Picture of the week: now that's what I call a wedding present!

This Fairthorpe EM is owned by FSCC member Gary Julian. It was bought for him in 1986 as a wedding present from his wife-to-be - he suggests it may have been to keep him in the garage and out of the pub!

The car was first supplied as a kit in 1962 to two brothers and apparently it took them a couple of years to build it as it is registered on a `C` plate. By the time Gary became the owner the car required plenty of TLC. As it was pretty bashed about, he changed the bonnet from the original Electron style one with an opening hatch to a mkII twin vent. That's one of the good points of owning a Fairthorpe Electron Minor - six different bonnet shapes were produced over the years and they can all be adapted to fit any EM. The engine in the car is a Triumph Herald 1147cc engine with twin SU carbs.

Gary will be bringing the car along to the Fairthorpe Gathering on the 15th of August at Stow Maries WW1 airfield in Essex so if you want to take a look at it closer make sure you don't miss the event.

Picture of the week - if you go down to the woods today...

Well actually, if you did go down to the woods today you would be 25 years too late as I found and removed these Fairthorpe EM1 remains from behind a garage in Essex around 1985. I'd had a tip-off that they were there and my source told me the rest of the car had been scrapped.

The rescued panels were in very poor shape, but it just goes to show what may still be lying around. A 1950s fibreglass Ashley was recently discovered lying down the side of a riverbank, where it had lain for many years half in and half out of the water.

You never know what might turn up and where so keep your eyes and ears open!

Picture of the week - Silverstone meeting in 1959

This week's picture is of Frank at the wheel of 789 ERO at Silverstone during the Mid Kent Motor club meeting on May 9th 1959. The car chasing him is a rare Berkeley B105 driven by Ian Mantle.

The picture was taken at Copse corner, which looks a lot different nowadays!

Picture of the week: Fairthorpe Electron Minor kit components

The two images show the components for an Electron Minor kit (minus the bodywork) which was photographed around 1958. All components were new and just required assembly by the amateur constructor, thereby saving purchase tax. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that the rear axle has not had its Fairthorpe trailing arm suspension brackets welded on at this point, meaning the axle is as supplied from the Standard Motor Company.

Picture of the week - Atom Convertible and early Electron chassis

According to my records, this picture was taken around 1957 in Chalfont St Peter outside the Fairthorpe works and features an Atom Convertible in the background with an early Electron chassis in the foreground.

The Atom Convertible is either a MkII or MkIII model and will have had either a 348cc or 645cc BSA motorbike engine. The gearbox was an Albion and the car was chain-driven.

The Electron chassis has been fitted with a Coventry Climax 1098cc engine and Triumph TR suspension and steering. Normally the petrol tank sits inside the boot; this one however has the fuel tank under the chassis which may indicate it is a very early car.

Fairthorpe picture of the week

From now on I'll be publishing a Fairthorpe picture of the week taken from my extensive file of images that I've been collecting. They won't all be of Electron Minors though - there will be Electrons, Zetas, Rockettes, Atoms, Atomota, Electrinas, Trippers, TXs and Pathfinders.

So what is the image this week?

It's 789 ERO taken in August 1959 in the South of France during my parent's honeymoon. Despite being uncommon at that time, Frank and Audrey were amazed to see another Fairthorpe Electron Minor coming the other way on an isolated coast road! Note the lack of indictors on the other car - these were an optional extra in an Fairthorpe Electron Minor kit back then, as were a second windscreen wiper and fibreglass floor pan on the passenger side instead of the very basic wood pan provided!

The registration of the other car is UCG 664 - I wonder what happened to it and where it is now? Any ideas?

If you have any photos of Fairthorpes, feel free to send them across to me in an email and I'll select the best ones for publishing.