Picture of the week, Fairthorpe family get together.

This picture of the week was taken at Gerrards Cross this summer at a classic car event, Fairthorpes were produced in Gerrards Cross in the early 60`s. Pictured with 789 ERO and the Electron Minor of Bob Balding are AVM Bennett`s daughter Noreen with her daughter and her daughters three children. Her father gave Noreen the prototype EM as a 21st birthday present, which she promptly named `Mayfair`. Noreen was a pretty handy driver, doing a number of races and speed events in all types of Fairthorpe including the large engined Zeta, she still retains a keen interest in the cars to this day.

SOLD Fairthorpe EM project for sale SOLD

Derek Evans is reluctantly parting with his Fairthorpe Electron Minor project, much work has been done but there is still plenty to do to return this 1960 Mk2 to the road. The chassis has been refurbished with new sections welded in where necessary and the independant rear suspension has all been done as have the rear brakes with new wheel cylinders and shoes.

                                    refurbed chassis pictured upside down.

The diff is with the car but needs some new seals in it and there is also a prop shaft and Herald gearbox but no engine or shock absorbers/springs. The body work needs quite a lot of work but it is all there and it has it`s windscreen and frame. There is a set of rebushed Triumph front wishbones but no vertical  links or callipers (these are Herald/Spitfire items).

                             Rear of chassis, no shock absorbers hence the wood supports.

Other parts included are a homemade fuel tank with sender and a hard top. The car has a chassis plate and reg number but no current log book so this would need applying for through the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club by the new owner.
The project is priced at £1000, for more information contact Derek directly at:-

smurmof@aol.com

Fairthorpe script badges now available.

               Fairthorpe script badges old and new modelled on Paul Wells Fairthorpe.

I am pleased to announce that Fairthorpe script badges are now available, these are copies of the original ones supplied by Fairthorpe, many thanks to FSCC club member Paul Wells for taking the time to produce these new ones. They are cast in Pewter and then polished and can be curved to fit on the boot lid of your car. These are available through the Fairthorpe Sports Car Cub at a cost of £30 which includes UK postage, to order one drop me an email at kartman.nascar24@btinternet.com

Atom Major / Atomota updates.

 

                                             RHD Atom Major dash board shot

I have had some updates recently on the progress of 2 Atom Major/Atomota restorations, one being undertaken by Brian Waters here in the UK and the other in America with Frank Maine. Those that have read further back in the blog will be familiar with Brian`s car, he has recently got the bodyshell removed from the chassis and is now in a position to weld in the repair sections necessary. Here is a shot of the chassis that Brian emailed over.

The second car is owned by Frank Maine, it has been modified at some point as the original chassis has gone and the body shell modified and fitted onto a Subaru chassis. Here are some pictures with Frank`s description.

These photos were probably taken in the late 1980’s, as the photos were in the same envelop as photos taken at the last race at Riverside Raceway in 1989. A friend of mine spotted the ad for the Atomota in Hemmings. He inquired and got some photos of the car. From photos of the car I was sure that nothing of the original Fairthorpe chassis remained. At that time, I had no interest in it, didn’t want it  and recommended he should not buy it, but he bought it anyway. Perhaps, if it had arrived as a nearly running drivable car, if might be worth maintaining it as it was, but there was no engine or gearbox. As a unibodied car, the Subaru would depend on its roof to provide stiffness to the chassis. Add an additional 10 to 15 years of rot on what was left of the chassis and the chassis, in an accident would probably fold up like a pretzel. So we decided to removed the Subaru from the Atomota.

The Atomota as it arrived from Ohio, delivered by the shipping company.

 

The Atomota frontal view from various angles. The front bumper looks like a 74’ Volkswagen Super Beetle rear bumper. Still think it looks pretty horrific to me. Oh well, makes you wonder why people sometimes do the things they do. But, where would this car be today if they didn’t do what they did. Long gone and forgotten? Perhaps.

 

The interior of the Atomota.  All of the original interior was gone, replaced with the dash, steering column and seats from the Subaru.

 

  The side profile of the Atomota, is it in a family way? To me, from this angle, the Atomota looks just a little bit pregnant. The Subaru had a longer wheelbase than that of the original Atomota. The rear wheel arches where definitely cut out and moved back in the rear wings to match the extra length. I think that it should not be that difficult to reverse this.

 

The Atomota rear view from various angles. Unfortunately, the rear wings do appear to have been cut back and squared off in order to mount the rectangular tail lights from the Subaru. These might take some re-sculpturing to restore the original rear wing appearance. The rear bumper looks like a 74’ Volkswagen Super Beetle front bumper to me.

 

After the centre section was removed,  you can see parts of the original body profiles. Thankfully, this was not trimmed away and that should make it “relatively easier” to restore the original body profile.

 

The centre section after removing it from the Atomota , what a mess of wire mesh and fiberglass., with the intention of liberating the original fiberglass grill piece.

 

Thankfully, the original BSA engine sized access hatch was retained and incorporated into the new engine cover. Dismantling this cover to liberate the original hatch and the original fiberglass surrounding it.

 

When John Allan was writing his book, he ask me “What are you going to do with the Atomota bodyshell? At that time, I wanted to say, “I am going to cut it into four smaller pieces and then take it to the dump.” But instead I think I said something like “Restore it”.

Keep up the good work Frank..............

Fairthorpes take a stand at the NEC!

This years Fairthorpe Sports Car club stand at the NEC Classic Car show features 3 Fairthorpes along with a Rochdale Olympic, a Turner and an Ashley. The Fairthorpes are from right to left Brian Jackson`s Dolomite Sprint  powered EM2. Andy Winston`s race prepped Ford pre crossflow powered Mk2 and my Triumph engined EM Mk1 789 ERO. If you are visiting the show on Sunday 17th drop by and say hello.

Fairthorpe Pathfinders settle in Germany.

One Fairthorpe that seems to have moved around a bit lately is the Metallic Burgundy Pathfinder V8 which was sold on Ebay to Barry Mays, Barry had previously owned the Ford V6 engined Pathfinder which now lives with Wolfgang Puritz in Germany.  Unfortunately Barry then had to sell the V8 car as he was unable to work due to a shoulder injury so the car reappeared on Ebay. This time it was spotted by Wolfgang who mentioned it to his friend Alfons Rubbert, a deal was done and Alfons now owns the V8 engine car, he also informs me that he also used to own the V6 car before selling it to Wolfgang.........Confused? I`m not surprised! 

 

So these two Pathfinders are owned by good friends who live very close to one another in Germany, Alfons has kindly sent me some pictures taken recently when he and Wolfgang got together with their Pathfinders, between them they own 1/4 of the 8 cars that Motorville (Watford) produced in the 1980`s. The Burgundy Rover V8 powered car was number five and the lilac Ford V6 engined one was the last produced of the eight.

 

 

MOO moving forward, Phil`s Fairthorpe restoration is underway.

                                                On the way home.........a rebuild awaits!

I have recently heard from Phil Whitmore with an update on the restoration of his Electron Minor 403 MOO, he has made some good progress and hopefully 2014 may see another Fairthorpe back on our roads.

I will let Phil give you an update:-

`We have now fitted the fabricated outriggers on the chassis and it is presently at the shot blasters for cleaning and zinc plating so hopefully it will see another 50 years! The engine and gearbox have been apart for inspection, cleaning and painting whilst the shell now sits in 3 parts whilst we work our way through some nasty damage that was bodged up on the rear quarters and the time consuming removal of all the crazing. Other work has seen me prototyping some fiberglass seats molded off of the one barely intact original seat we had with the car....time and trimming will tell!`

Phil kindly sent some pictures as well, a few of which I have included here, I will update you with his progress as the restoration moves forward, an email a couple of days later included a picture of the chassis back from the shot blasters.

            chassis with replacement out riggers and side rails fresh back from the shot blasters.

Fairthorpe bonnet for sale on Ebay..........

There is currently a Fairthorpe bonnet for sale on Ebay, here is a link to it:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251371366232&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:3160

Fairthorpe Electron Minor Mk1 being auctioned in Austria.

There is a 1959 Mk1 EM being auctioned in Salzburg on Saturday October 19th, this is the ex David Kennedy car which is now sporting a white stripe. Here is a link to the auction website http://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/fairthorpe/electron/1959/193877

 

 

More information can be found on the auction web site and a bit more history on the car can be seen on David`s website here  http://willows-home.blogspot.co.uk/

789 ERO A history in pictures

Now that 789 ERO finally has a coat of paint on it my wife Sarah has put together a montage of pictures which show the car during various stages of it`s life to date. Since it was painted in July of this year I have visited a number of Classic car shows with the car and it will be on the FSCC stand at the NEC Classic Car Show in November. If you are attending the show and would like to look at the car or just chat about Fairthorpes in general pop along to our stand where there should also be another Fairthorpe EM to look at.

Pictures of the week. Twin Cam Twosome.

This weeks pictures were taken in 1986 at the Silverstone 8 Cubs race meeting by a member of the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club. The light blue Mk1 EM is 2421DD and the unpainted Mk2 is 133 JGU, both cars have had their Triumph engines replaced with 1558cc Lotus Twin Cam engines. It was a rush to get both cars to the event and as usual we arrived late meaning that I had to do 2 laps behind the course car during a break to enable me to race the car having not practised in it. A leaky water pump meant the second car did not get a run.

2421 had a five speed box and a Ford back axle, the Twin Cam was race tuned and had come from the back of a Chevron sports racer, as you can imagine it went like the clappers! Unfortunately starting the 2nd lap of the race the oil pressure went and I had to pull off on the exit of Copse corner, but only after showing a clean pair of heels to a 2.8i Capri. An engine strip revealed a broken cam bucket that had distributed itself round the engine. Being short on money meant that the engine came out and was sold following an expensive rebuild, we then fitted a tuned 1600 Ford x flow with twin Webers and then sold the car on. 133 JGU had the Twin Cam removed and a strip revealed badly corroded water ways, probably as due to a lack of Anti freeze during it`s life so that too was sold on. A mildly tuned 1300 xf Ford engine was fitted and the following year it was taken back to the 8 Clubs and I took a 1st place in one of the handicap races, another Fairthorpe coming home in second. The car was later sold and raced by John Watson (not that one!) and it now resides in Japan, does anyone have any pictures of the car taken over there, it was royal blue with a white stripe when last seen over here.

Picture of the week..........Seeing Red!

This picture was taken in the mid 60`s, I think the venue is Snetterton race circuit though If anyone recognises it I would like confirmation. This very period shot shows three Fairthorpe Electron Minors book ended by an Electron at the far end and Willie Simpson`s Electrina nearest the camera. Amongst the Minors is John Allan`s much raced Ford engine car. Red was obviously THE colour to have if you owned a sportscar! Can anyone identify the Electron, either an owner or a registration number?

TX Tripper with 2.5i engine on ebay.

There is a smart looing TX Tripper on ebay at the moment, it is fitted with a TR6 fuel injected engine and has a nice set of Revolution wheels on it. Here is a link to the auction:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TX-TRIPPER-2-5PI-DELUX-TR6-based-kit-car-GT6-/111160873960

Fairthorpe Gathering 2013 report.

 

                                         

               General shot of this years line up of Fairthorpes (picture courtesy of Lauren Colling)

 

This years Fairthorpe Gathering was held at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation at Woodley near Reading on August the 4th and once again we were blessed with dry weather at the event though I gather a couple of the further travelled participants got caught in some heavy rain as they made their way home at the end of the day. A quick tot up before the event brought the prospect of 12 plus cars but on the day 8 Fairthorpes made the trip plus the very well presented Tornado Talisman of Tony Brooks.

                                                   Tornado Talisman of Tony Brooks

 

Although car numbers were down there were a lot of people in attendance, with other Fairthorpe owners past and present looking round the cars and renewing old acquaintances. My own EM 789 ERO finally has a coat of paint on it following several years of use in a combination of gelcoat/filler but it was decided to trail it down as we had a gazebo, Fairthorpe spares, photo albums as well as several platefulls of sandwiches and cakes for those who had talked up an appetite during the day!

                                                                   Gary Julian`s EM2

 

First to arrive was Gary Julian in his Mk2 EM which is hardly surprising as he lives less than 5 miles away, it was great to finally see the car as it has been off the road for several years. Steve and Lauren Colling were the next arrivals in their immaculate Mk2 complete with freshly painted wheels, the change of colour on them certainly suits the car Steve.

 

                                                                       Paul Well`s EM

 

A familiar car with an unfamiliar face was the next to pull in, Paul Wells turned up with his EM, this car was formally owned by Fairthorpe registrar Willie Simpson and was a regular at many club events in years gone by. 

 

                                        Brian Jackson`s Dolomite Sprint engined EM Mk2

 

Others arriving in Fairthorpes were Bob Balding, Brian Jackson and Jenny, Barry Stock in his rare Mk5 EM and final arrival was Richard Holden all the way from Leeds, a total of 201 miles one way! This meant that Barry Stock was denied the furthest travelled award despite having travelled 164 miles from Ammanford in Wales. 

 

Barry Stock`s rare EM5 with hood up in anticipation of the weather he was to go through on his way home to Wales!

 

This year the John Green trophy was being presented by John`s son David Green, himself a Fairthorpe owner he had also bought along his son who was celebrating his birthday and his mother Myrna which meant we had three generations of the Green family at the Fairthorpe event which was a good tribute to John who was works manager at Fairthorpe  and designed the Electron Minor.

 

                              Richard Holden`s very nice EM1, winner of the John Green trophy

 

The recipient of the other award which was for the Best Fairthorpe as voted by those there on the day was Steve Colling, his car looks better every year despite having to spend all it`s time out in the open with only it`s hood and sidescreens on it as there is no garage at Chez Colling.

 

      Steve Colling`s impressive Mk2 EM, winner of the Frank Collins Memorial Trophy

 

There were several very smart cars there on the day and it is getting harder every year to win this award. This year Sarah and I had donated a nice silver plated trophy in memory of my Father Frank Collins who passed away last September, Steve was the first recipient of the Frank Collins memorial Trophy which was presented by Frank`s wife Audrey Collins. Both these trophies will be presented each year at the Gathering and the winners received nice replica trophies which they get to keep. 

 

                                                  Interior detail shot of Bob Baldings EM1

 

Also present were Barry and Honor Gibbs, the club president nursing a bandaged head following a recent operation, former registrar Charles Armstrong Wilson and Des Emery, all former Fairthorpe owners. Also Dave Bumstead, Julian Armstrong, Marcus Bradbury, Alan Cooper, Brian Waters, Alan & Shirley Green and Carl Langridge (current Fairthorpe owners all). Other club members who joined in on the day were Derek Bentley, Anna Hill and Brian Shaw, if I have left anyone out I apologise as there were so many people I talked to on the day.

 

                                   My EM1, built from a kit in 1958 by my father Frank Collins

 

I would like to give special thanks to my wife Sarah for all the effort she put into providing the food consumed by everyone, it is very hard to spend the whole day chatting about cars on an empty stomach!

I hope you all enjoyed the day and that you will all be back for the event in 2014.............Martin

SOLD Fairthorpe on Ebay, great car bargain price.......... SOLD

My Blue Fairthorpe EM is currently on ebay, the listing finishes tomorrow evening (25th) and I have a reserve price that is a lot less than the price that I have the car advertised on here, so if you are looking for a nice Fairthorpe that you can jump in and use now is your chance to own one at a very cheap price. You can find the listing at:- 
 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231033753544?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Please read the listing carefully as the wire wheels are no longer included in the sale as they have been sold to another club member. I will be sorry to see the car go but i have 789 ERO back from the paint shop and am using that now. As readers of this blog will know my father built 789 back in 1958 and would not part with it for love nor money.

Fairthorpe Pathfinder V8 on ebay, now with engine and gearbox fitted.

The Metallic Burgundy Pathfinder V8 is on ebay again, the owner has now fitted a Rover engine and gearbox and due to a health issue has decided to part with it. Here is a link to the sale.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAIRTHORPE-PATHFINDER-V8-RARE-CAR-/190884140455?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:3160

Fairthorpe Gathering August 4th 2013 initial report.

Here is a brief report on this years Fairthorpe Gathering which was held at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation at Woodley Nr Reading.  This was another successful event although Fairthorpe numbers were down on the last couple of years with 8 Fairthorpes taking part plus a `guest` Tornado, last year it was a Tempest, this year it was a very smart Talisman. Despite the smaller number of cars there were more people present this year with several ex Fairthorpe owners and a number of people who are part way through restoring their cars.
The awards this year were taken by Steve Colling with his pristine Mk2 EM who walked away (or should that be drove away!) with the best Fairthorpe award and Richard Holden went home (a very long way home!) with the furthest travelled Fairthorpe award.  Richard came all the way from Leeds,  a total of 201 miles in each direction which meant 5 hours on the road just to get to the meeting. Richard you are a real star, this on top of coming all the way down to the FSCC club stand at this years Silverstone Classic last weekend, he certainly gets around in his immaculate British Racing Green EM.

I will be posting lots of pictures and names will be named in the full report which I will get up on this site in the next few days.
Many thanks to all those that attended yesterday and I trust you will all be back for next years event...........

Weather fine and dry for Tommorrows Fairthorpe Gathering.

Here is a link to the weather in the locality of Tomorrows  Fairthorpe Gathering, with no rain forecast it should be good top down motoring for those who are attending.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/se/reading_forecast_weather.html

Fairthorpe Gathering 2013 This Sunday (4th August)

                                    
                      Barry Stock in his Mk5 Electron Minor leaving last years Gathering


I can`t believe this years Fairthorpe Gathering is here already, this Sunday Fairthorpes from all parts of the country will be heading along to the event at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation.
Full details are in the post below, I have fingers crossed for some dry weather and I will post a link to the local weather shortly.
All owners are welcome with or with out your Fairthorpe and you are also welcome if you just have a passing interest in our cars.

Fairthorpe Gathering now four weeks away.

                                                
                     Four of the fourteen Fairthorpes at last years Gathering

This years Fairthorpe Gathering is now only four weeks away and I`m sure a number of Fairthorpe owners are busy getting their cars ready to join in on the day, there are several cars that have not previously been along to the event that are joining in this year, anyone is welcome even if you are not a Fairthorpe owner.

The Gathering is on August 4th at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation. Here is a link to their website which has directions on how to find the museum.
http://home.comcast.net/~aero51/html/
The gates will be open from 10am, the museum has a cafeteria and those attending the Gathering will be entitled to a complimentary tea or coffee.
Sarah will be supplying the usual selection of cakes/rolls and soft drinks so make sure you make a note on your calendar to come along.
This year there are a pair of VERY nice trophies up for grab, the Frank Collins memorial Trophy for the best Fairthorpe as voted by those present at the event and the John Green Trophy for the furthest travelled Fairthorpe on the day, both trophies will be held for one year and the recipients will receive small replicas trophies to keep. Anyone requiring more information can email me at  kartman.nascar24@btinternet.com ..........Martin

The museum address is:-
Museum of Berkshire Aviation
Mohawk Way
(off The Bader Way)
Woodley
Nr. Reading
Berkshire
RG5 4UE, U.K.

 

Hope to see you there.

Fairthorpe Electron Minor, selling at £4750 ono.

I have had a couple of general inquiries on the Electron Minor HSV 270 but it is still available and my other EM 789 ERO is due back from the paint shop shortly so I have decided to reduce the asking price. 
I am looking for £4750 ono and it comes with a years membership to the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club, buy it now and you will be able to join in with it at this years Fairthorpe Gathering which takes place on the 4th August at the Museum of Berkshire aviation at Woodley nr Reading (RG5 4UE). I can be contacted on  07952 930042 or at kartman.nascar24@btinternet.com

More details on the car and the Gathering can be found further down the page.

1st LHD Fairthorpe Electron Minor Survives!

A recent contact from America has provided pictures of a VERY early Fairthorpe Electron Minor, the car in question is in fact the very first LHD EM produced by the company and it has the original bonnet which was developed from the Atomota front end. This is the first bonnet of this type I have seen apart from the aluminium prototype as fitted to Noreen Bennett`s car which was Electron Minor number one. Noreen`s car survives but lost it`s original Aluminium body a long time ago and has a later fibreglass bonnet on it now. That makes this a very significant `find` as unless someone has another one tucked away it is the only survivor of this original bonnet shape, perhaps only a few were made as my EM 789 ERO was produced 8 months later and does not have the protruding headlamps.

Checking the production records i have told me how significant this car was and also that it was supplied in green gelcoat. Dave tells me it still in green to this day, he purchased the car for the princely sum of $50 in 1980 at a garage sale and that the engine/gearbox were in bits and rusty so were disposed of. He is now about to embark on restoring the Fairthorpe and is thinking of putting a Standard 10 engine back in the car rather than a late model motor now he has become aware of the car`s significance.

I look forward to watching this EM take shape and seeing some more pictures.

Another Electron Minor restoration begins.

There has been a recent flurry of activity with several Fairthorpes being removed from long term storage and the work to return them to the road has been started.
The first of these belongs to Clive Weelen , he has owned the car for 30 odd years paying very little for the car when he purchased it needing a rebuild, Clive is only now in a position to start the restoration and he has made fast progress over the last few weeks. The EM is a 1960 Mk2 with independent rear suspension and the twin vent bonnet and registered 316 PBH, Clive is looking for any history for the car prior to his ownership. Most of the parts seem to be with the car except the pedal assembly, if anyone has a spare set lying around I can put you in touch. The body shell looks reasonably solid but will require a good bit of TLC to return it to it`s former glory whilst the chassis looks to be quite well preserved now that the outriggers have been re welded onto the main chassis.

As you can see the bonnet has been liberated from the hedge it has been living in for a number of years!
Clive will be sending more pictures as he goes along so I will keep you updated on his progress.