The replica of the replica
08/15/2015
In the early fifties, the term "replica" did not yet have a negative connotation. Back then, there were neither Bugatti copies on VW Beetle chassis nor replica Ferrari Testarossas with Pontiac chassis.
It was therefore not unusual for the Frazer Nash company, which took third place at Le Mans in 1949 with one of its sports cars, to call the clone of the Le Mans winning car offered to private drivers the Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica. Around 50 of these were built and sold to enthusiastic amateurs, who were able to use them on the road as well as in racing, and quite successfully too. The car offered good handling and, thanks to its Bristol in-line six-cylinder engine, which in turn was derived from the BMW 328 engine, more than above-average performance (top speed 192 km/h!).
The Le Mans Replica is one of the most popular and sought-after English sports cars of the time and they rarely change hands and for expensive money.
What is good and expensive is also often copied. In the 1970s, the renowned restoration company Crosthwaite and Gardiner had to build a new chassis for an original Frazer Nash for a customer after an accident and decided to build six additional chassis, which then became the basis for six faithful copies, which were appropriately called "Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica".
Bonhams offered one of these copies at the Quail Lodge auction yesterday and sold it for USD 220,000. Although this fell well short of the estimated price of USD 275,000 to 350,000, it was still not a bad price for a copy of a copy.
