TVR Sports Saloons ?? RGS Atlanta
Discussion
davepen said:
Astacus said:
Interestingly, GMP Taylor is also listed as driving a Bristol TVR.
Er, he's listed as driving a TVR with the same 1498 engine as above; and that he lived in Bristol.I though most Bristol engines were 2litre.
Sorry, that should read, Bradford-on-Avon, TVR.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!..this is the most interesting thread I have ever read on PH.
Adrian@
We should press-gang Chris into producing a few shells from his moulds and slot them over a Grantura chassis or two (IF I understood correctly that is what Chris has)
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by Adrian@ on Monday 4th August 07:30
oliverb205 said:
You mean this one Rich.
Here's what I know. I bought this photo on ebay just listed as TVR Lea-Francis at Sprint, 1964, driver A. Jelly. It was cheap and I was intrigued. The bonnet certainly appears to be modified Grantura, but the rest of the body looks like Microplas. The registration is a Blackpool one, so I reckoned there could well be a TVR connection. However no one knows anything about it, the TVRCC records have nothing against that registration. But, a couple of years ago I was idley flicking through some old motor sport programmes at my parents and found one from Dyrham Park on 25th July 1964 where one A.B. Jelly competed in a TVR with a 2496cc engine. Another Grantura driver that day was G.P.M. Taylor in a Grantura with a 1494cc engine (B series I assume), who later competed in a "Leafson TVR GT" of 2496cc capacity, I am assuming this is the same car. Needless to say the old man remembers nothing of it - bloody hopeless, eh!
So I have a small lead, and maybe one day I will investigate it seriously. However, my Dad did write down the times, and it was over 6 seconds behind E.W Preston's Grantura II with a 1588cc engine, so it wasn't a very successful conversion. It was also 9 seconds behind R. Fry in a 1964 Ferrari GTO - bet that was interesting to see.
Oliver.
The bonnet is a modified Grantura. The hardtop I think may be a modified RGS, but I would need to see a photo from the rear to be sure.
The reg is Blackpool from 1956. The road wheels are early Austin A40, so the body is mounted on one of the 20 – series 2 chassis.
To quote from Peter Filby,s book :- “Keeping hungry motoring enthusiasts scratching on the factory door did have its headaches, though.
Not everybody was happy with the Sports Saloon's bulbous lines. Mind you, this did not necessarily signify a return to Les Dale's drawing board.
There was another happy bunch of enthusiasts working away across Lancashire under the collective title of Rochdale Motor Panels in Rochdale.
These chaps would sell a great variety of ungainly open glassfibre bodies to 'special' builders. Trevor reasoned that a Rochdale body was
worth trying on the TVR chassis, and, in one fell swoop, TVR Engineering joined the then ever-growing ranks of 'special' manufacturers.
Each customer had his own idea of how his car would out-perform a Ferrari. If it wasn't to be the Ford 10 engine it might be the Austin A40
or the MG 1500 unit.
Somebody tried 2.5-litre Lea Francis power. Throughout 1955 and 1956 all these engines were fitted to the basic TVR chassis, which did itself have one variation. This was with a slightly lighter gauge tube, basically very similar, but incorporating Morris Minor-based
torsion bar rear suspension with an A-bracket locating the differential. All done to please the customer.
No two TVRs were ever the same, for they all left the factory as complete do-it-yourself kits, rolling chassis, or bare chassis frames.
Two varieties of Rochdale body were offered - later four chassis were given bodies by Microplas, another company supplying parts for 'specials'. Each body still had to be chopped and modified to fit, the doors cut out, and often the bonnets as well. Incisions were made with loving care: the company could not afford mistakes. Trevor and Jack would toil on for weeks on end from 8.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m. Instinct assured them that their effort would prove more than worthwhile.”
Oliver you have saved a photo that is very important to early TVR history, well done. Forget photos in books and magazines or by professional photographs we have already seen them. It is the photos taken by the ordinary man in the street when he was at a show or at a race meeting that have lain in a photo album or a box in a cupboard for years and someone has found them and put them on “Flickr” or on “e-Bay” that we need to find, just like Oliver has done.
Also look at any photo from the 1950s, 60s or 70s and look at what is in the background, I have many photos of Rochdale’s that are in the background of photos of other cars.
On this thread we now have 4 photos of different types of bodyshell on a Series 2 TVR chassis. Where and what are the other 16 cars?
Because I would like to know how many have Rochdale bodies on?
Tony Stanton, Compiler of the Rochdale Olympic History Archives.
Edited by TSP3 on Monday 4th August 16:25
Can I add the Elva courier into the pot here, now that chassis get a mention!...what came first? The Elva uses a casting that is as such a TVR item OR is it an Elva item? IMHO, The Elva wishbone design is a more stable design, and seems to well thought through...BUT.
Adrian@
(I do have pictures of the Elva version but they are not mine)
Adrian@
(I do have pictures of the Elva version but they are not mine)
Whilst not a TVR or Rochdale Tom Hardman Classic cars have just sold a 1957 MG engined RGS Atalanta which is very similar to the open version of Trevor's Sports Saloon.
Please see link. (can someone post a photo?).
http://www.tomhardman.co.uk/car.php?id=155
Tom also has a nicely prepared 1800S coming up for sale.
No connection etc.
Rob
RobMk2a said:
Whilst not a TVR or Rochdale Tom Hardman Classic cars have just sold a 1957 MG engined RGS Atalanta which is very similar to the open version of Trevor's Sports Saloon.
Please see link. (can someone post a photo?).
http://www.tomhardman.co.uk/car.php?id=155
Tom also has a nicely prepared 1800S coming up for sale.
No connection etc.
Rob
Please see link. (can someone post a photo?).
http://www.tomhardman.co.uk/car.php?id=155
Tom also has a nicely prepared 1800S coming up for sale.
No connection etc.
Rob
Adrian@
luckycarter said:
Hi Oliver
Yes thats the one, thanks for posting, i thought Tony and others might find it interesting. Im intrigued Tony you refer to the chassis on these cars as second series, if the Grantura chassis is MKvii what came in between. This certainly is becoming an interesting thread.
Hi Rich,Yes thats the one, thanks for posting, i thought Tony and others might find it interesting. Im intrigued Tony you refer to the chassis on these cars as second series, if the Grantura chassis is MKvii what came in between. This certainly is becoming an interesting thread.
I know very little about early TVR,s but I am learning as we go along with this thread.
I called these 20 chassis the second series because I cannot find a designated name for them.
So I decided the first 3 chassis, TVR no 1, 2 and 3 where the first series and the next 20 the second series.
I have been waiting for someone to correct me and disclose the designated name for those 20 chassis and then I will correct my assumption.
Tony Stanton, Compiler of the Rochdale Olympic History Archives.
TSP3 said:
The main bodyshell is a modified Microplas Mistral.
The bonnet is a modified Grantura.
Do not forget, the Grantura bonnet came from the TVR Open Sports which used a Microplas bonnet on front and rear. So I think this is not a modified Grantura bonnet, but another Microplas bonnet.The bonnet is a modified Grantura.
TSP3 said:
I called these 20 chassis the second series because I cannot find a designated name for them. So I decided the first 3 chassis, TVR no 1, 2 and 3 where the first series and the next 20 the second series.
From my view the first 3 Chassis are not a series as they were unique. But the later 20 chassis are according to Peter Filby the same type, I would call them a series. The TVR Sports Saloon was one of them. However no chassis number mentioned anywhere: Peter Filby mentioned 3 Sports Saloon built, one sold to an army officer based in Germany who run the car in Greek as well. I still hope that some day a Sports Saloon will be discovered in a barn... Regarding the plastic body above:
In 2010 there was a special offered from PJS Classic & Race (http://classicandracecars.co.uk/) built in 1957 and offered as "RGS Atalanta", using the same body Trevor Wilkinson used. This special had a J.A.G. chassis designed by a John Griffiths. Unfortunately I have no pictures left.
Some more pics from a Microplas related thread http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/showthread.p..., see a - for me - unknown picture of the TVR Open Sports
and one page 4 another picture of the of the Microplus Mistral Body plan, see here
Edited by Granturadriver on Tuesday 5th August 16:45
Edited by Granturadriver on Tuesday 5th August 16:47
![](http://thumbsnap.com/t/OlvPTaTs.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/sqQ8ImUC" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/t/sqQ8ImUC.jpg)
luckycarter said:
On page 4 of this thread, The Gamekeeper mentions that the body shell of Trevors Sports saloons still exists somewhere near where he is based, i wonder if it has a chassis plate still attached?.
The car still had the number plate on the rear but contrary to what "Rochdale Tony" seems to think ,these early cars had no chassis number, they were all made as one offs and TVR were not really a Motor manufacturer at that point.They made a car, sold it to fund the next one, Lotus were similar.All of these types of car were built by enthusiasts because there were no cars after the war so if you wanted one you had to make it out of what was available. This is why companies like Rochdale, Microplas, Tornado, Turner, Elva and many others were born to supply the demand. It has already been implied that everyone used each others panels in a mix and match kind of way, improvising as required.
Then there were the chassis suppliers like Buckler and of course TVR used to supply just bare chassis to other individuals. Ford specials were another offshoot of this "industry", most using a 90" wheelbase.
It was only really when TVR arrived at the Grantura that the start of a "model" line came about and the need to identify different cars became neccasary so chassis numbers were introduced, before that there were none, just registration numbers, many cars carying the same number,(this was a practice which TVR carried on till the "end", I remember once going to the factory and there were 3 cars parked in front with TVR 100 on!).
As far as the chassis numbers on Grantura Mk1s starting with 7/**/*** I remember asking Jack Pickard why they used 7. he said it was meant to be a "T" but whoever stamped up the chassis plates misread it as a 7.
Tonys "20 series" cars with the wonder of the internet will now be read by regurgitators and soon become fact.
It was all a very long time ago.
sTeVeR
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