Fairthorpe

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Fairthorpe was a British manufacturer of automobiles . Some of the models were offered in kit form.

Company history

Fairthorpe Limited was founded by Donald Tyndal "Don" Bennett , a former bomber commander who set up his own airline in Great Britain after World War II . The company began producing automobiles in Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire in 1954 . In 1954 the company moved to Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire, and in 1964 to Denham .

In 1976 production was stopped.

vehicles

atom

The first model was the Atom, a small coupé with a fiberglass body with either two or four seats. A built-in engine from BSA in the rear of the vehicle with either 249 cm³, 348 cm³ or 646 cm³ displacement provided the drive.

Atomota

In 1957 the successor Atomota came on the market with a front engine, also available as a coupé. The car had a hatchback and rear fenders that merged into large tail fins. The two-cylinder engine with 646 cm³ displacement came from the standard and made 35 hp . The Atomota was optionally available as a finished vehicle or as a kit. In 1960 production was stopped. The British automobile journalist Giles Chapman criticized the Atomota as uncomfortable, amateurish and uncompetitive. In retrospect, he counted the car among the "worst vehicles ever sold."

Electron

Fairthorpe Electron Minor (1962)

One vehicle class larger was the Electron, which was available as an open two-seater from 1956 to 1957. Here were four-cylinder engines of Coventry Climax mounted, the cm³ of 1098 capacity 84 to 93 hp, 1220 cc of 85 PS or rendered 110 horsepower from 1960 cc. Fairthorpe took over the suspension from the Triumph TR2 . A total of around 20 vehicles were built. The cheaper version Electron Minor was there from 1957 to 1963. Fairthorpe built around 300 copies of it. The four-cylinder engine from the Standard Ten with 948 cm³ displacement developed between 38 and 45 hp.

Electrina

The Electrina was a parallel model to the Electron. It was a small two-door sedan that was offered from 1960 to 1963. Their motorization corresponded to that of the Electron. Only six copies of the Electrina were made.

EM Mk. III to VI

Between 1963 and 1967 there was the EM Three with 1147 cc and 63 to 67 hp. Its successor, which was sold under the name EM Mk. IV, used a chassis designed by Fairthorpe itself and was powered by a 1296 cc, 75 hp engine from the Triumph Spitfire . The EM Mk. V was the 2 + 2-seater version of the Mk. IV. In 1970, Fairthorpe introduced the EM Mk. VI, the successor to the EM Mk. IV, which was based on a chassis from the Triumph GT6 . Only two vehicles were made by him.

Zeta and Rockette

At times, Fairthorpe also produced six-cylinder models . The only five times produced model Zeta (1959 to 1963) had an engine of the Ford Zephyr with 2553 cm³ displacement and an engine power that was between 90 and 137 hp depending on the version. His successor, sold as Rockette (1962 to 1965), on the other hand, had the 1596 cm³ engine of the Triumph Vitesse , which made 70 hp. It was made in 25 copies.

TX

There was also the Coupé TX between 1965 and 1969 , of which around 50 were made. The prototype TX I from 1965 had a four-cylinder engine, while the series models from 1967 were equipped with a six-cylinder engine, 1998 cm³ displacement and between 95 and 140 hp. The successor was the TX Tripper .

literature

  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader: The great automobile encyclopedia. BLV, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-405-12974-5
  • GN Georgano: cars. Encyclopédie complète. 1885 à nos jours. Courtille, 1975 (French)
  • David Culshaw, Peter Horrobin: The Complete Catalog of British Cars 1895–1975 , Veloce Publishing PLC, Dorchester (1997), ISBN 1-874105-93-6 (English)
  • Steve Hole: AZ of Kit Cars. The definite encyclopaedia of the UK's kit car industry since 1949 , Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2012, ISBN 9781844256778

Web links

Commons : Fairthorpe Cars  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Steve Hole: AZ of Kit Cars. The definite encyclopaedia of the UK's kit car industry since 1949 , Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2012, ISBN 9781844256778 , p. 92.
  2. ↑ Giles Chapman: The worst cars ever sold. The History Press, Stroud 2011, ISBN 978-0-7509-4714-5 , p. 38 f.