Topic: Solved TGF-97: RGS-Atalanta Lea-Francis engined, 1959

[targhediferro]

Identify this car and you'll score a point.

[targhediferro]

Up.

[nicanary]

It's an RGS Atalanta. You've changed the colour - the unrestored car is red.

[targhediferro]

Yes it is! Can you add what kind of RGS-Atalanta it is? Locked for 24 hours.

[nicanary]

It's a Lea-Francis engined car, although when it was for sale in 2009 it came with an optional 3.4 Jaguar engine.

( I saw this actual car in 1990 in the workshops of Prowess Racing at Windlesham, Surrey. I say IN but the remains were partially covered by a tarpaulin in the car park area. Hugo Spowers seemed very casual about what he was going to do with it. He also had the parts for the Frank Gardner Jaguar XK120 behind the workshop, just lying out in the open.(!!))

[targhediferro]

That's it! The body is very similar to TVR bodied RGS-Atalanta, in the front, while the back is a bit more different. I don't know if this car has modified TVR body or an original one: is there someone who can rubber my doubt?
A point for Nicanary.

[nicanary]

That's it! The body is very similar to TVR bodied RGS-Atalanta, in the front, while the back is a bit more different. I don't know if this car has modified TVR body or an original one: is there someone who can rubber my doubt?
A point for Nicanary.

The history of the RGS Atalanta make is a bit vague on this. The puzzle car was registered in 1957 to a Mr Petty - it was the 5th RGS Atalanta but was a rebuilt car first constructed by Richard Shattocks in 1944  and registered MMX343. The whole rebuild resulted in what was effectively a new car, and it was re-registered  SHO664.

Trevor Wilkinson of TVR was fitting RGS Atalanta bodies to his chassis in 1953, but I believe these were alloy, and TVR later built GRP bodies when the Grantura went into production. So I believe that the car you are thinking about is a TVR chassis with a RGS body. It appears that Dick Shattocks built chassis and bodies to order, and kept very vague records.

The information I have all comes from a Coys Auction entry in 2009.