Fairley

Fairley

Reg Phillips was the chairman of Fairley Steels, and would build a series of competition cars using the name Fairley (not to be confused with the Farley Special, a Cooper-derived hill climb special, driven by Chris Summers). The first few of these were trials cars, but for 1948 he decided to create a 500. He took an Austin 7 chassis, split the front axle to give independent swing axle suspension and fitted a single cam Norton engine at the front, driving standard Austin transmission. Reg finished 7th in the 1948 British Grand Prix meeting at Silverstone, a significant feat. Later, he converted this car to a Jowett engine.

More Fairleys would follow, notably:
The Fairley-Ford (later Fairley-Mercury) also known as the £80 special (or £70 Special, depending on Reg's mood)
This monstrous car appeared on the hills in 1954, gaining a Mercury engine for 1955 (when it was also driven by a somewhat brave Raymond Baxter)
The Fairley-Climax
Mid-way through 1955, Reg purchased Guy Arengo's Cooper Special, complete with 996cc supercharged JAP engine. At first he just reverted it to standard rear suspension layout, but it was later rebuilt with a Coventry Climax 1500cc engine, mounted transversely and driving through the original motorcycle gearbox.
Further Fairleys would include a Chevron B19 sports racing car, a Chevron B25, a Ferrari 308, TVR, AC3000ME and a series of saloon cars as Reg's hillclimbing career continued.