I’ve been a bit quiet on here recently, but for those who might be interested in what’s been happening with my dad’s old Frazer Nash/BMW 319, I’ve been organising to hopefully make 2026 a significant year in its more contemporary history.
Actually it started at the tail end of 2025 with (at last) the fitment of the correct tyres. My mechanic/ guru/ fettler ( lifesaver) Simon Blakeney Edwards took advice from Dougal Cawley and we fitted Pirelli Stella Bianca’s all round - and they have TRANSFORMED the steering and ride. They were available in 1936, but are now remade with more contemporary technology and materials. The original cheap tyres that had been fitted by the restorer in Germany were actually more commonly seen on delivery vans!
But despite testing by Simon, we were unaware of a pending problem. My weight. (In comparison to his)
Yes, on the way to a rather important assignation, on a very cold but potentially sunny day in early January, following a bump in the road on a busy A38, there was a dreadful graunching sound and I was horrified to see the drivers side rear wheel spat wrenching itself away from the car, and being trampled beneath the tyre.
I pulled over on to the verge , causing not a little fright (and possibly mirth) amongst other road users, and retrieved the crumpled spat from the roadway. This was worrying for 2 reasons. Firstly, more expense. Secondly I was on my way to do a magazine shoot with the car, and it now looked bloody awful!
My heart was in my mouth as I arrived at the pre-arranged location in the Cheddar Gorge, but I needn’t have worried. The Classic and Sportscar team, journalist Andrew Frankel (specially selected by the features editor for his experience of driving/assessing vintage cars) and young photographer Jack Harrison took it in their stride, and said they’d just shoot around it. A worrying start though, as I was really hoping Andrew would like the little roadster, and be able to report on enjoying a good drive.
Andrew had clearly done his research, but he also spoke to me a lot about the car’s history and the story of my finding my father’s old car in Germany. I’m a bit of a Frankel fanboy, and enjoy his car tests in Motorsport mag, and was really pleased when the magazine suggested he should do it, but now was the moment of reckoning.
After all the set up shots, and car to car slow-but -close drive shots, he checked with me about allowed revs and any anomalies, and disappeared up the Gorge
I waited with bated breath, hoping he’d have a good clear road, with no more spat problems, disintegrating engines or parts failures, the likes of which have been pretty predominant in the past few months as we’ve worked on fettling the car to be a strong performer. Eek!
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