But all of that would end around 8am on the morning of the 6th. It seemed the High Speed was both fast and stable as Culpan looked comfortable behind the wheel hour after hour. Halfway through the race the number 26 Frazer-Nash High Speed would be all the way up to 4th place overall. The partnership would prove to be a successful one.
Culpan could not have chosen any better than when he hired Aldington to drive alongside him. But, given Culpan's inexperience, he certainly needed to think long and hard about hiring a co-driver that had the kind of experience needed to be able to carry through such an arduous event as Le Mans. In fact, Culpan would be relying upon the performance and the reliability of the Frazer-Nash to carry him through his first ever sportscar race, the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans.Ĭulpan wouldn't be doing the whole race by himself. This new model by Frazer-Nash would be the one in which Normah Culpan wouldn't just make his Le Mans debut. The High Speed model, however, would take Frazer-Nash to a whole different level. And, on the 5th and 6th of June, two passengers would give the comfort and the performance of the High Speed its greatest workout.įrazer-Nash automobiles had always been produced in relatively low numbers, but, they remained popular.
FRAZER NASH DRIVER
Completed with a 2.0-liter, 6-cylinder Bristol engine producing around 120bhp, the High Speed would be an instant choice for sportscar races all throughout England the Europe.Ĭompleted with leather bucket seats and a body that widened sharply from the nose aft, the High Speed would be advertised as providing 'ample room for driver and passenger'. Sporting a tubular main body and subsidiary framework, the entire would be welded to the chassis offering superior strength and rigidity. The narrow nose meant the entire front suspension would be exposed and available for close inspection. The chrome grill would wonderfully accent the character and design of the nose as it swept back along the top heading aft. The car started out with an incredibly narrow and beautifully sculpted nose barely wide enough to house the car's radiator. Noted for the 'classic' cycle-style fenders, the High Speed two-seater would begin production in the years leading up to the 1950s and would blend, masterfully, the old with the new.įlanked on all four corners with beautifully rounded cycle fenders, the High Speed would be a truly beautiful sight to behold from any angle. The result would be one of the most iconic and most easily recognizable periods in Frazer-Nash history. Getting their feet back under them, Aldington would set about directing the Frazer-Nash company into a direction that was, invariably, an evolution of the work that had already been established in the immediate post-war years. Supplied by Bristol engines, also based upon the Model 328's BMW engine, Aldington would set about designing a number of sportscars. Having brought one of the Model 328s home, Aldington would set about tooling car bodies, engines and chassis around the BMW example. His sought after prize was one of the Model 328s that had taken the sportscar world by storm just prior to the start of hostilities. This would lead Aldington to make a flying trip to Munich immediately following the end of the war. Just prior to the start of the war, Aldington's had positioned AFN to become an importer of BWMs to England.
Aldington, would be utilized building gun turrets for Avro Lancaster and Vickers Wellington bombers. Aesthetically intriguing and pleasing, the life of the High Speed would change with one race on the 5th and 6th of June in 1949.ĭuring the Second World War, Archibald Frazer-Nash's company, which at the time was known as AFN and owned by H.J. One such example would be a two-seater High Speed model car built by Frazer-Nash. Winning a major competition has a way of changing reputations and names forever.