Topic: Solved NIC#699 - 1951 Atalanta 30hp

[galrot]

HRG?

[nicanary]

Is it by a recognised coachbuilder, and if so will it help to identify which? It has a little of Westland about it to my eye.

I don't know who bodied the car, only the name of the base car.

[nicanary]

HRG?

No.

[galrot]

Was the make active both before and after ww2?

[nicanary]

Was the make active both before and after ww2?

The company existed only for a short time pre-WW2, but the name was adopted in the 1950s for another different car and again in recent years for a recreation of the original car.

[Allan L]

That timeline almost fits Atalanta, if Dick Shattock's RGS-Atalanta which did start with an Atalanta chassis is the 1950s job.

[nicanary]

That timeline almost fits Atalanta, if Dick Shattock's RGS-Atalanta which did start with an Atalanta chassis is the 1950s job.

Yes indeed. I realised I'd probably provided too much information! It is an old advert from the 1950s for what was described as a 1951 Atalanta 30hp. The body could well be by Abbott but I can't say for sure, and it doesn't look like any of the styles offered by Atalanta at the time that I have ever seen. The "30hp" part isn't particularly helpful - I presume that it refers to the RAC rating which was used for taxation purposes, rather than the actual output of the engine. Maybe it's a Gough, maybe not.

Well solved Allan L.

PS I'm not convinced by the "1951" either. It could be a pre-war car rebodied and re-registered in 1951, or a Shattock chassis privately bodied. Anyone have an Atalanta chassis register?

[Allan L]

Well we still used RAC h.p. in the 1950s when referring to engine size although vehicle taxation no longer depended on it. e.g. Lea-Francis 14 and 18 h.p. saloons, Alvis TA14 and TC21, Morris 10 etc.
The Gough engine was a 1½ litre and (I think) 69mm × 100mm so 11.9 RAC hp but 78 b.h.p. The 4.3 litre V12 Lincoln Zephyr engine used by Atalanta (and Brough Superior and Allard) would have been more than 30 RAC h.p. I think, but I can't find its dimensions.

[nicanary]

Well we still used RAC h.p. in the 1950s when referring to engine size although vehicle taxation no longer depended on it. e.g. Lea-Francis 14 and 18 h.p. saloons, Alvis TA14 and TC21, Morris 10 etc.
The Gough engine was a 1½ litre and (I think) 69mm × 100mm so 11.9 RAC hp but 78 b.h.p. The 4.3 litre V12 Lincoln Zephyr engine used by Atalanta (and Brough Superior and Allard) would have been more than 30 RAC h.p. I think, but I can't find its dimensions.

Thanks for the info. For some reason I have it in my head that the Ford flathead (3.6 litre) was rated at 30hp and did wonder whether that was the motive power for this car.  That's the problem with posting puzzles you don't know much about - it's so difficult to find new ones that I go a bit overboard with enthusiasm when I come across something that might baffle people!