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.

 

 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.

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

 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.