The Frazer Nash

"Sure, I know what kind of car that is..." But almost no one ever really does know. It's not a Frazer, as in Kaiser-Frazer or Kaiser Darrin. It's not a Nash, as in Nash, Hudson, or Nash-Healey. It's a Frazer Nash, originally built by Archibald Frazer-Nash and later by the Aldington brothers in Isleworth, London, England. Famous for the "chain-drive" Frazer Nash built in the hundreds between the wars and later for the 85 post-war cars which had great success in racing and rallying in the '50's, the Frazer Nash certainly deserves a place on the Internet! The company Archie later started, Frazer-Nash Research Limited, is now a successful engineering firm in England, but this company has had no connection to the Frazer Nash cars since the late '20's. Frazer Nash Communications Ltd and Frazer-Nash Consultancy Ltd are other UK companies with great names but no relation to the former automobile manufacturer. The manufacturer of the Frazer Nash, AFN Limited, ceased building these cars in 1956, but became very successful as the importer of Porsche to Great Britain. Nearly all the post-war cars still exist and have a well known and interesting history. This site describes the Le Mans Replica, Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Le Mans Coupe and Sebring models.  For more information on the chain-drive and other pre-WWII Frazer Nash cars, please visit the web site of the Frazer Nash Car Club.  The Club also supports the postwar cars and publishes the excellent "Chain Gang Gazette". If you have any information on the postwar cars (any project of AFN after 1946), contact James Trigwell directly.  He is the registrar of the postwar Frazer Nash cars and a trustee of the Frazer Nash Archives. News - 2008 Andrew Blow has a Le Mans Replica "replica", one of the Werner Oswald cars, for sale at his business in Marlborough (UK) - a very attractive car for an entry to the "Frazer Nash experience".  See other photos on the "replicas" page and one for this car. The Frazer Nash Car Club published "Chain Gang Gazette" issue #144 in April - always a great selection of stories, history and technical advice. There was an early February bulletin from the Frazer Nash Car Club postwar registrar: "This year is the 60th anniversary of the Post-War Frazer Nashes, as built by the Aldingtons and designed by Fritz Fiedler. The first public showing was at the Geneva Show in March 1948 and then at Earls Court in October 1948. It would be fun to celebrate this milestone and an obvious opportunity to do this would be at the Silverstone Classic weekend of July 25-27th where the BMW 328s had such an impressive gathering two years ago for their 70th anniversary. If you have not been to Classic Silverstone before, it is a huge race meeting, mainly for Classic cars of the 50s and 60s, but also for pre-war cars and 80s Group C cars. Motion-Works has been contacted (organisers of the club sites for Silverstone) to reserve parking for 15-25 cars. Tickets booked before March 31 are £5-10 less expensive than after that date and £15 cheaper than on-the-day prices. Also, if booked in advance, "buy-one-ticket-get-one-free" tickets are available for those bringing a friend or family member." Contact me or the Frazer Nash Club if this is of interest to you! Click for a Silverstone 2008 advertisement. News - 2007 In mid-September, we learned that the first post-war Frazer Nash, a High Speed (forerunner of the Le Mans Replica) is for sale at Hall & Hall.  We also received photos from Robert van Wegen, racing his Le Mans Replica "replica" at Speed on the Tweed in Australia. The Frazer Nash Club's publication, the "Chain Gang Gazette", issue No. 142 arrived in mid-August.  In addition to a great centerfold photo of Archie Frazer-Nash in "Akela" (a GN) for the Centenary of Brooklands, the "Post War Patter" column reported that 75 of the 84 post-war cars are accounted for.  46 are owned by members of the FNCC, so if you are one of the 29 holdouts, please join up! The June issue of "Thoroughbred and Classic Cars" (UK) had a great article on Mille Miglia S/N 421/100/166 in which author Glen Waddington states: "The Frazer Nash is fantastic fun to drive from the word go".  I agree strongly and highly recommend this article! In February and March, we received great information on Frazer Nash cars and owners from Tom Householder, James Harrington (a former Isleworth resident) and William HP Meredith, a former AFN employee.  Look for their stories in April on the website pages about the AFN "factory" and the Frazer Nash owners and drivers. Mille Miglia 421/100/163 has been restored to its original glossy black glory by owner James Trigwell and is expected to be fully licensed during March.  Here is an early photo on a scenic lane.   Mr. Trigwell also sent me a short product of his research on Mille Miglia 421/100/168 from Autosport, July 11, 1952 edition ("...no doubt written as a press release by Bill Aldington..."):  “J.Stuart Donaldson, owner of the Sebring 12 Hours Race-winning “Replica” Frazer-Nash, has ordered a Mille Miglia model as well. Car left these shores on 8th July on the Queen Mary.” New Zealand's "Classic Car" magazine gave a fifth place award to this same car in their "2006 Classic Car of the Year" feature.  See all ten cars on pages 28-29 of the January 2007 issue.  Total points awarded were 487.4, which was .4 points shy of fourth place. The car below is this Frazer Nash Mille Miglia, at Arthur's Pass, New Zealand, February 20, 2005. Our trip with the "Frazer Nash Raid to New Zealand" included 1200 miles of driving on the South Island. Many thanks to Barry Leitch, Leitch Motorsports and Restoration, and the the Raid organizers. Here is the story, with photos, and many more Raid photos are posted here. Although there is no competition history for this car, it is well-traveled, from England on the Queen Mary to New York, later to Florida, then Hawaii.  Much later to California, then Arizona and finally back through California to New Zealand! We believe it's been further south than any Frazer Nash when it went to Slope Point in November 2005, the southernmost point of New Zealand South Island. For older news of Frazer Nash cars and a history of this website, visit the "Frazer Nash News" page. The data on the ninety Frazer Nash postwar projects show that all have a known location or disposition except the following four cars: Spyder (421/E2, engine 1056), body by Touring of Milan, show car at Geneva in 1948, first owner was the Shah of Iran. Le Mans Replica (421/100/109, engine FNS 1/11), first owned by Count "Johnny" Lurani, raced extensively by Franco Cortese, won Targa Florio in 1951. Rebodied with Fiat 8V type coupe body by Riva. Le Mans Replica (421/100/160, engine FNS 1/37), 1952 Sebring winner. Targa Florio (421/200/169, engine FNS 1/41), original owner was Errol Flynn. Today! Send me anything you may know about the remaining "missing" cars and I'll put you in touch with the Frazer Nash Archives or send an email to James Trigwell directly. Your help is appreciated! Thanks for visiting and your patience with the development of this site - web page updates compete with projects in semi-retirement: a consulting business, other car hobbies, and typical activities in (mostly) sunny Southern California! If you're interested in the Frazer Nash, please send me a message! Bob Schmitt Burbank, California (The authors and owners of all material on this web site retain all their rights to their material.)  Please click on the link below for a Table of Contents to this web site.  It lists the other pages about the Frazer Nash cars and publications. Click on the link to send me e-mail or send mail directly to bsbrbank@pacbell.net The Frazer Nash - USA Table of Contents This page was last updated on April 28, 2008 We're now using the new URL and are hosted by DTE.Net. (Note:  Segments of this Frazer Nash site were originally split between different subdirectories and ISPs.  Unification to this URL was completed in March, 2001.)

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