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Origins
Atalanta Motors of Staines built perhaps twenty cars between 1937 and 1939, and the specification explains the reverence: independent suspension on all four wheels by coil springs — near-unique in British production — hydraulic brakes, lightweight alloy construction, and engines from a twin-cam Albert Gough four to the remarkable option of a 4.3-litre Lincoln Zephyr V12, all in rakish sports bodywork. It was engineering ambition entirely unmatched by capital, and war ended the venture before reputation could compound. Survivors became connoisseurs' treasures, and in 2012 a sympathetic revival began building continuation cars in period spirit. The original Atalanta stands among Britain's great might-have-beens — a car built to Grand Prix ideas for road use, by a company history barely had time to notice.
MHV Atalanta V-12 4.3 litre 1939 02 · Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain
