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1954 Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupe
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DrivenFeatured Editorials & ContentRoadcar Articles

1954 Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupe

 Sean Smith

Archibald Frazer-Nash started his company in 1922, but found himself in receivership by 1927. From the ashes was born AFN limited, the majority of which was purchased by H.J. Aldington. In the aftermath, Archibald went on to create a new company with E. Grattan Thompson ( Nash&Thompson), which developed hydraulic aircraft gun turrets.

 By 1934, the early Frazer Nash “chain drive” cars were a thing of the past, so AFN Ltd. became importers and assemblers of BMWs and sold them as Frazer Nash BMW. They were the official importer until the war got in the way in 1939. After the war, strong ties with BMW kept AFN in good stead. What was left of the heavily damaged BMW plant that wasn’t removed by troops found its way to AFN’s Islworth Falcon works. The Bristol Aeroplane Company, which wanted to be part of the post-war auto industry, bought a controlling interest in AFN. The plan was to build cars using a Bristol version of the pre-war BMW engine. The touring cars would be Bristols, and the Frazer Nash name would be kept for the sports cars. In the end, there was a great deal of friction between the companies, so both companies ended up going their separate ways. Yet despite the split, Bristol agreed to supply AFN with its engines and transmissions.

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Sean Smith
Casey M. Annis is the Founder and Editor of Vintage Road & Racecar magazine, as well as Editor of Alfa Owner, The Oily Rag and BMW Ultimate Classic magazines. He founded Parabolica Publishing in 1997 after a career in neurobiology. Along with his passion for automobiles, Casey is a long distance open-ocean paddleboard racer who’s competed over 10 times in the 32-mile Catalina to Manhattan Beach race and the 32-mile Molokai to Oahu race. Casey still contributes and writes about the world of vintage road and racecars and edits and curates the content for this website.
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