Archibald Frazer-Nash founded his car company in 1922
He produced around 400 chain-drive cars until the mid-1930s, and 85 more cars from
1948 to 1957.
If you've never heard of a Frazer Nash motorcar, it's probably because
"it's a car so rare that hardly anyone knows anything about it!" writes enthusiast Bob Schmitt of Burbank, California, who has devoted an entire website to the Frazer-Nash.
Frazer-Nash official British importer for BMW
The Frazer-Nash motorcar company imported BMWs from 1934 to 1939. The Frazer Nash Car Club maintains an accessible Register of both pre-and post-war cars.“We have detailed
information on nearly every one in existence." Archibald Frazer-Nash and H.R. Godfrey founded and ran the GN Cyclecar Company,
and made cars from 1924 until 1957.
In 1929, the Aldington brothers acquired Frazer Nash Ltd. They produced BMW cars
(1934) and sold them as Frazer Nash BMW.
Did Frazer-Nash actually build 37 cars in 1934 instead of only eight?
Roger Richmond, whom we emailed just before we took off to see the Frazer-Hash
Replicar mentioned in the next column, told us this:
"Frazer Nash built 37 cars in 1934.
[note: Other sources we've checked out all state that only eight 1934s were made,
but this man is an expert and he's probably right. And on the Internet, if one piece of "wrong" information is published,
it can be copied so many times, it begins to be accepted as fact.]
Richmond continues: "All of these had quarter elliptic springs all round
- beam front axle - solid rear axle carrying four sprockets for the four driving chains. Engines were either 4-cyl Meadows
or Gough, or 6-cyl Blackburne. Bodies were mostly 2-seater TT Replicas."
