Frazer Nash Mille Miglia - The Fast Tourer

-

 


*Considered the most attractive of the post-war Frazer Nash’s, the Fast Tourer – or the Mille Miglia as it became known after the marques success in the 1950 Italian 1000 mile race – tended to be equipped for road touring, although most Frazer Nash owners viewed them as a dual purpose road and track car. There were only 11 built between 1949 and 1953. 421/100/166 was one of two so called ‘wide-bodied’ Mille Miglias, with the spare wheel moved from the front wing to inside the boot. This gave much more space in the cockpit, and made it a far more comfortable touring car. 


Completed in July 1952 and registered YMC 81, it was finished in Bristol Maroon, with brown leather trim and silver bolt- on wheels. It was also finished with the short-style air scoop on the bonnet. The first owner was Mr Orr of Manchester in July 1952, selling it back to AFN in May 1953. AFN sold it in June 1953 to Jack Broadhead of Macclesfield. Broadhead entered a number of events, often to be piloted by Peter Reece, including the Goodwood Nine Hours in August that year, followed by the London Rally in September, the RAC Rally in March 1954, the British Empire Trophy in April, and finally the over 1,500cc race at Silverstone in July. Centre lock wire wheels were fitted before the Silverstone race, and the air scoop lengthened. 



The Frazer Nash Club has detailed records of its ownership. A.W. Wells jointly owned it with John Swift from 1958-1961, G. Lowe of Wolverhampton in 1965, with Tony Mitchell advertising it in 1966. C.W. Thompson of York was the owner by 1980, John Lamb in 1984, before Frank Sytner bought it in 1985. He sold it to Cedric Brierley (now painted green) in December 1987, before it left the U.K. – probably for the first time – to live in Germany with Hartmut Gagel in 1993. In turn, he sold it to fellow German Ernst Zahnweh in 1995, who sold it to another German enthusiast in April 2003 via the Techno Classica Essen auction. It remained in Germany being actively campaigned until the summer of this year and is now repatriated in the U.K., fully taxes paid and back on its original registration. 



The original engine is recorded as being fitted to a Bristol by the early 1960s, with the Mille Miglia currently powered by a period Bristol 100D engine, built by TT Workshops. Interestingly, the current engine number of 100D 716 correlates to an AC Ace Bristol, chassis BE 369, that reportedly competed in the 1958 RAC Rally. So both car and engine did the event, four years apart! 





* Pendine

#frazernash #frazernashmillemiglia 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1932 MG J2 Midget

-
Image
  Before the outbreak of the Second World War, from 1932 to 1934, the British marque MG produced a lightweight two-seater roadster known as the J2. Over its three-year production run, only 2,083 units were built. Equipped with an 847cc inline-four OHV engine, the J2 earned a reputation for its lively handling and approachable price, making it a beloved entry point into sports car ownership at the time. Where better than the  MG Owners Club  to read a brief history and the technical specifications.  Announced in August 1932 the J2 Midget was outstanding value for just £199 10s. and was within the reach of many enthusiasts of the era. It was based on the successful design of the C type or Montlhery Midget as it was better known, a direct derivative of the M type. From the outset the car represented everything that was right in basic sports car design incorporating such things as a large rear mounted slab type petrol tank with a huge fast fill1 petrol cap, fold flat win...
Read more

Tuner Series - Okrasa - Oettinger KRAftfahrtechnische SpezialAnsalt

-
Image
This is not a detailed history of Okrasa, although there are some links to the official Okrasa story. You may have seen reference to Okrasa and their air cooled VW parts, this such as in the Belgian built Mach 1 Beetle , this post just provides an insight.  Okrasa, or Oettinger KRAftfahrtechnische SpezialAnsalt, was founded in 1951 by Gerard Oettinger after graduating as a mechanical engineer. He immediatly began offering performance parts for the VW Beetle and period manufacturers producing sports cars utilising the Beetles flat floor chassis such as Rometsch and Dannenhauer & Stauss. The Okrasa kit was essentially available in two versions, the TS-1200 and the TS-1300/30, but several variants existed such as the TS-34, up to 1500 versions, in the 60s. The TS-1200 consisted of a pair of twin-intake cylinder heads, a pair of Solex 32 PBIC carburettors, a linkage for controlling the carburetors, hoses, intake pipes and special air filters. Optional extras included a Fram oil fil...
Read more

When Japan goes (to) Sebring

-
Image
The now defunct Speedhunters visited Garage Kamiya and Akamatsu-san’s MGC GT Sebring works car replica. From an MGC GT, the car that Akamatsu-san has built takes a lot of inspiration from the works Sebring GTS racers. Working with (his father) Kamiya-san, who was at the time racing his own yellow MGB, the pair transformed the plastic surgeon’s leather sofa on wheels into a bare-bones weekend race car. Many of the parts were sourced from MG Motorsports in Bovingdon, U To get the body looking right, Akamatsu-san entrusted Yamada-san of Yamada Auto in Kawaguchi to construct the oversized fender flares, by hand, with nothing more than a pile of photos and the book MGC GTS Lightweights: Abingdon’s Last Racers. The rear fenders are still Yamada-san’s work, but the front fenders have since been replaced by an MG Motorsport FRP set, after a wet track day at Tsukuba left the originals beyond repair.  They used an alloy cylinder head, just like the Sebring cars, Cosworth forged race pistons,...
Read more