News - 2006
Aften making a second trip to New Zealand in November 2005 to "exercise" the Frazer Nash, 2006 is planned to be a restful year. We learned that the Frazer Nash Section of the VSCC would become an independent club, as mentioned on the main web page.
"Motor Klassik", a German magazine, requested historic photos for a planned Frazer Nash article. It would feature a spectacular Mille Miglia which resides in Germany.
News - 2005
The Frazer Nash Section of the VSCC Raid to New Zealand was a grand success! I'll need to consult the Raid documentation and photos to count the cars and participants, but first reports stated 32 started, with at least 2 "raiders" to each car. The group left Auckland on February 10, just the day before we arrived. They toured the North Island, crossing over to Picton on the South Island on February 15. We would "catch up" on February 18.
It was a personal milestone, as my car was on the road again and joined the Raid in Christchurch, after 29 years of inoperative ownership! The photo below is the 1952 Frazer Nash Mille Miglia, at Arthur's Pass, New Zealand, February 20. Our trip 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.
Great news from New Zealand and Honolulu! Robert Yung called from Honolulu with some details of his original and current ownership of a Mille Miglia, S/N 421/100/124. This was originally purchased by him in 1950 for east coast racing. When he moved on to Ferraris, it was sold to Bob Said. I saw the car when Ned Curtis owned it, before it went back to England to be restored. Mr.Yung noticed the car at an auction in England and bought it back a few years ago - great story! We hope to have some photos from Mr. Yung's initial ownership.
Hall and Bradfield have a Mille Miglia on offer. A very nice looking car. See it on their website.
As mentioned above, Mille Miglia 421/100/168 came back to life in New Zealand - see the web page on this restoration. It was a successful conclusion of a plan to finish this car in mid-February.
Finally, sad news to report. Mille Miglia racer and owner Frank Twaits passed away in Virginia in late December, 2004. Frank provided invaluable advice on Frazer Nash cars and for this website. He will be greatly missed. Frank's car has gone back to England.
News - 2004
As the year draws to a close, just a few new Frazer Nash-related items: The very last Le Mans Replica, which was the Vintage Racecar Journal featured car in April, 2001 (see below), returned to a new owner in England after nearly 50 years in the U.S. Next, Dragone Classic Motorcars (Connecticut, dragoneclassics.com) has a Le Mans Replica, "replica" advertised in the January 2005 issue of Hemmings Motor News. This is believed to be a car formerly registered as XME 253, built by Crosthwaite & Gardiner. We have a web page on these replica cars. The price is more than 50% of the last reported authentic LMR sale. Finally, there has been tremendous progress in New Zealand on my Frazer Nash Mille Miglia - it is now off to the paint shop and waiting for its U.S. billet crankshaft - a great conclusion to 2004!
September was this web site's anniversary month - seven years on the Internet! And it's a milestone in the history of my Frazer Nash, a Mille Miglia model. Most of the external body and chassis work was completed in Arizona and the car is now in (far) southern New Zealand, in the final stages of restoration. I hope to sit in this car next February - for the first time - and drive to Christchurch to join the Frazer Nash "Raiders" on the second part of their drive through the country!
The August 2004 issue of the "Chain Gang Gazette" had a great article on the Mille Miglia model (my car!) by James Trigwell.
In June we returned from a great adventure - the Frazer Nash Raid to Scotland, Highlands and Islands" sponsored by the Frazer Nash Section. We joined the Raid two days after it started, on May 22 in Inveraray and continued on to two days in Mull, leaving the Raid group to tour the Loch Ness and "Whisky Trail" areas, winding up in Edinburgh then Glasgow. Alas, we only drove a Vauxhall Corsa for the nearly 600 miles (without mishap!), but Scotland was sunny, beautiful and great fun. Click here for too many photos, with more to follow. I never counted all the 'Nashes of the Raid, but there were several GNs, more than 20 chain-drive cars, two Frazer Nash-BMWs and one postwar model, a LeMans Replica.
In March we had a very
interesting history update from Alan Stungo about car/chassis 421/200/210:
What
an interesting site. My late father owned the car which was built up from
chassis no 421/200/210, No 86 on the list. I remember it very well, it was
just a bare black chassis when he bought it from the manufacturers I think
some time in the sixties. Also in March, we made plans to visit with the Frazer
Nash Raid to Scotland in May 2004 and participate, with a newly-restored
Frazer Nash Mille Miglia, in the Raid to New Zealand in 2005. Details
of these events are on the Frazer
Nash Section of the VSCC web site and more to follow about our plans.
In January, we wished all a happy
New Year and made a resolution to be more timely with news. We
updated the Postwar Production Table with small details for my car (421
100 168) and Andy Hodge's Le Mans Coupe (421 200 178). We're planning a
comprehensive update soon.
News - 2003 "Just to let you know
Peter and I did the Comp section of last years Tour Auto in Murray
Smith's Le Mans Rep (GUT 497) and finished 21st O/A out of about 160
cars - it was also the oldest car in the event! (As well as the best of
course!) We note that Le Mans Replica S/N
421/200/172(OPW 666) is also available through Hall and Bradfield. John Fearn's photos have been
processed, with captions, and are now on a new
section of this website in early January! In June, Nic Dyer wrote: "As you may be aware, our
Queen is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of her reign this year and we
have been enjoying great festivities for the last couple of months. Jonathan Bradburn
sent a note in July 2002 about his Le Mans Replica "replica": "I currently own the Crossthwaite and Gardner car registered
RCD 305. It is a car that I have owned before. I have carried out a
full overhaul of the brakes and have replaced all wheel bearings and
fitted a close ratio gearbox. Also rebuilt water pump and presently am
having a new cam bearing fitted. Engine is FNS 11. The car was fitted
with a works de Dion axle by Dick Crossthwaite and FN hubs with heavy
duty FN wheels. As my other Le Mans rep is nearing the end of a long
rebuild, I will sell the car. Asking price is £75,000." For more about these cars, go to The Le
Mans Replica "replicas" - a short history and origin of
these cars. News of two Le Mans Replicas for sale was reported August: chassis
S/N 421/200/181 is a Mk II with original body that went out to Kenya in
1953 - by owner Frank Sytner. Chassis S/N 421/200/172 is a
re-bodied single-seater - by owner Richard Drewett, asking about £200,000.
This is slightly more than the "median" house now for sale in
Southern California! However, email on this sale commented: "This (181) is a lovely original Nash that we have seen racing
regularly in the UK for the last 2 years, driven by its owner Frank
Sytner. The asking price is £265,000 or approximately $410,000 if
you're interested! The advertisement
has been published in the English auto magazines." In September, we noted the 5th Anniversary of this web site, starting
originally as a "home" page on my provider, PacBell.net - a
transfer page is still there! Still crazy after all these years... Rare factory and other photos were added in October, courtesy of Alec
Rait, Ontario, Canada. See the "factory photos" page. In late November, we had a great visit with John Aldington (and
Janet), who was in Los Angeles to see his niece. Not enough time
to hear new stories of AFN and the Frazer Nash, but it was a great
inspiration to speed up my projects - both car and web-related! News - 2001 "My apprenticeship was a 'year out-of-college' -
Faraday House Electrical Engineering College in Holborn - on work
experience. I was so fortunate to be accepted by Frazer Nash – I
have never lost my love of ‘real’ motor cars, and the knowledge of
motor engineering acquired during those months have stood me in good
stead ever since." He also mentioned that he has about 40 photographs
"which show many of the post war cars either in production, or at
the firm for servicing and repairs". Late November was a good time for a visit to Lake Havasu
City (Arizona) to see Bruce Kimmins and my Frazer Nash project.
The grill and emblem were reunited and nicely polished. The major
chassis members were measured, so that a CAD drawing can be started.
It was a great trip, except the return was through a major rain storm,
causing the drive to be nearly 7 hours!
Re-reading Leslie Jennings "Frazer-Nash - What
Memories That Name Arouses!" in October revealed a VERY interesting
paragraph, not noticed when I first got this book: "Further dates from my diary: Work on the chassis for Mille Miglia No. 44
(421/100/168) was started on 7th November, and the car was scheduled
for completion on 24th November 1951." This is, of course, my car! As it approaches its
50th birthday, we are both in great shape and getting restored
step-by-step, day-by-day! In October, David Starling (Waikanae
Beach, NZ) alerted us that a LeMans Replica "replica" was for
sale by Ken Hawes. The ad provides a good history of this
Crosthwaite & Gardiner car. See the Table of Contents or go to
The Le Mans Replica
"replicas" for an overview of these interesting cars.
I've heard that the November issue of "Classic and Sportscar"
mis-identifies this as a "true" LeMans Replica. Mid-August is the time for the annual trek to the
Monterey peninsula for the vintage sports car and concours events.
Although I scaled back a bit this year, I did see Frazer Nash owners
Murray Smith and John Kerridge at the Laguna Seca practice session. The second issue of "The
Journal of the Frazer Nash in North America" was completed and
first mailings were made to owners and aficionados in early August -
just a small update on Frazer Nash news. More significant was the
completion of a register of owners for the Frazer Nash cars that
are/were in the United Stated or have had a "US connection".
This register is intended to augment and correct the archive records or
other published sources. The register now has 20 cars and 164
owners listed! 29 copies of the Journal were mailed or
hand-delivered during August. Late July was a "double
bonus" for Frazer Nash literature: an early copy of Nic
Dyer's "All For Nothing? My Own Frazer Nash Story" which
is a great account of Mr. Dyer's time in both the AFN workshop and front
office. Nic wrote: "The Sterling price for my book is is £12 plus
postage and packing. When I first worked out a price in dollars, at
the rate of exchange at the time, it looked like $17.00 plus $3.00
post and packing, making a nice round $20. Obviously the £/$ rate
will fluctuate but I don't suppose it will make a disastrous
difference, one way or the other. Also my local Post Office has
quoted me the price of a small package rate which should be
applicable, but it means that each book would come individually. If
somebody wanted to order in bulk (two or maybe even three at a time!),
the postage would go up, but I don't know by how much." Email Nic directly for more details on purchase. Next was a copy of the June
(2001) issue of "Cars for the Connoisseur", courtesy of Jim
Trigwell, with Martin Morris' story "Forty Four Years with the Le
Mans Replica Frazer Nash". The title tells it all - a
terrific set of tales about driving 150,000 miles in a Le Mans Replica! Early July brought auction
sale results for Le Mans Replica S/N 421/100/121, sold by Bonham's at
Goodwood (see below for details). Full sales results should be on
the Bonham's web site; this LMR sale exceeded the "high"
estimate very slightly and the car may be going to Europe from the UK. In the middle of June, I
traveled to the east coast for a
military reunion and made a detour to the Richmond, VA area to visit
Frank Twaits, long-time owner of a Mille Miglia similar to mine (S/N 421/100/163).
It was a terrific visit - Frank was a great host and it was very
inspiring to see a Mille Miglia with all its parts intact! Bruce
Kimmins (and son) made the trip also and we both came away with
excellent data for my restoration. Photos soon! Frank also
provided details about the Mille Miglia formerly owned and raced by Bill
Wonder, now back in the UK (S/N 421/100/124).
Later in the month I received updates/corrections to "The Frazer
Nash 1923 - 1957" by David Thirlby and Tony Bancroft, but it
appears that further review of the records are needed to trace the
ownership history of the postwar cars fully. The June issue of
"Thoroughbred and Classic Cars" has an interesting car for
sale by Marcel Roks Consultants in
Belgium (page 151). It is a BMW "Cotura", which bears a
strong resemblance to a Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica. Photos of two
"Coturas" came to light recently on the Internet and were
discussed by a few of the FN "cognoscenti", without much
result. Upon inquiry, Mr. Roks provided a great history and photos
of these cars, which can be seen on a special "Cotura"
web page. Please send me your comments! Much great news in May!
First, there is a new book on the postwar Frazer Nash! A copy was
sent to me by Jim Trigwell: "Ultimate BMW & Frazer Nash",
an anthology of road tests and ads on the prewar Frazer Nash-BMW and the
postwar Frazer Nash, by editor Colin Pitt. The publisher is Unique Motor
Books, PO Box 2795, Hockley, Essex SS5 4BL, England, Tel 01702 207384,
email umb61@hotmail.com (ISBN 1 84155 412 X) or from Chater Motoring
Booksellers, www.chaters.co.uk. Next, we received an email from Robin Thompson, who is
planning the artwork for the 12 Hours of Sebring 2002 50th anniversary
race. He will feature the 1952 winning Frazer-Nash Le Mans Replica and
was seeking photos (which were provided and can be seen on the
"photos" page) for the artwork on the program cover, the
billboard, the event poster and tee shirt! The hunt for this
missing car (see below) must continue! Also in May, I received news of a Le Mans Replica coming
to auction: "As you may know Bonhams & Brooks are
specialist vehicle and fine art auctioneers holding sales in the USA,
mainland Europe and here in the UK. Early in April, I drove up the
street from my office in Cypress (California) to the "Vintage
Racecar Journal" offices to buy copies of the April issue,
featuring a LeMans Replica on the cover and a feature story,
"All-Rounder" by Harold Pace. It's a nice summary of
Frazer Nash postwar history, with an emphasis on racing successes and
the dual-purpose capability of the Frazer Nash cars. There is a
contemporary report on Dr. Julio Palmaz's LeMans Replica, 421/200/193,
the very last of this model, with great color photos.
All together, a good article,
but some statements may need further confirmation. The research
never ends! The badge from my car was detached from the grill
(still in Arizona!) to provide an illustration - and this same graphic
is now on the "Archive/Photos" page. Later in the
magazine, "Hard Drive" favorably reviews this website.
Thanks, Casey! It mentions there is a section (of this website) on
the prewar cars, but I can't take credit for this - only a link to the
Frazer Nash Section website authored originally by Paul Bullett in the UK. As a result of this article,
we heard from "new to this website" current and former Frazer
Nash owners. Former owner Robert Richer provided new photos of the
"cover car" from his ownership tenure, which are now on our
photo archive page. Really great! By the way, has anyone
noticed the Frazer Nash badge on this page is "new &
improved?" There's a reason for this - check back here in
mid-May! Casey Annis,
publisher/managing editor of Vintage
Racecar Journal, sent a note in January: "You'll be happy to
know that our April issue will feature the Frazer Nash Le Mans
Replica." This is a great publication
and we look forward to helping with the article. And they have a
nice web site, which was one of the first to recognize and nicely review
these web pages. Inspired by the preparation of
this article, notes were sent to Frazer Nash owners and fans in
February, alerting them to this publication and various other
developments, including a renewed search for the missing LeMans Replica
that won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1952. The response through March was
very good - it further inspired new work on the "archive"
of photographs. You may take a quick look at the new
organization of this section or go to the table of contents through the
"Other Frazer Nash Pages" link below. We are very happy
to now have photos of George Waltman, Jim Firestone and Ted Boynton in
this section. News - 2000 April bought us another note from Nic Dyer, an AFN employee who first
wrote: "I was employed by AFN between 1951 and 1952 and was involved
with the final preparation of the 1951 show cars. I was also concerned
with the build of the car which Moss drove at Monaco in 1952. I am
particularly interested in the Cabriolet which was on the show stand
at Earls Court in 1951 and would welcome news of anybody who may have
worked for AFN at that time." and later, after meeting with Jim Trigwell, Leslie Jennings and John
Aldington, he wrote: "I am sure it must be difficult for you, in spacious America
to, appreciate how relatively easy it is for us all to get together.
Happily we meet many other 'Nash owners at race meetings and so are
able to keep up-to-date quite easily. My own story is now almost fully
documented and I am exploring ways of publishing it. If it happens
I'll let you know. I might add that I was concerned with the building
of your Turin Show car and also Errol Flynn's car, just before I left
AFN to join the Army, although my memory does not allow much detail!
I look forward to hearing from you and any other Nash enthusiasts
whose cars that I might have been involved with. Better still, if you
hear from any other ex-AFN employees I would welcome the opportunity
to be in touch." Later in April, I heard from Paul Bullett in the UK, who has started
a web site for the chain-drive Frazer Nash cars. Please visit the
Chain-Drive Frazer Nash.
There should eventually be good Internet coverage for all the Frazer
Nash cars. Great! And finally in April, we initiated correspondence with the last
"unknown" Frazer Nash owner in the U.S. At this time,
there are eleven postwar Frazer Nash's in the U.S., among nine owners. In June, I received an email from a fellow Imperial
owner who was also a former AFN employee. Ciaran Payne wrote in
part: "Nice to hear from another classic car enthusiast and it's
amazing how links and connections develop. I worked for Frazer Nash
that was, which became AFN Ltd. during the early 50's, from the mid
70's to early 80's and during my period with AFN the original works
foreman, Nelson Ledger, was still employed by the company in a
caretaker capacity in retirement....He told me many stories about the
manufacture of Frazer Nash's under the ownership of H J Aldington who
had acquired the company... The family owned it under his son
John Aldington until mid 80's (I think) when Porsche AG (Germany)
bought out Porsche GB which in turn owned AFN Ltd (and still does). The company had its own collection of Frazer Nash's which I had the
opportunity to drive at various times, but the rarest one of all I
understand was a car built in 1952 for Motor Show and exhibited again
in 1953 in a different colour that utilised part Porsche body work but
I can't remember the engine this car utilised, but it was the subject
of many discussions at AFN about its whereabouts. (Editor's note:
This was probably one of the last two Continental models) The showroom I worked in was the original factory building where
Frazer Nash's were produced in Isleworth, England, not far from
Heathrow Airport, which only in recent years was knocked down and
replaced by a newer VW showroom. But one of the original factory
units situated not far from this showroom is actually still in
existence." This is a classic case of serendipity and we hope to hear more
history from Mr. Payne, Mr. Dyer, Mr. Jennings and anyone else
associated with Frazer Nash or AFN, Ltd. On June 17, three of the postwar Frazer Nash's were running in the Liege-Rome-Liege
rally. It was a great showing by a Mille Miglia (Alex &
Jane Boswell), Targa Florio (Chris & Sandy Wilson), and Sebring
(Richard & Trisha Pilkington)! August was the month of the "great" Monterey weekend, which
now includes nearly too many car events to absorb! Targa Florio
owner Jonathan Proctor was driving this car to the events - it's now for
sale at Fantasy Junction
in Berkeley. There's a nice photo of it on that web site - look in
the "Classic Cars" section. Also, Seattle collector
Charles Morse had an extremely nice (pre-war) TT Replica at Pebble
Beach. In my early morning visit to Pebble Beach, the first car I was pulled
to was a very attractive 1956 Talbot Maserati Reggiani-Campana Barchetta.
By great coincidence, it was entered by Craig Davis, also a Frazer Nash
fan and collector. Attending the Barchetta was Randy Reed, who had
done wonderful work on many of Craig's cars. In September, we learned about the new Frazer Nash book, "The
Frazer Nash 1923 - 1957" from David Thirlby and Tony Bancroft. It's
published by Thirlby Publicity, PO Box 114, Northwich, Chesire, England,
ISBN 0-9537892-0-9 and is available in the United States through
Motorsport, 550 Honey Locust Road, Jonesburg, Missouri 63351 (telephone
636-488- 3113) for $75 copy, post and packing included. Otherwise it is
obtainable from Thirlby for £47, also including post & packing. News - 1999 I can supply Frazer Nash Models in 1/43 scale. If interested
please contact me for complete details. Please visit my web site
for Merrymeet Model Cars.
(Note: web site not accessible, 4/2001)
"Sure I know what a Frazer Nash is.....I was employed by the
Company at Isleworth in 1951 and given the position 'In charge of
engine development, testing and tuning' by the boss himself- H.J.
Aldington." There was some sad news to report in May, 1998. The greatest fan of
the marque and most active Frazer Nash racer in the US, Ned Curtis,
passed away on May 9 at his home near Phoenix. A memorial
service - and a party for his friends - was held on May 17. Ned was
a great help to me for many years and I'll miss him. (Ned's Le Mans
Replica appears on the "Models" page.)
He obtained a 100D2 Bristol engine and has a one-off body constructed. He
used Jaguar Mk II doors with the window frames cut down in order to have
ready made winding windows. The rest of the body was aluminium. It looked
attractive as far back as the rear of the doors but the rear was too
short. It was a two door coupe with a rather unattractive bench seat.
My father was a doctor, a general practitioner. He sold his Mk I Jaguar
2.4 and he used the Fraser Nash as his daily transport. I often drove it
but never on my own. The body was a success for it was very rattle free. I
think the car was rather too highly geared but my father was reluctant to
change the final drive as it was very quiet.
I often used to think that the body wasn't right for the car but in those
days the value didn't merit re-bodying and my father was rather proud if
his design which served his purposes well.
He kept the car in use up to his death in 1976. I couldn't afford to keep
it and it was sold to an enthusiast whose name I can't remember. I have
often wondered what happened to the car, I see that it has been
re-registered as BYL 3 and it wouldn't surprise me if it has a replica
body by this time. I'm not sure that the original registration number has
been quoted correctly.
I hope that this is of interest.
Although the news has been
accumulating all year, this is a December update! And great news -
one of the earliest U.S. owners of a Frazer Nash was in contact - and he
owned two of them in the early '50's - the Mille Miglia found long ago in
Hawaii and the LeMans Replica which won Sebring in 1952, missing for the
last 40 years! Jerry Saubers was the owner who shipped the Mille
Miglia to Hawaii in 1955-56 while a pilot in the Air Force. We
continued to correspond and now have some history and early photos
on a special page of this website.
Two items for February.
Early in the month, Chris Drewett wrote to offer photos of his Targa
Florio S/N 421/100/150 (LXH 3) which he owned between 1967 and 1971. Jim
Trigwell scanned these photos and posted them on a special
website. I've been adding them (slowly) to the "archive"
photos page. Jim also wrote that LXH 3 "...started life in 1951 as a
Le Mans Replica and was rebodied in 1953 as a Targa Florio for the first
owner, R.F. Peacock. He raced it twice at Le Mans, in 1952 with the Le
Mans body and in 1954 with the Targa Florio body."
Later in the month, Andrew Hall wrote:
Also for your info we have the Works Sebring available for sale in the
showroom: It is S/N 421/200/205 (7834 H) with 3 appearances at Le
Mans as well as the Goodwood 9 Hours and many other events. Asking price
£225,000 (GBP). This price is quite firm! See it on our website."
News - 2002 (September was our Fifth Anniversary!)
Photos to follow, courtesy of Nic & Jim Trigwell!
Having got into the swing I thought it would be a good idea to have a
Frazer Nash golden jubilee as well. You see it is now fifty years since
I (and a lot of other people of course) built the first Mark 2 Le Mans
Replica for Tony Crook. I suggested to him that we got together again to
celebrate to occasion. He agreed but asked if both his Replicas could be
brought together to join the party. Fortunately the owners of both cars
were more than willing to bring their cars along and so a date was
fixed. Thus it was that Tony and I were reunited with his two immaculate
Le Mans Replicas at his Bristol service department in Chiswick, west
London. This venue was chosen because, as you will know, Tony Crook owns
Bristol Cars and finding somewhere to accommodate a number of cars in
central London for such an occasion is difficult.
It was quite an intimate party but everybody who attended seemed to
enjoy exchanging memories and experiences. We all had lunch in a local
pub and then went our separate ways."
I thought I should let you know that we have been fortunate enough to
consign a Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica for our forthcoming auction at
the Goodwood Festival of Speed on Friday, July 6, 2001.
The car in question was shown as a chassis at the 1948 Earls Court
Motor Show, later campaigned by owner T.A.S.O. Mathieson (UK
registration number VMF 473, S/N 421/100/121).
It is a car we have know well, having sold it to the vendor in 1992.
I thought your 'readers' may like to know we have such a car. If
they should wish to express an interest, please me in the UK (Car
Department, Bonhams & Brooks, Tel: 020 7393 3822, www.bonhams.com,
jamesknight@bonhams.com) or my colleague, Mark Osborne at Bonhams
& Brooks USA, Tel: 415-391-4000, fax: 415-391-4040. With kind
regards,
Jamie Knight, Director, Motor Car Department" (click for the brochure
ad)
Early in the year, we had correspondence on the history of the Frazer
Nash business and drivers. Although these inquiries were
beyond our expertise, various correspondents with this web site provided
answers to these queries. There is much material waiting for
a history page!
In March, Michael Parr, the owner of the Targa Florio featured in the
December issue of "Thoroughbred and Classic Cars", provided a
compilation of his car's early racing history. This new data
was incorporated in the "Early Frazer Nash
Competition Appearances" table.
Later in March, we received some great photos of two Frazer Nash LeMans
Replicas in New Zealand from Mr. David Starling. These will appear
on the "Photographs" page when more data about these cars is
received and sorted out.
Soon after, we received another rare photo and description of the
"missing" Targa Florio winner from the May 31, 1953 issue of
the SCCA National Newsletter. This article is on the "Postwar
Frazer Nash Models" page. See the bottom of this page for
links to these references.
Mr. Waltman provided a very enthusiastic history of his LeMans Replica,
including a picture, in a letter to Mick Walsh at "Classic and
Sports Car". This appears on page 151 of the March, 1999 issue. In
the same column, Mr. Walsh mentioned this web site. Thanks!
On February 15, 1999, Murray Smith sent me an email with updated owner
information on Le Mans Replica S/N 421/100/154. He wrote that it was
formerly owned by Bob Fergus and that he acquired it in December, 1998.
We hope for more details and pictures on this car and Mr. Waltman's Le
Mans Replica.
At the end of March I received a very nice note from Peter Radcliffe,
Cornwall, England:
Peter later wrote that the manufacturer is currently remaking his
masters and investigating the possibility of larger production runs.
They currently have models of the Targa Florio and the 55/56 Le Mans
Sebring and are also working on the Mille Miglia. Price is
expected to be about 30-35 pounds, which is comparable to other kits
with low production.
In May and June, I received more bibliographic references from Geoff
Dowdle (Australia) and that section was updated. Also I've met with the
"Burbank Underground Breakfast and Automotive Historical Society (BURBAAHS)
several times and found an extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic
group of racers, writers and car hobbyists. Through them, I've updated
the data in the list of production cars for S/N 421/200/183 (see link
below). The car was definitely a "write off" after receiving a
new body by Nadeau A. Bourgeault, a San
Francisco-area constructor.
Also updated in late June was the data on Sebring 421/200/205, which was
sold at the April 1999 Brooks Olympia auction for about the price of a
new Ferrari 456!
In August, I added Frazer Nash photographs from the Archives and other
sources - see the last link reference below. The link will take you to
another URL - make sure you get back here!
Also in late August, I met Murray Smith at the Monterey Historic
Automobile Races (Laguna Seca) and learned that his Le Mans Replica will
soon return to its original green body color. Mr. Smith currently
campaigns a Formula 1 Brabham in vintage events and plans to use the LMR
for touring.
In October, a web page was added listing the
early Frazer Nash competition history - a great compilation by Jim
Trigwell. As of October 1999, the data on the ninety Frazer Nash
postwar projects show that all have a known location or
disposition except the following four cars:
In November, Doug Reardon-Smith wrote, asking if the current owner was
known of his Targa Florio S/N 421/200/185, which he had delivered from
AFN in 1953. Jim Trigwell provided these contacts to Mr. Reardon-Smith,
who then sent photos of the car under construction. One photo now is on
the "Frazer Nash
Models" page.
The December 1999 issue of "Thoroughbred and Classic Cars" had
a nice article on Targa Florio 421/200/189, mostly about driving
impressions. But I'm curious to learn their source of a statement for a
total postwar production run of "95 or 100" cars - this seems
to be 5 - 10 too high (unless the Le Mans Replica "replicas"
are included!). And my favorite model, the Mille Miglia,
seems to have gone mostly missing in their captions of "Significant
Postwar Cars." We hope you'll be better informed after
visiting this web site!
News - 1998
This web site began in September, 1997. "The Journal of the
Frazer Nash in North America" was published in December, 1997 and
mailed primarily to Frazer Nash owners and aficionados in the US - a
limited circulation indeed! A second issue was planned for Fall, 1999,
but not done until 2001!
In January 1998, we heard from Tony Bancroft, the director of the Frazer
Nash Archives and the Post War Register of the Frazer Nash Section of
the Vintage Sports Car Club (Yorkshire, England) and James Trigwell, a
Le Mans Replica Nash owner from Surrey, England.
Mr. Bancroft provided an updated list of the post-war cars and current
owners, where known. Mr. Trigwell sent an extensive list of books and
magazine articles about various post-war Frazer Nash cars. Go to the
bibliography link at the bottom of this page to check out this resource.
The list of post-war cars, with further updates by Mr. Trigwell, John
Giles (TT Workshops Ltd.) and Craig Davis, is also on this web site.
Several updates from Jim now provide the original color of each car and
expand each car's early race history. An impressive history for so few
cars! See the link to the Postwar Production at the bottom of this page.
Mr. Trigwell's reports and photos of Frazer Nash cars and events in
England will eventually appear on this web site. He has written,
"...I got lots of shots of Nashes at this year's July Silverstone
meeting (1997) where there were about 2 dozen Nashes."
Later that month, we heard from Leslie Jennings, a former AFN, Ltd.
employee:
If you are hoping for a true "insiders" story about AFN, Ltd.
and the Frazer Nash, order a copy of "Frazer-Nash - What Memories
That Name Arouses!" Mr. Jennings has recently published this memoir
of his time at "the works" and it was reviewed in the October,
1998 issue of "Classic & Sports Car". Copies are available
from R.L. Jennings, 6 Glenmillan Park, Belfast, BT4 2JE, at 16 pounds
each, plus postage.
Mr. Bancroft requested help in locating the following cars, thought to
be last in the US:
A few months after Mr. Bancroft's letter, it
became clear that Le Mans MK 2 (421/200/174, engine BS1/116) was never
missing. A letter in the April 1998 issue of "Thoroughbred &
Classic Cars" from Mr. George Waltman confirmed his long-term
ownership of this car. In November, 1998, I also received a letter from
Mr. Waltman about his car and soon hope to provide further news. Mr.
Waltman's Frazer Nash was an Earls Court show car in 1952 and then was
raced at Sebring in 1953.
(The authors and owners of all material on this web site retain all their rights to their material.)
The Frazer Nash - USA Table of Contents
This page was last updated on March 26, 2007