The Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica made its debut at the 1948 London Motor Show and was initially named the “High Speed” or “Competition Model.” The car was very much a postwar version of the incredibly successful BMW 328, and was designed by the 328’s creator, Dr. Fritz Fiedler, who was imprisoned by the Allies during the war, and assigned to the Bristol Aeroplane Company and AFN, the manufacturer of Frazer Nash.

Powered by a six-cylinder, two-litre Bristol engine, the Le Mans Replica only weighed 1,521 pounds, making it a very quick sports car with fantastic handling. In 1949, a private entry with works support entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with owner Norman Culpan and co-driver H.J. Aldington, and finished a very impressive 3rd Overall. Following this famous result, the model was appropriately renamed the Le Mans Replica. The model finished a remarkable 6th Overall at the 1000 Miglia in 1950, and in 1951, Franco Cortese piloted a Le Mans Replica to an astounding 1st Overall at the Targa Florio, the first and only time a British car won the race.

Hidden from the light for decades, this fabulous and incredibly important Le Mans Replica arrives in the public eye fresh from an extensive refurbishment, which places it in the racing livery it wore on its winning debut at the first 12 Hours of Sebring in 1952. But the car almost did not make the event at all.

According to the book The Post-War Frazer Nash by James Trigwell and Anthony Pritchard, the tale goes that New York Nash exponent, Stuart “Duke” Donaldson, had called Bill Aldington in the middle of the night requesting a Le Mans to race at Sebring in 1952, only to be told that “Nashes were built to order, so he couldn’t help him.” Aldington then recalled that this late Mk I, chassis 160, was still sitting at the ports waiting to be shipped to Australia. It had been invoiced by Aldington in November 1952 to John Crouch Motors of Sydney, Australia, to be a distributor car; however, import restrictions had grounded it temporarily. As built, it was one of the last four Mk I cars to be completed. That handful of Le Mans Replicas was visually distinguished by their flat scuttle tops and the placement of the speedometer and rev counter in the center of the dash, as opposed to earlier cars where they sat behind the steering wheel.

Aldington secured the car and had it prepared for racing with a 3.5:1 back axle, racing clutch, and race tires. He then rushed it down to the British Southampton port and loaded it onto a ship destined to cross the Atlantic rather than the Pacific. Upon arrival in New York, the car was collected and run in on its drive down to Florida.

At Sebring on March 15, 1952, piloted by Harry Grey and Larry Kulok, the heather gray, cigar-shaped sports racer covered a distance of 754 miles in half a day to win, averaging 62.8 miles per hour. Despite its engine capacity deficit, only the Bill Spear and Briggs Cunningham Ferrari 340 America ran any faster than the Mk I – a testament to the giant-killing nature of these cars.

Donaldson was so thrilled with the result that he wrote a letter to Aldington, who then published it in a Frazer Nash advertisement verbatim. Notable sound bites included: “Permit me to say this – it was the most astounding performance of any automobile I have ever owned, or had the pleasure to watch in competition. The car is fantastic and handles as though it were alive...it is a thoroughbred and performed to perfection...Del Roy turned to me and he said ‘Well, it’s better than an Offenhauser.’”

Grey subsequently raced the Frazer Nash at Bridgehampton in May and it returned to Sebring in 1953, by then wearing a darker color scheme and driven by John Rogers. A repeat victory was not to be, when clutch troubles after only two laps forced withdrawal and Donaldson’s other entry, a Mk II Frazer Nash, also failed. In August 1953, Tony Bonadies raced the car for Donaldson in the Floyd Bennett Cup, coming home in 8th, and a year later in the Suffolk County Races at Westhampton, New York, he ran the car again, albeit the result is not recorded.

As Trigwell documents, chassis 160 was advertised by Donaldson shortly after that and sold to Jerome Saubers, a USAF Captain stationed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Capt. Saubers is quoted as saying that the car was not in great shape by this point, but he enjoyed working on it. When transferred to West Palm Beach, Florida, he drove the car down there and would later swap it with his friend Perry Boswell in exchange for Mr. Boswell’s similar car, chassis 168, which had also been owned by Donaldson and raced in the 1000 Miglia.

As written by James Trigwell, “The car’s subsequent history is not known,” but that is not the end of the story. In 2018, the car was discovered having lain undisturbed since the 1960s. It was owned by the family of John M. Gibson Sr., who is believed to have acquired the Le Mans Replica circa 1960 from Ray Fox of NASCAR fame.

The car was sent to the UK, where the main experts for these cars are domiciled and are the perfect disciples of those who pioneered racing Archie Frazer- Nash’s cars in the prewar era. The most respected of the brethren is Patrick Blakeney-Edwards, to whom this car was entrusted. Miraculously, its aluminum body was able to be saved, while its engine, a period unit which had no doubt been switched with the original early on, was rebuilt to correct specifications. Its intrinsic authenticity and the quality of the workmanship has ensured that the finished article is exactingly returned to its Grey/Kulok Sebring-winning guise.

The Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica is regarded as one of the best sports race cars of its time, and many are held in some of the greatest private collections in the world. They are known for their light, precise steering and nimble handling, making them a delight to drive. Only 34 factory-built examples were constructed, meaning good examples are extremely difficult to find. Eligible for countless motoring events worldwide, these cars are seldomly offered for public sale.

Stepping out into the limelight, this long-lost Sebring-winning car offers its next owner the glory of showing or experiencing this legendary model in any number of period retrospective events for which it is eligible in the US, Europe, and the UK.

Photos © Tim Scott