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This page: A pair of photos showing the Atom, a tiny racing car designed for use at Speedway meetings.

Atom-Car Racing.

I received these two photographs together, which seem to show a prototype race car, designed to be used at motorcycle speedway meetings. Did they actually race? if so, did you attend a meeting where these tiny racers actually competed?

Back to Car & Van Photographs - Page 3.

Atom racing car

The information I have for this picture from 1955 is as follows ..
"The smallest racing car in the world, a prototype of a fleet for racing on British Speedways next year, was demonstrated to-day at Wimbledon Speedway, by Ronnie Moore, the famous speedway rider."

Atom midget racer

The second photograph is a month later than the one shown above, dating to October 1955...
"Midget Racer undergoes trials. Essex: Wimbledon Speedway rider Cyril Brine leans out to see how high the front wheel will lift on a bend during trials of the Atom Car - claimed to be the smallest racing car in the world. Powered by a 500cc JAP speedway engine the car has been built by Wimbledon Speedway controller Ronnie Greene in conjunction with designer Sydney Allard, and it is hoped that speedway fans will be seeing them race in 1956. The little car has a 5ft 4in wheelbase and rear axle offset, to assist speeds on corners. No brakes are fitted and the only controls are clutch and throttle. The picture was taken during trials at an Essex track."

I'd be very interested to find out more about these intriguing little racers, presumably inspired by the TQ (Three Quarter) Midgets that raced for many years in the US. I've had a look around online but can't find any info on the Atom racing car, just references to the modern-day Ariel Atom which is a different beast altogether. Perhaps this racing series never took off, and just the one car was built?? if you can tell me more about this interesting little car, and whether it raced at Speedway meetings in 1956 as intended, please drop me a line via the contact page. More information about racing in the 1950s, can be found in the motor racing collectables pages.

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Old Classic Car (C) R. Jones 2023. Content not to be reproduced elsewhere.

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