Tuesday 12 March 2024

Fairthorpe Zeta Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit Track Day.

 11th March was the first Trackday of 2024 for the Fairthorpe Zeta, the event was an MG`s On Track run day on the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. I last drove round Silverstone in anger in 1987, that was on the old club circuit with the proper Woodcote corner, i was competing in a 10 lap Handicap race in the Electron Minor i was running at the time which had a 1300cc Ford Crosflow engine in it. There were two Fairthorpes in the race and i am pleased to say we placed 1st and 2nd with me leading home a hard charging Jake Dodd in his HSCC RoadSports EM know by many as the `Yellow Peril`. 

This was to be my third Trackday in the Zeta having done Cadwell Park and Donington Park last year, luckily for all those competing the rain held off but the circuit was wet and greasy from the previous day`s rain and it did not start to dry properly till after the lunch break. I am pleased to say we didn`t get passed by any other cars in the three morning sessions which added up to an hour on track, i did however find the limit of the available grip in the wettest first session with a quick spin at Copse corner which meant having to re pass a couple of cars that had already been dispatched once! In the afternoon sessions i was passed by a modern MG ZS 180 which had been uprated to 192bhp and had vented brake discs on along with it`s modern suspension and wider tyres etc. I spent one session having some chase each other laps with a race prepped MGA which had a similar power output to the Zeta, first i passed him then he passed me, there didn`t seem to be much between the cars and only slower cars made the gap open and close as there is no overtaking under braking or in corners on a Trackday. All others i came across were no match and luckily i captured it all on my GoPro so some of it will get uploaded to Youtube including my spin! Here are a few pictures taken by the professional photographer on the day, next event is at Cadwell Park in six weeks time.






Friday 6 October 2023


Since the last post the Zeta has been down to the Le Mans Classic which included Two laps round the full Le Mans circuit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7RmQ7aQog8

Taken part in a Cadwell Park Trackday.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ewWi2rCcEE&t=83s  (part 1) and

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSbXY2bFvRM (part 2)

And most recently a Trackday at Donington.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb2c8_l8uPc (1st damp session) and a later dry session at 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQo3Ce9-VGY&t=612s

Here are a few more pictures of the Zeta at this years events.




                                All the above pictures were taken at the Le Mans Classic 2023









The above set were all taken at the Donington Park Trackday in October organised by MG`s On track, the Zeta took part in five 20 minute sessions and was only passed by one car in that time. As you can see from the Youtube videos the car passed plenty of other cars in the mixed conditions. It became a struggle at times to complete the restoration but it was well worth it. The car will be on the Fairthorpe Sports Car Club stand at the NEC Classic Car show in November and i look forward to maybe five or six Trackdays with the Zeta in 2024.


 

Sunday 21 May 2023

 Today was a milestone for me and the restored Fairthorpe Zeta, it was the first Classic car show i have driven the car to, it has been to a few before on the trailer but now it is back on the road it felt great to drive it there even if it was only ten miles away. Over the last couple of days i have driven if for over two hours, having only put 15 minutes in before when i test drove it for the first time i am pleased that so far there appear to be no issues. I am looking forward to driving it down to the Oxford Bus Museum on June the 4th for this years Fairthorpe Gathering, why not pop along and take a look all are welcome, hopefully we will have around ten Fairthorpes attending.






Saturday 6 May 2023

The Zeta returns.

 





At 7.15pm on Friday 28th April 2023 Fairthorpe Zeta 777 PPD returned to the road for the first time in 34 years following a protracted restoration which started Eleven years ago. There were times when i thought i might not ever get it finished due to the large amount of frustration caused by numerous problems along the way but i finally got it completed and have to say it was well worth the effort! The video proof of that first drive is now up on Youtube for posterity and the only niggles left to iron out are a malfunctioning Rev counter and a `blinking` indicator issue, other than that it drives really nicely. The following two days were spent at the Donington Historic Festival to which the car was trailered as mileage was very limited on the Friday evening but the Zeta took part in the Sunday Car clubs `parade` round the race track. This ended up being two laps at varying speeds, we did get some gaps open up which allowed me to use the throttle to good effect. The car sounds REALLY great with a nice throaty growl but not too loud so it should satisfy the noise test at the planned track days this year, acceleration is also very quick with a lot of torque in a light car like this. I am looking forward to exploring the performance more in the coming months at Le Mans during the track session before the Le Mans Classic and at a couple of track days and Sprints planned for this year.  I will post more about those in the coming weeks so make sure and check back. Here is a link to the Youtube video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooaTghuEEM0

Sunday 2 April 2023

 It`s been a long time since i did my last post on here so i thought i would post an update on progress. Following various setbacks over the last few years the Zeta is finally nearing the end of it`s rebuild, it should be on the road in the next couple of weeks. I am working flat out to get the car ready to drive to the Donington Historic Festival on the last weekend of April. A new set of tyres and the tracking will be done this week, it is also booked in for a session on a rolling road to give the carbs a final set up in a couple of weeks time, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting close now. I no longer have to push the car in and out of the workshop, it is also more fun to drive it in and out. Here are a few up to date pictures.





Saturday 22 February 2020

Zeta restoration recommences.............


I can`t believe seven years have passed since my last post on here, in the intervening years i have moved house and spent most of my car working time on the Fairthorpe Electron Minor which my father Frank built in 1958. That is now repainted in it`s original colours and i have built up and fitted a nicely tuned 1296cc Triumph Herald small crank engine, the car has been down to the Le Mans Classic twice and taken part in a couple of AutoSolos and a track day at Cadwell Park. My fathers car is very original  and i do not want to cut the bodywork to fit a roll bar but my competitive spirit has been reawakened and the Zeta will be built up to be used on track days as well as on the road. I restarted work on the car late last year and have had a custom made roll bar fitted and work is now taking place on the dashboard area of the bulkhead and on building the 2553cc Ford Zepher engine up. Here are a couple of pictures as an update, more will be added over the next couple of months so check back to see how the car is progressing.


                                                     Gotta love a freshly painted engine!
                               

Monday 15 April 2013

Online magazine article features Zeta 777 PPD


777 PPD has been featured in a new online Classic car magazine called Classic Sports Car and Special. At the moment it is only available to view on Ipads, it is hoped to make it viewable in windows format for PC`s in the future. Below is the link for the magazine, You can get to it on an Ipad by going to the website at www.ClassicSportsCarandSpecial.com