Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
Sunbar ◊ 2007-12-30 14:44	The completely built car (seen from the front) at the back of the scene. Identified here www.drivepast.com/Octane.pdf as a Fairthorpe Atom. Although I remember the model from the past I cannot confirm it with an actual picture after searching via Google. A rare make and model from the 1950s. -- Last edit: 2009-01-05 13:59:04
garco ◊ 2007-12-31 11:51	If you have already searched, I guess you have find this? http://www.microcar.org/carspecs/fairthorpe-atom.html
Sunbar ◊ 2007-12-31 12:21	Yes, I have far too many doubts about that picture to believe its accuracy. Without some other confirmation it looks very strange to me.
DynaMike ◊ 2007-12-31 12:32	I wonder if this wouldn't be something Italian... Of course the cars on the assembly line are Sunbeams, but the text on the shield in the back is Italian (something like 'Linea di Montaggio Vettura' = car assembly line). I guess there has been a Sunbeam assembly plant in Italy, to avoid high import taxes.
johnfromstaffs ◊ 2008-01-14 21:32	Almost certainly a Fairthorpe Atom. Don't be taken in by the Italian notice, the story in the film involves the Fairthorpe as an Italian prototype. See picture top of page 39 of "the Automobile" for Nov 2007, it's amazing what you can find in books!
Sunbar ◊ 2008-01-14 22:05	Fairthorpe cars were made at Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire close to Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath Buckinghamshire so there looks to be a possible connection there. The assembly line I guess is Rootes at Ryton near Coventry, currently due to close after building the Peugeot 206. Atom I guess is right.
garco ◊ 2008-01-14 22:09	Origin is?
DynaMike ◊ 2008-01-14 22:31	GB, as Sunbar pointed out
Gag Halfrunt ◊ 2008-01-14 23:25	Didn't Ryton close last year?
Alexander ◊ 2008-01-14 23:37	... and now we know what Atom's nickname stands for ...
antp ◊ 2008-01-14 23:38	There other makes which made "Atom" cars /vehicles_make-_model-Atom.html -- Last edit: 2008-01-14 23:39:18
atom ◊ 2008-01-14 23:44	Hehe, it's from a old Swedish punk song This Farthope looks really interesting btw! I want one! -- Last edit: 2008-01-14 23:44:32
chris40 ◊ 2008-01-15 09:43	atom, that's one of the better - and more appropriate - spelling mistakes I've seen on IMCDb. You'd find one quite hard to come by, though ... http://www.motorbase.com/manufacturer/by-id/36
DynaMike ◊ 2008-01-15 11:17
Alexander ◊ 2008-01-15 11:30
Sunbar ◊ 2009-01-05 13:56	Source: http://minutia-microcarsminicars.blogspot.com/2008/10/fairthorpe-atom-microcar-that-would.html
dsl ◊ 2011-10-30 22:50	If this is Ryton in 1955-6, you might ask what an Atom is doing there, or what the white car next to it is. Can't answer the 2nd question (any guesses??) but 1955-6 was about the time when Rootes produced "the Slug" prototype which became the Apex which became the mighty Imp - http://www.rootes-chrysler.co.uk/proto-imp.html . Part of the process involved getting hold of every microcar they could find to see what they were like, such as 2CV, Fiat 500, Goggomobil etc - my guess is that the Atom was part of this research.
dsl ◊ 2011-10-31 12:21	PS. My first reaction was that it might be the Slug itself, but headlamps were set further inwards in a more rounded front.
Sunbar ◊ 2011-10-31 12:49	dsl wrote ... Part of the process involved getting hold of every microcar they could find to see what they were like, such as 2CV, Fiat 500, Goggomobil etc - my guess is that the Atom was part of this research. I agree possibly an Atom being evaluated for development ideas if the date is right. Ryton is not the only possible location. "Rapier bodies were built by Pressed Steel, shipped to Thrupp & Maberly in north London where they were painted and trimmed, then shipped again to the Rootes assembly plant at Ryton-on-Dunsmore near Coventry where the engines, transmission and running gear were fitted. This complex situation persisted until late 1963 when the Series IV was introduced." Wikipedia
Sunbar ◊ 2011-10-31 13:14	Found 'Checkpoint' the 1956 movie on Youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IrDtowZWCE and rerunning the first scene more Atom bodies are seen I think. edit: more added.. So the location possibly had connections with Atom assembly. edit (2) The probability is that Thrupp & Maberly in north London was the location as the Rapier bodies were without rear windows but painted so perhaps they were also contracted to assemble some Fairthorpe Atoms. I don't know how many Atoms were made but export to the USA was part of the plan. -- Last edit: 2011-10-31 13:53:11
dsl ◊ 2011-10-31 14:23	Sunbar wrote I don't know how many Atoms were made but export to the USA was part of the plan. Supposedly 44 Atoms - http://www.motorbase.com/manufacturer/by-id/36 . One of history's great "If Only" moments - the Beetle would have died on its feet, VW would have disappeared, and ingo would be driving round in NSU K70s. Another IO moment was on the bridge of the Titanic on its maiden voyage steaming out of Southampton. The captain said "Which way shall we go then - North or South?" and flipped a coin. Still puzzled by these locations. Pressed Steel (Cowley) makes no sense for a fibreglass Atom, Ryton seems irrelevant, so by default leaves Thrupp & Maberley, and the state of the Rapiers matches (cross-reference to /vehicle.php?id=434972 ). But why would part-built Rapiers and Atoms still occur together - Atoms were supposed to come from Chalfont St Peters in Bucks, not T&M in London?
Sunbar ◊ 2011-10-31 14:36	Could be that Rank who made the film borrowed about 4 cars for set dressing as they are used in close-ups, if there was no direct Rootes-Thrupp & Maberley connection. But as 4 cars would be 10% of total production is it even possible? edit: But with movie editing 2 cars is possible and more likely perhaps. Product placement? "What's that good looking coupe? I must have one!" -- Last edit: 2011-10-31 14:55:04
Ingo ◊ 2011-10-31 23:36	dsl wrote and ingo would be driving round in NSU K70s. The inox-bumpers and the engine compartment-lighting would be fine, but not the vertical divided cylinderhead.
dsl ◊ 2011-11-23 18:15	Some more info on factory: 1] DVD review in Classic and Sportscar (UK magazine) July 2011 issue, page 56. Says Ermini factory scenes filmed at Fairthorpe in Chalfont St Peters, but ...... 2] Corrections letter in Classic and Sportscar December 2011 issue, page 38 (winner of their "Pedant of the Month" prize of a C&SC baseball cap) says it was not Fairthorpe premises which were "much smaller, single storey and little more than a large workshop" ... "how do I know? In the 70s I worked in the Chalfont factory, by then under different ownership". His suggestion is that Ralph Thomas borrowed the unpainted bodies and filled "a larger two-storey building with them". So seems we're back to Thrupp & Maberley?? -- Last edit: 2011-11-23 19:07:40
Sunbar ◊ 2011-11-23 18:30	The scene in the movie shows a large factory building and the Sunbeam bodies on the production line with over-head walkways plus the Fairthorpe car in the distance. Thrupp & Maberley almost certainly. Its also likely parts of the scene used offices from another location for the robbery, and studio sets for the explosion inside the factory with two Fairthorpes visible in close-up. Nothing to suggest a smaller single story building like the Fairthorpe premises. -- Last edit: 2011-11-23 18:36:45
Sunbar ◊ 2011-11-23 19:55	dsl wrote ... or what the white car next to it is. Can't answer the 2nd question (any guesses??).... I am guessing the second car is also an Atom. Compare the side view here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrscharroo/6126435173/in/pool-1166142@N25 Wheelarch chrome trim and A pillar all match.
javel ◊ 2013-03-04 12:04	The white car sideways on to the camera, at back, is an austin A30 or A35

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1954 Fairthorpe Atom

1954 Fairthorpe Atom in Checkpoint, Movie, 1956

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