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Ransomes Atlas

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Hedley Sun, 09/04/2023

Atlas

This is a Ransomes Atlas I saved last year from a chap in Thornton Cleveleys who makes garden art by cutting up and welding old bits of metalwork. It was pretty rough but has cleaned up nicely. Very similar to the Ajax. No grassbox but the boxes I have with my Ajax's fit. 

 

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wristpin Sun, 09/04/2023

Very smart. No doubt someone knows what parts are common to the Ajax. Regardless of which came first , one wonders why Ransomes saw a need for another so similar machine.

stonethemows Mon, 10/04/2023

One of the basic differences between the Atlas and the Ajax is that the Ajax is gear driven whereas the Atlas is chain drive.  The Ajax preceded the Atlas by a few years and was also concurrent with the Anglia which was presumably a better machine as it was a lot more expensive and available in three sizes.

A theory is that Ransomes introduced the Atlas to compete more directly with Qualcast's Panther. This was introduced slightly ahead of the Ajax and enjoyed similar longevity. In 1939 an Ajax cost £4-19/-, the Panther £2-15/- and the Atlas £3-7-6d. Interestingly there were  a couple of roller machines at the time that were even cheaper than the Panther - Follows and Bate's Falcon and the Presto Rollmo. 

Production of the Atlas does not appear to have resumed after the war, presumably because of a need to rationalise the range and save on materials which were in short supply. The Ajax of course continued and was further developed. Subsequently the Ariel and Astral were introduced which again raises the question of why a number of similar machines was considered appropriate.

 

Clive1997 Tue, 11/04/2023

Very interesting, assume they had high hopes of putting it on the map & continuing to something more than just a Mk1, whereas with the first Ajax didn't even manage a mark No.

I see when the Atlas when launched in 1935 it was priced at (£2-19-10) exactly £1 cheaper than the Ajax at (£3-19-10) & the Panther at that time (£2-7-6).