Essex Electron Minor is a Fast Fairthorpe.

I recently dropped by to see Martin Green who owns a very smart EM1, Martin has done a lot of work over the last few years on this Fairthorpe. The car is fitted with a highly tuned 1147cc Triumph engine which is lightened and balanced, has a fast road cam fitted and a very rare 8 port head which is what the Triumph works race team used on their Le Mans Spitfires.

The stainless steel exhaust manifold was designed by Martin and really looks the business, it drops down on the right hand side of the drivers side main rail instead of being `pinched` between the engine and main rail.

The axle has also been changed for a re bracketed Morris Marina one with a better diff ratio, Martin offered me a run up the road in the car which felt a lot softer sprung at the front and rode the patches and pot holes with a lot less noise and fuss than my EM 789 ERO does. I think he may have had a sticking throttle on the engine as his foot seemed to spend most of it`s time buried on the floor! I would say it is probably the best Triumph powered live axle EM i have ridden in in terms of the way the car handles uneven roads and delivers it`s power. Although not having the outright grunt and revs of a sorted Ford engine there is more than enough in his set up for a lot of fun on the roads. When I eventually get round to assembling my tuned 1300cc Triumph engine and fitting it in 789 I will probably be turning out similar BHP so it has given me a good idea of how my car will go, I will also now be playing around with the front spring rates, mine currently has 200lb springs fitted which make rough roads very harsh and noisy to drive on.

Where are they now:- Fairthorpe 673 WAR

 

Club member and current Fairthorpe owner Barry Stock recently sent me the following pictures of his first Fairthorpe Electron Minor registration number 673 WAR. The car is a Mk1 fitted with an unusual bonnet, it appears to be an Electron one though the opening hatch with it`s power bulge is not present, Barry maintains that it looked as if it had been moulded that way.

Barry purchased it from a man in Kings Langley who had bought it new as a kit, it had done about 30000 miles by this time and he used it as his everyday car for a while before being sold through an ad in Exchange & Mart and delivered to an M1 service station, possibly Newport Pagnell, Barry never saw the car again.

This Fairthorpe is not currently on the DVLA database and the club have no records on the car. If you have any information on the current whereabouts or fate of 673 WAR please get in contact so we can fill in some more history on the car.

 

 

`May` the Fairthorpe makes 50!..........

I had an email from Rob James on the 28th May with some pictures of his Fairthorpe Electron Minor `May`which was celebrating it`s 50th birthday on that date. Well done May, I hope Rob toasted the event in the proper way.............

Classics Monthly magazine Fairthorpe feature this month

The July issue of Classics Monthly magazine has a 6 page feature on 789 ERO which covers it`s history and rebuild, there are some great pictures, the photographer certainly earned his money taking them.
The photo above taken by my wife Sarah shows the photographer being photographed!
July Classics Monthly magazine is in the shops now and can be bought (or browsed!) in most Tesco`s or W H Smiths shops.

Freshly restored Fairthorpe Electron Minor For Sale.

Brian McArdle is selling this lovely Electron Minor Mk1 which he has been restoring over the last few years. The car has had many new parts fitted or reconditioned and has 5 new tyres, new aluminium floor pans, complete new braking system, new radiator, a freshly re trimmed interior as well as professionally finished paint job.

The engine is a rebuilt Standard 10 948cc engine with twin SU carbs as originally fitted, the car only needs a small amount of wiring and a few odds and bobs to get it completed for an MOT. This is a rare opportunity to buy a Fairthorpe in this sort of condition and Brian is looking to sell it to a genuine enthusiast who will appreciate and look after the car in the coming years.

For more information and price give Brian a call on :- 0121 705 6278
The car is located in the Midlands.

Fairthorpes rule at club AGM.

Alan Cooper,s Mk1 EM

 

Sunday 18th May saw this years FSCC AGM take place at the Stow Maries WW1 aerodrome in Essex, the site was used by the Royal Flying Corps during the first World War but was then left derelict with some of the buildings used by the local farmer until Russell Savory bought a large part of the site and gradually started to restore it to it`s former glory. The aerodrome is a fascinating place and has really come along since our last visit in 2010 for that years Fairthorpe Gathering, Russell gave us a great talk on the history and plans for putting the site back to how it was when the RFC defended these shores from the Zeppelin threat, the Stow Maries website can be found here:-
http://www.stowmaries.com/index.asp

 My Mk1 EM 789 ERO with Brian Townsend,s Mk1 and Derek Bentley`s Turner.

 

The Ford powered Mk2 EM,s of Andy Winston and Steve Colling

 

The Fairthorpe Sports Car Club caters for not only Fairthorpes but many of the 50`s and 60`s kit cars and specials including Turners, Tornados, Rochdales, Falcons, Ashleys , EB`s etc each of these has there own register within the club. The AGM always attracts a few of our marque cars along and this year saw 8 cars attend the event in glorious sunshine, there were 5 Fairthorpes, 2 Turners and a Tornado. All the Fairthorpes were Electron Minors, Andy Winston and Steve Colling were in Ford powered Mk2`s, both cars featuring tuned engines with twin Weber 40 carbs. The Mk1`s were represented by my self in 789 ERO and Alan Cooper and Brian Townsend, with their cars making their first trips out to a club event since they had been restored, both cars having been off the road for a number of years, well done guys.

Steve Colling`s Mk2 EM winner of the best club car at the AGM

 

There were 2 trophies to be handed out on the day and Steve Colling won the best Marque car at the event with his superb EM, it always amazes everyone that his car lives out side under trees all year round with only it`s hood for protection. The other trophy was for the furthest travelled to the AGM in a marque car which I took having completed close on 100 miles to reach Stow Maries.
Hopefully we can get some more of that weather for our other events this summer.

SOLD MK5 Fairthorpe Electrion Minor for sale SOLD

There is a rare 1970 Mk5 Electron Minor for sale, one of only 3 Mk5 EM`s known to the club at this time. The car has been off the road for many years and is stripped ready for someone to restore to it`s former glory. I am told the chassis is basically sound with only a small amount of welding required, I can confirm that the chassis though a lot different to earlier EM`s is an original Mk5 having studied pictures taken of another that was restored a few years ago. The body work is all there but as can be seen from the pictures it will need a new boot lid and possibly a new bonnet although that could be repaired with some graft, the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club holds the moulds for these panels and so new ones can be produced for the new owner. There is no engine or gearbox with the car but a Triumph 1300 or 1500 Spitfire engine would be what was originally fitted. The Fairthorpe does have an old style log book with it and some history.

The project is priced to sell at a very reasonable £850 for more information speak to Keith Ardley on
  07930186598  or by email on:-  kieth@ardley8142.fsnet.co.uk

This final 2 pictures  were taken a number of years ago before the car was dismantled, I have a recollection that this car was pictured in a 1970`s Custom Car Magazine when they ran an article on Kit cars, the car was at that time only a few years old and looked very smart.

SOLD Mk1 Electron Minor for sale on Ebay. SOLD

The Mk1 EM i was using last year before selling has reappeared on Ebay, it is a good reliable car that is well worth looking at if you want some open air motoring fun this summer. You can see the listing here:- http://www.ebay.com/itm/1960-Fairthorpe-Electron-Minor-Mk1-/181402221535?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

One for the road................Make that two!

Two more Fairthorpes took to the road recently, both cars having been subject to restorations over the last few years, they passed their MOT tests within days of one another, one in Essex and the other in Kent. Both Fairthorpes have featured in previous pages of this blog, one is owned by Brian Townsend and the other by Alan Cooper.

Alan has made several trips with his car since the MOT and has already had a note left on the windscreen asking if he would like to sell it!

Brian Built his Fairthorpe in 1959 from the kit and the car was used through to 1978 when it was taken off the road and parked under a sheet. There it stood till 4 years ago when he decided the time had come to pull it apart and rebuild it.
Brian kindly sent me some pictures of him in the car as he was leaving for the MOT test.

Well done guys, you are the first of the year, there should be several more rebuilds getting finished in the next few months.

Three wheels on my wagon!............

 

 

Paul Wells has been using his Fairthorpe over the winter months and sent me some dramatic pictures taken by the road side in a country lane, i will let Paul tell the story:-
`Bit of a mishap today. - front wheel overtook me and disappeared through a lady's hedge ! Luckily it stayed in a straight line and the speed was slow ... Turns out there are two completely sheared wheel studs and two with the thread ripped off ! I can only assume the studs broke first and the rest follows ! Only real damage is a very flat sided brake disc !  The wheel disappeared through the hedge on the right of the picture  - I had to knock on the door and ask for it back as it reached the middle of the lady's lawn ! She even gave me a cup of tea !`   Life is never dull with a Fairthorpe.............. 

Fairthorpe Gathering Pathfinder stations tour, Sat 2nd August.book your place now.

                       Painting by Robert Taylor available from Oliver`s Art gallery.

If there is sufficient interest, Bob Balding has volunteered to organise a tour in our cars, on the day before the Fairthorpe Gathering, of what  remains of Don Bennett's 8 Group RAF stations before adjourning to a suitable pub where we could have a meal and stay the night.  As well as being a small FSCC tribute to the work of the AVM and Bomber Command, it would give those travelling a significant distance to the Gathering an opportunity to break their journey overnight.  It should also make the visit to the Pathfinder Collection the following day that much more meaningful.

 

Most of these stations were fairly close to Wyton - Bourn, Gransden Lodge, Graveley, Little Staughton, Oakington, Upwood and Warboys.  A route to take them all in would be arranged for Saturday afternoon, with a chance to take a few pictures at each location.

 

If this idea appeals to you, please let Bob know (email: thebaldings@btopenworld.com) by Monday, 31 March so that, if enough folk are interested, detailed planning can start.

SOLD Rare 1959 Fairthorpe Electron Coventry Climax FWA SOLD

Due to too many other Fairthorpe projects I have decided to part with my 1959 Electron Climax FWA, the car is for sale with the engine and will not be sold separately as i would like to see the car returned to the road or track with the Climax engine in it. Climax engined Fairthorpe Electrons are rare beasts, there are three known in America, one in Sweden and three in the UK including this one.

Electrons have an International competition history in period having competed in the 1958 Tour De France, 1959 RAC Rally and 1962 Monte Carlo Rally, two also took part in the 1961 4hr race at Pescara which was a round of the F.I.A World Sportscar Championship. In the late 50s / early 60s they were also used in club races all round the UK, including a number of times at Goodwood, and i`m sure it would be eligible for entry to the Revival or the Members' Meeting which is being run this year for the first time since the circuit was restored. The organisers of these and similar high end Historic race meetings are always looking for something different to add to the entry list and an Electron Climax could be a relative cheap way in.

I have owned this car since the late 80s and it has been stored under cover since that time but it will now need a body off restoration. The two main chassis rails are in good order but it will need the out riggers and side rails replacing, these were originally just folded metal U sections which are easily reproduced and replaced, and I will include a new sample one with the car. The body shell is in quite a reasonable shape with not too much crazing to remove, but it has a poorly repaired area at the rear of the nearside rear wheel arch. It is possible to have a new body shell produced to fit on the car if the purchaser requires, the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club own the original moulds and have a moulder who can produce the panels. Membership of the club is included in the sale price.
The front suspension, steering and axle are all modified Triumph TR3 and the axle uses Fairthorpe produced trailing arms with coil over shocks all round.

The 1098cc FWA Coventry Climax engine is currently dismantled so can be inspected by prospective buyers. It comes with a twin S.U set up, an unused set of cylinder liners, and a new old stock Fairthorpe Climax exhaust manifold. There are some spares included, the original hood frame is with the car and a pair of fibreglass seat shells which were moulded from an original Fairthorpe steel seat.

Pictures of Rob Cobden`s yellow Electron Historic racer can be found further back in this blog in several places, some of which show the bare chassis which gives an idea of how straight forward the restoration is on these cars. The bodyshell is simply bolted to the chassis making removal fairly straight forward.

These engines are getting very expensive to buy and Climax powered Electrons rarely come onto the market, the last one having been sold in 2008 so this a rare opportunity to buy one.

The car is priced at £8,750 ONO and I could arrange transport to deliver anywhere in the UK or to the docks if the car is sold to a foreign buyer.

The car is in Northampton close to J15 of the M1, and can be viewed by prior appointment, more pictures are available by email.
I can be contacted on 01604 859987 (home)
or 07952930042 (mobile) or by email at kartman.nascar24@btinternet.com
.........Martin Collins.

How to make new door trim panels for your Fairthorpe.

Last summer I made a pair of new door trim panels for my Electron Minor, as anyone with a Fairthorpe will know the originals were just made from cardboard covered in vinyl material and after a few soakings on rainy days out in the car with the top down they would become all buckled and out of shape. I have owned a number of Fairthorpes over the years and have found the best solution is to make them out of fibreglass as they are light, waterproof and easy to make, here is how to do it:-
I start off with a flat sheet of glass that is big enough for one door panel and wash it off, once dry give it a coat or two of mould release wax, car polish would probably also do the trick. Buy some fibreglass resin and hardener plus enough F/G matting (chopped strand mat) to make a couple of panels, You can buy this in various thicknesses. I usually just make the panels from one layer of CSM, coat the glass with your resin / hardener mix then lay the mat onto it and stipple with a brush till it is well soaked in. This will then need rolling with a fibreglass finned roller to remove any trapped air and give a more even surface finish. When dry you can remove your sheet from the glass with a wood chisel or some thing similar, once you have an edge up it will come away very easily leaving a smooth finish on the side that came from the glass. Now you need to make a pattern from card or paper from where the panel will fit on the door, this then needs drawing round with a felt tip on to the fibreglass sheet, I do it on the back as the felt tip works better on that. I usually add a pocket slot in the middle as well as it is a handy place to store stuff  in the car, you can see the cut out for the pocket in the pictures. The best way to cut the panel is by using an angle grinder with a cutting disk fitted (make sure you ware a mask). Once you have your panel cut it is ready to be trimmed, choose your covering material usually leatherette or vinyl and cut it so it is 1 1/2" larger than the panel all the way round then lay the panel on it with the smooth side facing the back of the material.

Draw the outline of the panel and the door pocket onto the material then lift the panel off. You will now need to cut slits in the material from the outside up to the outline anywhere where there is a curve, the sharper the curve the more slits necessary or you will end up with a series of straight edges round the curve rather than a flowing line. The corners will need cutting up to the line and remove them as marked in picture 2 so you don`t see an edge from the front once finished. The door pocked needs marking and cutting as shown by the pen marking in photo 2 also. 

 When cutting to your pen marks use a sharp pair of scissors and do not over cut the pen lines or it will show on the front face of the door panel when finished. Now lay the door panel back onto the material and coat the area of the fibreglass where the material will be folded over and also the material to be folded with Evostick glue and wait for it to go almost dry to the touch (follow the glue instructions and use a well ventilated room). The material can then be folded over on to the back of the panel, once you have the first edge done stretch the material when doing the other sides so it is pulled tight or you will end up with a saggy covering! Lastly do the door pocket, again pulling the material before sticking it to the panel. Any bits of material that end up on top of another piece will need some extra glue to stick them. Et viola one door trim panel made, when doing your second one make a fresh template because the doors on Fairthorpes are not exactly the same shape...........
Also remember that you need the covering material on the opposite side of the panel to the one you have just finished otherwise you will have made 2 for the same side of the car, yep no need to ask how i know!
Your finished panels can now be fitted to your car, best to use cup washers and countersunk self tapping screws which are available from any car trim suppliers, try to fit them close to the corners and then space them out evenly round the panel so they look neat.

The third picture is a Blue Peter `here`s one i prepared earlier` shot, i think it looks quite professional and was a lot cheaper than getting a trimmer to do the job, also a lot more satisfying having done it myself.

Nice one Adrian............

Adrian Mancha has kindly sent me some pictures showing the progress he has made on his Electron Minor. The attention to detail is very impressive and the performance should very good once the rebuilt engine is run in. Adrian tells me that the bodyshell has been painted and is ready to be refitted and a mould has been made from the squared off tail section as the whereabouts of the original mould are unknown. More history on his car and pictures of it prior to work commencing can be found in earlier posts on this blog.

 

Marcus makes progress.......

Marcus Bradbury is continuing to work on his Fairthorpe EM which was featured in the `Wheels` movie on Youtube :- 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkI65UZSbek                                   

Play

(Show link)

'Wheels' a short film about the Fairthorpe Sports Car

john853920

In 1961 I built my Fairthorpe Electon Minor Sports Car from a kit and this is a short account of the experience shot on Standard 8mm cine film in 1961

(Show link)

The Fairthorpe has had it`s bonnet painted and the rest of the car is being prepped in readiness for it`s top coat, it should look very striking in that shade of blue. The eagle eyed amongst you will spot the deliberate mistake in the picture.....................
The gearbox tunnel cover is round the wrong way.

Fairthorpe creates a stink!

 213 KKX was a Mk1 Fairthorpe EM painted yellow with black stripes that had been owned by Andrew Jones a number of years ago. It was heavily modified with Koni adjustable shock absorbers, Triumph Herald steering coloumn and rack. The brakes were modified with Triumph Vitesse discs and calipers and extra instruments were added to help monitor the tuned engine. The original 948cc Standard 10 engine had gone, it`s replacement was an 1147cc Spitfire engine fitted with a high compression head, SAH 46 camshaft and twin 1 1/2" SU carbs.

 Andrew used the car in a few competitive events including a Sprint at Blackbushe aerodrome, upon arrival he entered the aerodrome through the wrong gate and headed in the direction of the competing cars. He was soon flagged down by a very irate man in a Landrover who `really tore him off a strip` for driving down the runway............

I surmised that the gentleman was probably the airport owner at that time, none other than AVM Don Bennett!

 

 

I have been talking to Chris Gale who is the present owner of the car, i was under the impression that he only had the bodyshell  but Chris tells me that he has the whole car which was dug out of a farmers silage pit, so it had rotted badly and smelt horrible.  Chris has the car is in store for future restoration, (presumably once the smell has dissipated!) The paint work at some point in it`s life took on a 60`s look with large flowers painted all over it!

This is yet another Fairthorpe with an interesting story to tell!