Friday, January 2, 2009

Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica Sports Car

Picture of Classic Sports Car
Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica, originally uploaded by dovecotes.

Frazer Nash was a British automobile manufacturer and engineering company founded by Archibald Frazer-Nash in 1922. The company was founded in 1922 by Archibald Frazer-Nash who had, with Henry Ronald Godfrey founded and run the GN Cyclecar Company.

The company produced around 400 cars until the mid-1930s, notably a series of famous chain drive models.

They became importers and assemblers of BMW cars in 1934 and sold them as Frazer Nash-BMW. They were the official British BMW importer until the outbreak of war in 1939. In 1954 the company started to sell Porsche cars, becoming the official importer for Great Britain in 1956. This lasted until 1965 when Porsche Cars Great Britain was set up.

Eighty-five more cars were produced from 1948 to 1957. These cars were largely a direct evolution of the sporting BMW 328. In the choice of Bristol engines the cars were natural successors to the imported BMWs, the Bristol engine being a development of that of the BMW 328. Models include the Le Mans Replica, the Mille Miglia, the Targa Florio, the Le Mans Coupé and the Sebring. Competition successes included a third place at Le Mans (1949) and a win in the Targa Florio (1951). These post-war cars are very highly prized by collectors. The company participated in the 1952 Formula One season, the cars driven by Tony Crook and Ken Wharton.

1938 BMW 328 Roadster Convertible

Picture of Classic Sports Car
1938 BMW 328 Roadster , originally uploaded by TAKESHI Collection.

The BMW 328 is a sports car made by BMW between 1936 and 1940, designed by Fritz Fiedler. It featured a tubular space frame and a hemispherical combustion chamber engine. It was much praised at the time for its performance and handling, proving to be suitable not only for the BMW factory drivers, but also perfect for everyday driving.

The car won many races, including the prestigious Mille Miglia — a class win in 1938 and the outright winner (with a streamlined body) in 1940. It also won the RAC Rally in 1939 and came in fifth overall (first in its class) in the 1939 Le Mans 24 hours.

The engine has hemispherical or cross flow combustion chambers. The intake valves are opened by the usual overhead valve push rod arrangement of a side cam, push rods, and rocker arms. The exhaust valves, on the other side of the cylinder head, are opened by the same cam shaft, vertical push rods, rocker arms, horizontal push rods, and a second set of rocker arms.

In 1999 the BMW 328 was named one of 25 finalists for Car of the Century by a worldwide panel of automotive journalists.