plugs out while the car was open to the elements and was so seized that the pistons would only come out of the engine by removing the cylinder liners as well. Rob says he was lucky the crankshaft was in a position where he could undo the conrod bolts otherwise he may have had to have cut the rods to get the engine stripped. Following a complete rebuild to race spec the engine now produces around 110bhp at the flywheel and he is hoping to get the car to Goodwood in the near future to give the it some testing.

The original bonnet and tail section have been replaced with newly moulded items as the old ones were too far gone to be repaired properly and a very nice looking roll bar produced which can be removed by undoing a few bolts. Rob is currently waiting for the F.I.A papers and once the car has done a few test miles on the track he will be looking at doing some racing in it later this year, when he has some dates penned in i will post them on the blog. I`m sure you will agree he`s made a very nice job of the car and it was voted the best Fairthorpe at last years Fairthorpe Gathering in August by those present.

Where are they now?

I have been contacted by Micheal Woodcock regarding a Fairthorpe EM2 that his father in law Kenneth Mansbridge built in 1960, the car was registered WBD 772 and was painted in red, his father in-law still has the original brochure/price list from when he bought the kit and speaks very highly of Don Bennett saying it was an honour to meet and speak with him back then.
He says he swapped the Fairthorpe for a mini estate needing more room for a growing family.

Having done a check on the DVLA website it shows the car as currently licensed so it has survived. Does anyone know the whereabouts of the car as the owner is not currently a member of the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club, both Micheal and Kenneth would love to see the car again. You can e-mail me at kartman.nascar24@btinternet.com if you have any information on it and i will pass it on.
I hope to make this a regular feature regarding `lost` cars so if you owned a Fairthorpe and are wondering what became of it drop me a line.

Here is a picture of the car whilst Kenneth owned it.

Fairthorpe racing news from down under.

This weeks Fairthorpe is currently being raced by Fairthorpe Sports Car Club member Les Whelen from Australia, he kindly sent me these pictures of his car and some background history to it.

BRIEF HISTORY:
Found advertised in the local Trading Post for $A4000 in late 2005. After inspection bought it dismantled with boxes of parts, many brand new, and bits and pieces. Rebuilt from chassis up. Factory plate shows Chassis Number 10433 indicating late 1959 build. Was road registered in NSW in early 1980s but no other history known.

As found picture

Still has original Standard 10 front suspension wishbones with modified coil springs. Standard 10 live rear axle with trailing arms as original. Steering had been changed to rack and pinion (Ford) at some time but came with original re-wooded steering wheel (Retained but not used now). Documentation indicates original 948cc Triumph engine replaced with a 1200cc Triumph engine in 1982. Came with Toyota Celicia 5 Speed gearbox and engine bored out to 1300cc. Retains original header tank and copper pipes to radiator. Original Standard 10 speedo (recalibrated to 120mph) and ammeter fitted with ancilliary dashboard fitted in driver’s side cubby hole with tacho, oil pressure and temperature gauges.

Alternator replaces generator and 45DCOE Weber carb, replaces original twin SU’s (These came with the car however). Front end fitted with later Herald/Spitfire disc brakes. The front end was a real puzzle because it had been cut up and at first the car rode very nose-up but many adjustments later is now fine. Restored as an historic race car so not road registered, but Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) refuses recognition because not FIA Homologated and has later modifications but allowed to run as “other” category in many events.
To overcome CAMS attitude most driving is done under the auspices of the Golden Era of Auto Racing Club (GEAR) where drive days are organized for us oldies to have fun on Queensland’s two major racing circuits- Queensland Raceway and Lakeside Park.

COMPETITION HISTORY:
1. Speed on Tweed 2009/2010 – Sprint event approx 1km long, one car at a time in classes. Fastest time in class wins. Held around houses in Murwillumbah on the Tweed River in northern NSW – tight corners, up hill and down.
2010 Best time for Les Whelan’s Fairthorpe Electron Minor – 1.02.4853

2. Cootha Classic 2009/2010 – Hill climb up and down Mt Coot-tha in Brisbane City
2010 Best time 1.18.277 Trophy for SECOND IN CLASS (Allowed to run as historic pre-1960 Sportscar up to1500cc)

3. Leyburn Sprints 2008/2009 – Around the houses sprint in small country town where the 1949 Australian Grand Prix was held on an abandoned World War 2 airfield. 1km flat with tight corners.2009 Best time 1.10.96 Trophy for SECOND IN CLASS (Ran again as historic)

4. Maryborough Sprints 2009 – Flat 1km sealed track in local showgrounds in Maryborough about 200km north of Brisbane.
2009 Best time 1.03.71

5. Historic Lakeside 2010 – Lakeside is the only former F1 race circuit still used in Queensland. In early 60s for the Tasman Cup and AGP drivers such as Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Frank Gardiner, Bruce McLaren, John Surtees, Chris Amon, Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme etc raced there watched by young fellas like me. Tight, up and down, known for destroying cars (One left hander is called Hungry Corner). My first attempt at ‘racing’ with around ten cars in my class but because of my lack of classification I found myself in a group comprising Porsche 911s, a TVR, a Mallock U2 Mk8, BMW 2002, hot MGs and Minis etc. Ran last with time of 1.27.284. Mallock U2 first in my class at 1.06.3855.

Les and the Fairthorpe in action!

This year, 2011, I will probably enter all of the Sprints and Hillclimb again but only enter Regularity at other Historic events. (In Regularity the object is to circulate at a given lap time consistently so you are racing against yourself not other cars which will be circulating with you)

It`s great to see the cars being used all around the world, if anyone else has pictures and info on their cars i`d be happy to post them here for all to see.

Fairthope International Race/Rally History

Following a request from a contact in Europe i have done some research into the International competition history of Fairthorpes as there seems to be a lack of published information for people wishing to use their cars in Historic racing.
It is widely known that Air Vice Marshall Don Bennett competed on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1959 in an Electron Minor and 1962 in an Electron Climax, (4th in 1001-1300cc Class ) but it was a surprise to me to find out that he also did the 1959 RAC Rally and the 58 Tour de France in Electrons with Peter Riley navigating in car no 133. The 1963 Spa Sofia Liège Rally was done in car no79 by Alex Mylonadis & wife in a Fairthorpe Triumph............I am also looking into other possible rallies the cars competed in and will publish here anything i find.
Here are a few pictures and entry list/results.

1959 Monte Carlo Rally

The car used on this rally was an Electron Minor

Here is the result sheet for the 1959 RAC Rally, the car used was an Electron with the Coventry Climax engine.

Here are the results from the 1962 Monte Carlo Rally

This is the entry list for the 1963 Spa-Sofia-Liege Rally

Fairthorpes have been used extensively in circuit racing from 1957 to the present day, as and when time permits i will try to catalogue those that there is information on or i know of. Most types have been used, Electron Minors, Electron`s, Zeta`s, Rockettes and John Green even raced an Atomota! The Formula Junior was not raced in period as far as i am aware but Ron Welsh is making up for lost time and competing (and winning) with it over the last couple of years. Several people have kindly sent me the link to the `Racing Sports Cars` website which has quite a list of events that Fairthorpes raced at in period, this is obviously the tip of the iceberg but is a good starting point. the page address is:- http://www.racingsportscars.com/cars/search.html?make=fairthorpe

The 1961 4hr race at Pescara was a round of the F.I.A World Sportscar Championship and had 2 Fairthorpe Electrons competing though sadly neither finished. Car no 116 was driven by Mylonadis / Stefani and car no 120 was driven by Gabrio Del Torre which retired with electrical problems. Fairthorpes are listed as entries for several other F.I.A races but are down as did not arrive. Unless someone turns up the results from these we won`t definitely know if the cars ran or not. I hope in the fullness of time to create a separate page with all known race events for Fairthorpes, please feel free to contact me with any information regarding events and i will include these on the list.