The Atalanta was an English

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

manufactured from 1937 until 1939 by Atalanta Motors Ltd in Staines, Middlesex. Two models were made.

History

The 1937 car used Albert Gough's somewhat erratic 4-cylinder overhead-cam 1496 cc 78 bhp and 1996 cc 98 bhp engines with three valves and two spark plugs per cylinder which had been previously fitted to some

Frazer Nash Frazer Nash was a brand of British sports car manufactured from 1922 first by Frazer Nash Limited founded by engineer Archibald Frazer-Nash. On its financial collapse in 1927 a new company, AFN Limited, was incorporated. Control of AFN passed ...

es where Gough had worked. An Arnott supercharged version was also available. Three or four-speed gearboxes were offered. The car had a tubular steel chassis and all round independent suspension using coil springs. Two-seat open sports and two-seat drophead coupé bodies built by Abbott were available. From 1938 the car could be had with a 4·3-litre V-12

Lincoln-Zephyr The Lincoln-Zephyr is a line of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars that was produced by the Lincoln Motor Company, Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company, Ford from 1936 until 1942. Bridging the gap between the De Luxe Ford, Ford V8 DeLuxe and the Li ...

engine giving 112 bhp which proved to be the more popular. The car had a 3-speed gearbox. A four-seat version on a slightly longer chassis was made as well as the two-seaters. A 1496cc version raced in the 1938 Le Mans 24 hour race driven by Charles Morrison & Neil Watson (one of the company founders). The car retired with a broken driveshaft. The cars were very expensive and the outbreak of war stopped production after only about 20 cars were made. The company continued in existence making pumps and becoming Atalanta Engineering Ltd.

RGS Atalanta

Richard Gaylard Shattock revived the name after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with the RGS Atalanta, offering complete cars with fiberglass bodywork or parts kits until 1958.

Lea-Francis Lea-Francis was a British motor manufacturing company that began by building bicycles. History Richard Henry Lea, R. H. Lea and Graham Francis, G. I. Francis started the business in Coventry in 1895. They branched out into car manufacturing i ...

, Ford and

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

engines were used, at least 1 car was equipped with an Aston Martin DB2/4 2.6 L or 3 L triple SU H6 carburettor engine. Gaisbergrennen 2013 078

In the late 1930s there was also an open sports version of the Atalanta, with a huge 7L American side-valve engine and an 8- position, gated gear change. Also a smaller-engined open sports version using an OHV engine with a blower.

Other cars with the Atalanta name

There was another unconnected

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

company based in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, London which built a few 9 hp four-cylinder cars from 1916 to 1917. Atalanta was a name also used on a car made by the rather mysterious Owen of London, England in about 1910. This company existed between 1899 and 1935 but seems to have made very few if any cars.

was also a sports-tourer version of the 20/25 hp

Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...

line, sold between 1936 and 1938.Bill Smith: Armstrong Siddeley Motors; Veloce, Dorchester UK, 2006, pp.343-344 A new sports car manufactured by Atalanta Motors Ltd of Staffordshire was shown in 2012 and at the 2014 Hampton Court Palace Concours d'Elegance.

External links

Photographs and cutaway drawings of the cars

References

{{reflist, 2 Sports cars Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1937 Cars introduced in 1937 Cars discontinued in 1939

History

RGS Atalanta

Other cars with the Atalanta name

See also

External links

References