New book on Frazer Nash

[Richard]

I see that Palawan Press (www.palawan.co.uk) have just announced the publication of a new book entitled "The Post-war Frazer Nash" by James Trigwell and Anthony Pritchard.

To quote the blurb "This beautifully designed and illustrated book traces the evolution of the Bristol-powered Frazer Nash from the first prototype based on the BMW 328 that had competed in the 1940 Mille Miglia road race to the last cars that appeared at the London motor show in 1957-58. Early chapters recount the founding of the company, the involvement of the German BMW company with AFN, the makers of Frazer Nash cars and the evolution of the BMW-derived Bristol engine that powered them."

Pre-publication price for the "cheap" edition is 250GBP up to 25th Oct. After that 300GBP.

Ho hum, I fear at that price it won't be on my Xmas wish list

Richard

[Ashley James]

In my opinion there is so much stuff on the Internet now that a book
isn't so important and, as I said before, there are so many
disappointing car books about, I only collect ones relating to
specific eras and published at the time.
Jenks book on the history of AFN probably covers it and can be bought
for a tenner.

Anybody want to bid me the £80 I foolishly paid for Oxley's offering?

Ash

[RGSchmitt]

Hello all -

"Jenks book on the history of AFN probably covers it and can be bought
for a tenner."

Denis Jenikinson's "From Chain Drive to Turbocharger" is an excellent history of AFN and covers all the Frazer Nash car production fairly well, but there never has been a comprehensive history of the 85 postwar cars.

Based on the contributions that co-author James Trigwell has made to my website (FrazerNash-USA.com) for almost 12 years and his nearly instant and detailed answer to any question during that time, I expect the Palawan book (Palawan Press - Frazer Nash) will be the "final word" on these cars for many years to come.

The Internet is truly a fantastic resource, but I don't expect in-depth coverage on thousands of "arcane" topics, perhaps not in any foreseeable future. Where is there a good biography (anywhere) of Archibald Frazer Nash? What can compare to "The Miller Dynasty" by Mark Dees (my favorite book so far)?

Yes, the price of "The Post-War Frazer Nash" is very high and will consume my reading budget for a few years, but I'll order a copy. Visitors will be allowed to read it; white gloves will be provided.

On related Frazer Nash news, I'm adding to the "replicas" page of my website. I think this is the best source about the Le Mans Replica "replica" cars built by Crosthwaite & Gardiner, Werner Oswald and others. It is:
Le Mans Replica "replicas"

Finally, there is a postwar Frazer Nash on the cover of "New Zealand Classic Car" magazine, September isssue. NZ Classic Car Issue 225 September 2009 -- Classic cars | vintage cars, car enthusiasts and historic racing
This is a Mille Miglia, 421/100/168. Copies can be ordered from the site.

Enjoy your drives!

Bob (Burbank, where it is hot and somewhat smokey)

PS I seem to know much about that cover car and have driven it.

[legavroche]

Ash, you did better than me as my copy was even more expensive! It was however signed by the great man himself so I suppose that makes all the difference!

Gavin

[Ashley James]

It's a pretty rotten book if one takes off the rose tinted
spectacles, but may have been acceptable when it was published.

I have numerous letters between him and Paul Duffield who owned my car
from the late sixties until I bought it from his son via Andrew Blow
3.5 years ago. It had gone to BCL for a rebuild in 1968 and they'd
kept it for three years, fitted it with two totally different wings so
that one headlight was 1.5" higher than the other and, although he
didn't know, they'd pop riveted thin aluminium sheet over the rust and
coated it all with a very thick under seal so it wasn't discovered
till I decided a total rebuild was necessary.

Oxley writes about LMF which was low moral fibre in BCL at the time.
They didn't do a very good job at all, although we were able to
resurrect the leather and the Moquette (just) and make new carpets and
fit proper headlining rather than the cheap Melton BCL had used. It is
very good now although I've still lots to do before I'll be happy.

Does anyone know if there are problems in fitting a 406 front cross
member complete to a 400 with Coopercraft calipers? For instance; is
the spring a different rating? Friend Paul Lacey is rebuilding Hugh
Porter's old car, which is tired and this would make life easier. Also
does anyone know how to get the spring out of the cross member on a 406.

Ashley

[Kevin H]

Ash and Gavin - which Oxley book are you talking about ? ("A Quiet Survivor" or "An Illustrated History" ?)

As for the new Palawan book, I don't see how it can be compared with the Jenks book "From Chaindrive to Turbocharger", given that none of us has actually seen the Palawan book yet!

Nevertheless, one difference that is immediately obvious just from Palawan's description is the number of photos each book contains. The Jenks book contains around 225 black and white photos whereas the Palawan book contains 350, including rare colour photos from the 1950s. I have no doubt the format of the books will also differ greatly.

As for the price, £250 pales into insignificance when compared with what many people spend maintaining or restoring their cars, much of which is not noticeable and will never be recovered. Whereas a high quality book will last your lifetime and in years to come may be worth more than you paid for it.

[legavroche]

My copy is ''The Quiet Survivor'' - I do not own a copy of ''An Illustrated History''

Gavin

[Ashley James]

Mine is The Quiet Survivor.
I've not owned or read a Palawan book. So shouldn't prejudge, but I do
have a collection chosen for historical information and because they
provide illustrations that can be helpful when I or my son are
restoring old cars.
However I've bought quite a few I've thrown away because they are
simply regurgitated mistakes and advertorial.
Somebody mentioned the Motor Year Books and I have a set of these and
find them very useful for example.
I hope the Palawan Book is good and wish they'd done the forthcoming
and already discounted Bristol Book.
Restoration of old cars is far more important in my view, regardless
of the cost. If we don't do them properly they won't drive and ride as
they should and future generations will not know what they were like.

[lansdownplace]

I can't speak for prior restorations but the full restoration job
BCL did on my 412 S2 this year was absolutely superb. I saw the car
at each stage and there was no detail too small for their attention.
One thing that was apparent is that there are many ways to set the
car up once it has been finished so I am not sure you can say there
is a 'standard' ride. You can alter the ride height, spring rates,
damping rates, front rear balance between these, adjust the roll
bars between standard, medium and heavy (with a few chassis mods for
the last option) and that is before you adjust the timing, carbs,
cam shafts or anything else. I have played around with the settings
until I have the car set up to suit me, which is in keeping with the
bespoke nature of the cars. I do agree that a proper restoration is
the best route, but this is expensive and, realistically. most will
be done to a budget.

On the topic of books and accuracy, I am really interested in the
history of the company, but I do recognize that it is private. After
all I am not sure I would want endless people pouring over the history
of my business as told by anyone and his dog. The only way to know
what happened was to have be there, and even then it is only one view.

That said I am looking forward to the new book!!!

Paul

[Ashley James]

I rebuild my own which is more cost effective though still a
considerable amount. For me, it's part of the fun and I have a son who
runs a business doing it which helps too.
The thing that I find with the history of any company is that it's
pretty much as my own, so a tad predictable and not all that
interesting.
I like the Kidnap Of The Flyind Lady though because it's a good story
and a pretty fair account of a more interesting history than average.
Ash

[Kevin H]

Before this becomes a debate on the pros and cons of restoring classic cars, this is a thread about the new Palawan Frazer Nash book and the point I made was that £250 is a drop in the ocean compared with what many people spend on restoring cars. In fact there are probably plenty of people who spend more than that each year just maintaining a classic car that they only drive very occasionally (once all costs are taken into consideration).

If you enjoy beautiful books with high quality content, then £250 for a Palawan book is not extravagant. The leatherbound version however, is a very different proposition.

[Ashley James]

I think we'd beaten it to death and moved on Kevin.
I'm converting my front suspension to telescopic damping now.
Ash