R.G.S.

R.G.S.  AUTOMOBILE   COMPONENTS   LTD.

BROOKSIDE GARAGE -  WINKFIELD - WINDSOR - BERKS

Dick Shattocks bought the remains of the original Atalanta company in 1949 and operating from the Brookfield garage was offering a complete rolling chassis by 1952. This was priced at £500 in unassembled form. Dick then got the North East Coast Yacht Building and Engineering Co. Ltd to build the first glass fibre shells for him in early 1953. By October 1953 their advert in Autocar stated that they had already delivered over twenty shells to customers. These early shells were available for wheelbases from 7'6"- 9' and were priced at £112 for the open version.

By early 1954 a hardtop was available and the price of a John Griffiths designed ladder chassis for Ford ten components was now £130 assembled.  

All bodies were supplied in two halves, front and rear, with the hard top as an extra. Two moulds, short and long were used and with the addition of different sized doors, wheelbases from 6' 3" - 11' 6" could be accommodated.

 

By 1958 manufacture of the shells had moved to Precision Reinforced Mouldings Ltd of Rickmansworth, Herts and prices were down to £49 for the short wheelbase open shell and £110 for the long wheelbase saloon.  

Austin Seven based 

Shells were sold in white, buff, or grey but could be colored in black, red, blue, yellow or green for an additional £1.

Dick Shattocks closed the doors for the last time at RGS in 1962 and although the company had been selling fibreglass shells for nine years, only around a handful are thought to have survived including the one below which was built on one of the multi tube chassis and is regularly campaigned by its owner on the club racing circuit.

J.A.G. chassid RGS pictured in the paddock at Silverstone