Fabulous Frazer Nash to top H&H sale

| 10 Oct 2012

A 1954 Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica will headline H&H’s Imperial War Museum sale on 23 October.

Chassis FN209 began life at the firm’s Isleworth factory, but it lay dormant until the late ’60s when it was sold to the 1936 Olympic Rally winner Betty Haig.

The car wasn’t completed until 1975, however, when Simon Phillips commissioned Crosthwaite & Gardiner to finish the job.

It installed a Bristol BS4 engine with a six-port cylinder head and a triple twin-choke carburettor, while also fitting front discs, a de Dion rear axle and inboard rear brakes.

The rolling chassis was fitted with a lightweight body (originally built for Jack Walton's Le Mans Replica FN157), which Philips bought for £70.

The Frazer Nash competed in the 1976-’77 season, before being sold to Tim Walton (son of Jack). He carried out another body change, this time opting for a MkII shell – previously fitted to James Lowe’s chassis FN183.

In this guise the car would take part in the Mille Miglia, the Coppa d’Italia, the FIVA World Rally and the Pyrénées Rally.

In the hands of its current keeper, the car had £50,000 lavished on it and has covered just 1262 miles over the past 13 years.

Its guide price of £450-550,000 offers a cheaper entry into Le Mans Replica ownership, for a car that offers proven competition history.

Joining the Frazer Nash on the sales floor is this 1935 Bentley 7.4-litre special. It was converted into a two-seater by Rolls-Royce specialist Alan Padgett.

Meanwhile, the power of its V12 engine was increased thanks to a Wade supercharger.

The special has extensive competition history from the 1990s and is estimated to fetch £60-80,000.

H&H’s sale offers a range of tempting classics and Youngtimers that include a 1961 Bentley S2 Continental HJ Mulliner Saloon (£175-200,000), a 1989 BMW Z1 (18-22,000), a 1975 Lamborghini Espada (£24-28,000), a 1959 Lotus Seven S1A (£18-22,000) and a 1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth (£10-14,000).