Frazer Nash - The chain gangster (Thrash your Nash!)

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Frazer Nash - The chain gangster (Thrash your Nash!)

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Created on June 28, 1994

Text:

Halwart Schrader

Photos:

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Frazer-Nash V8 Continental (1957) - luxurious coupé

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Frazer-Nash (1933) - At full speed at the "International 6 Days Alpine Trial" in 1933

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Frazer-Nash TT Replica (1934) - successful pre-war sports car

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Frazer-Nash (1935) - Gordon Wilkins and Archie Nash during the 1965 Sports Car Jubilee in the United Kingdom

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Frazer-Nash Sports Model (1950) - with aerodynamically shaped bodywork

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Frazer-Nash / BMW 328 Sports & Touring Two Seater (1938) - at the Geneva Motor Show 1938

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Frazer-Nash : BMW 328 Sports and Touring Two Seater (1938) - at the Geneva Motor Show 1938

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Frazer-Nash : BMW 328 Sports and Touring Two Seater (1938) - at the Geneva Motor Show 1938

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Frazer-Nash High Speed (1947) - flat and aerodynamically optimized silhouette

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Frazer-Nash model (1948) - view of the chassis from behind

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BMW 501 (1953) - front axle, seen at the London Motor Show 1948, probably on the Frazer Nash stand

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Frazer-Nash (1948) - View of the cylinder head from the exhaust side

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Frazer-Nash (1948) - the in-line six-cylinder with a BMW past

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Frazer-Nash (1948) - the in-line six-cylinder with a BMW past

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Frazer-Nash (1948) - disassembled drive technology

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Frazer-Nash (1948) - Engine in individual parts

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Frazer-Nash (1948) - Engine in individual parts

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Frazer-Nash (1948) - Transmission technology in parts

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Frazer-Nash Cabriolet (1950) - at the Earls Court London Motor Show 1950

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Frazer-Nash Targa Florio (1952) - roadworthy sports car, photographed at the 1952 London Motor Show

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Frazer-Nash Targa Florio (1953) - exhibited at the 1953 London Motor Show

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Frazer-Nash Fast Roadster (1949) - flat and open

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Frazer-Nash Fast Roadster (1949) - without unnecessary comfort

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Frazer-Nash Fast Roadster (1949) - in the great outdoors

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Frazer-Nash Fast Roadster (1949) - front view

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Frazer-Nash Mille Miglia (1952) - Interior

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Frazer-Nash Mille Miglia (1950) - View into the cockpit - Geneva Motor Show 1950

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Frazer-Nash Mille Miglia (1953) - the name says it all

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Frazer-Nash Mille Miglia (1953) - attractively shaped roadster

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Frazer-Nash Mille Miglia (1951) - closed

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Frazer-Nash Mille Miglia (1950) - Weather protection is not the order of the day here

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Frazer-Nash Fixed Head Coupé Le Mans (1953) with Bristol engine - at the London Motor Show 1953

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Frazer-Nash (1956) - Coupé and Roadster side by side

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Frazer-Nash Le Mans Fixed-Head Coupé (1953) - driven by K. Wharton and H. Mitchell, among others

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Frazer-Nash Sebring (1954) - with a distinctly modern design

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Frazer-Nash model unknown (1949) - London '49, interior

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Frazer-Nash (1952) - A look under the hood

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Frazer Nash Le Mans Touring Coupé (1953) - at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1953

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Frazer Nash Le Mans Touring Coupé (1953) - at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, behind it the Ferrari 340 MM Berlinetta by Ascari and Violresi

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Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupé (1955) - stuck in the sand at Arnage during the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupé (1955) - at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1955

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Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupé (1955) - originally ordered by Kitty Maurice of Castle Combe

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Frazer-Nash Targa Florio (1952) - without soft top

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Summary

Frazer Nash was an up-and-coming automobile company that made quite an impression in the 1920s and 1930s - not least because almost no other brand brought so many different models onto the market and was able to impress customers with a wide variety of technical delicacies. Both on the road and on the racetrack, the lightweight sports cars could hardly be put in their place. This report looks back at the 35-year history of a small sports car company whose fame still resonates today, illustrated with many historical images and sales literature from the time.

This article contains the following chapters

"Chain Gang"
Fast touring cars
Rattling and not always puncture-free
More power for less reliability
Hardly one was like the other
Teaching the competition to fear
A replica not like other
Not a business with future prospects
Valuable business relations with Germany
German or not German...?
Cooperation with BMW
Plenty of power under the hood
BMW V8 for Frazer Nash
Liaison with Porsche
... But its fame quickly faded
Many types, few numbers
Daring driving style
Models built

Estimated reading time: 11min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Frazer Nash - British sports cars with German appeal: there was an intensive collaboration with BMW as early as 1934. Characteristic of the roadsters of the 1920s and 1930s: the chain-operated gearboxes. Halwart Schrader tells the story of the famous brand. When people talk about Frazer Nash, they mean the chain-driven car. The roadster of the 1920s and early 1930s that was already considered a curiosity during its lifetime due to its chain-operated gearbox on the rear axle. The "Chain Gang", as the small group of convinced Frazer Nash drivers have always called themselves, use these cars to put a bravura driving style on the pavement - like the drivers of highly tuned Morgan three-wheelers, they are considered outsiders of the vintage car scene ...

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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