Fairthorpe TX-S information sought.

Simon Hodges is looking for any information on the current whereabouts of the  Fairthorpe TX-S that his father and grandfather built, the reg number was LPP207H and it was painted in Pozitano yellow. Simon's father Nigel was living in Steeple Claydon at the time and the kit was ordered on 5.5 69, Chassis number was 14016, engine number was KC57051HE and it was collected on 17.7 69. My records show that the kit cost the princely sum of £1198. The car is still shown on the DVLA database so hopefully it has survived.......... have you seen it? I will pass on any information received.

TX Tripper for sale

There is currently a TX Tripper with a current MOT for sale on ebay, here is a link to the listing:-
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAIRTHORPE-TX-TRIPPER-1971-TRIUMPH-1-300cc-ENGINE-GT6-CHASSIS-AND-WHEELS-/220992280413?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item33742a975d

The Tripper was a product of Technical Exponents, a firm run by Torix Bennett the son of Air Vice Marshall Don Bennett who ran Fairthorpe Cars. The Tripper kits were produced in the same building as the Fairthorpe kits at Denham, Bucks.

Fairthorpe Electron race report.

I travelled to Donington on the Easter bank holiday weekend to watch Rob Cobden compete in the first round of the new FISCAR series in his Coventry Climax engined Fairthorpe Electron. As you can read in earlier posts Rob has transformed the car from a wreck that had a tree growing up through it to an immaculate race car. He has not had a chance to do much running on track in the car but it was tested for an article in Autosport Magazine and it was suggested that softer springs may improve the handling. The rear springs were changed and Rob was very pleased with the improvement in cornering following practice but had a couple of niggling problems, the car was blowing quite a bit of oil from the filler cap and was also pushing water out into the overflow tank after 5 laps. Despite the problems and completing only half of the practice session he had done enough to put the car in the middle of the grid and 3rd in class. The oil issue was given a cure after a chat with another driver who was competing in a Lotus Elite with a Climax engine, his engine had a screw on cap which did not provide breathing for the engine, the engines have a couple of breathers elsewhere that do the job sufficiently. So with that information a temperary cure was afforded by putting gaffer tape over the oil filler tube..........voila instant fix!

Rob has an idea that the water problem could be the water being pressurized by not flowing through the rad quick enough causing back pressure and he knew the problem would recur during the race but decided to use it as a test session until he had to retire.

At the start the car got passed by several others but by the end of the first lap Rob had moved up to a very creditable 8th place and second in class and was dicing with much larger engined cars, as predicted he had to pull into the pits at the end of lap 5 and was still holding down 8th when he came in. The car has shown a lot of potential despite so little running and Rob is convinced there is more to come once he has got used to the car which is a very different animal from the Pre war Riley he usually campaigns. The centre picture was taken by Jon Gross and the other two pictures were taken by John Turner, they have kindly allowed me to use them. John is the chairman of FISCAR and would be interested to hear from any other Fairthorpe owners who would like to take part in the series, their website can be found at http://www.fiscar.org/

Newly rebuilt racing Fairthorpe EM for sale

Chris Dady is reluctantly parting with his freshly rebuilt racing Electron Minor, this car has a lot of competition history having formerly been owned by Brian Weaver. Chris has spent vast amounts on the car so this is your chance to get out on the track at a great saving over what it would cost to have a car built to this spec.
This is Chris`s description of the car:-

133HX chassis no. 10413 was purchased as a component car in September 1959, and was built and registered for the road in March 1960.

Over the past four years the car has been undergoing a complete rebuild, and whilst not yet complete the final assembly stage has been reached with the engine and gearbox trial fitted. The car has a racing history.

Some £15000 has been expended in parts and labour, the car being built to a very high historic specification for racing, albeit it would also make a fast road car.

Race series are plentiful - Equipe GTS, Classic Sports Car Club, HSCC, even Goodwood? The car has the potential to be very class competitive.

The asking price for the car as is £6750, follow the link below to the see the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76136222@N08/sets/72157629702505871/

What do you get for the money?

Large complete history file and period photographs of the car, and scrutineering tags and race programme from 1981, handbook and brochure with copy of build instructions
Fully rebuilt Jigsaw 1147cc engine, gearbox and limited slip rear axle
Six Spitfire LeMans alloy wheels, four with used Dunlop 4.50M13 historic race tyres
Four steel wheels with used Avon CR6ZZ tyres
Set of five new CR6ZZ tyres
Original seats plus a Kirkey race seat
New steering wheel, and many parts such as a hi-torq starter, alloy hubs, weber with manifold and linkage, exhaust system, instruments, battery that came with the car, alloy radiator with kenlow, facet fuel pump, fabricage FIA roll bar etc. etc.
With the car is also the original hood frame, side screens and original windscreen with frame.
Various copy bills, original 1960 log book, V5 (the car is on SORN), old MOT’s etc.
Spare engine and gearbox
New respray in Jaguar racing green with an old english white stripe

You can see the rebuild documented from 2007 - 2010 via this link

http://www.nearthecoast.com/plasticcars/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=304

What needs to be done?

The car is pretty much complete.
Doors, boot lid and bonnet to be finally fitted with catches as desired
Finishing strengthening fibreglass around the roll bar fitting
Parts required include hoses, nuts and bolts, and you will need to decide whether to run a dynamo, you will need a race seat belt (fittings are on the car), catch tank, fire extinguisher and cut off.
The wiring needs reattaching, and some new rear lights and rear fog light purchased and fitted (rear light lenses are with the car, the lights themselves are Morgan / Frogeye / etc. and readily available)
Brake pipes fitted, system refilled and bled
Fuel tank, pump fitted
Engine ancillaries to be fitted
The engine needs the engine mount from the spare engine to be fitted, filled with oil (as does the gearbox) and fired up (full instruction sheet with the car)
Complete check over and nut and bolt tightening
Seat fixing to owners position.
Final bodywork and polish
Run in, and set up.

*******

Chris has now sold the Fairthorpe so you have missed your chance!

If you re looking for a car or have a Fairthorpe you wish to sell drop me a line, i will list on here for free...............Martin