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Title
Rochdale Olympics
Medium
steel plate
Measurements
H 124 x W 325 x D 1400 cm
Accession number
OL16_PRJ_S016
Acquisition method
commissioned by Rochdale Development Agency
Work type
Sculpture
Owner
Rochdale Borough Council
Custodian
Rochdale Borough Council
Work status
extant
Unveiling date
21st July 2002
Access
at all times
Inscription description
left wheel trim: THE ROCHDALE OLYMPICS / a sculpture created by / ADRAIN MOAKES / to celebrate the revolutionary / Rochdale Olympic sports car of the 1960s / in memory of its innovative design engineer / Richard Parker / Officially opened by / Frank Butterworth, Harry Smith / and Hilary Parker / on 21 July 2002 / www.adrianmaokes.com / PUBLIC SCULPTURE WORKS; right wheel trim: THE ROCHDALE OLYMPIC / was the world’s first single moulded glassfibre / monocoque car, an innovative concept by Harry Smith, Frank Butterworth and Richard Parker, patented by Rochdale / Motor Panels in 1959. With a national reputation for making / aluminium sports car bodyshells, they became one of the first UK / firms to use glassfibre for the popular Rochdale GT of 1957. To meet / demand, on sunny days, bodyshells were lined up in the street to cure. The / success enable Frank & Harry to develop their idea for a monocoque car / - chassis and body combined as one. Cambridge engineering undergraduate / Richard Parker was invited to apply his design skills & produce a prototype. / After 30,000 miles of testing over the roughest Pennine tracks, the / Rochdale Olympic was released in October 1960. The press raved about / the car “a fast, civilized, smooth-riding, really outstanding British grand / tourer”, “the very first & best loved kit car of them all”, “an admiring / audience collects whenever a bright red Olympic appears.” / 400 were sold from 1960-73 in ‘quick-build’ form. About 165 are / running today supported by the Rochdale Owners Club. / A brilliant free thinker, Richard Parker went on to invent / the original ‘Ski-Jet’ & innovative water jet engine / for powerboats, pontoons & lifeboats.
