EARLY HISTORY

Frazer Nash car Numbered 2059 was originally sold in chassis form to the Allington Brothers Motor Traders of London with an Anzani Roller Bearing engine (RB 2059). Whilst in London engine 2059 was removed and replaced with another Roller Bearing Anzani engine from Chassis 2002 (chassis 2002 was originally raced by H.J Aldington at Brooklands and sand raced at Southport with some success, and is currently believed to reside in New Zealand fitted with an HE Motor).

In July 1932 the chassis and Engine was then sold to a young Australian, Douglas Fraser Shepherd who was spending time abroad after receiving an inheritance and brought the car back to Australia.

EARLY AUSTRALIAN RACING HISTORY AND GRAND PRIX

The cars competitive appearances in Australia started at Light Car Clubs Maroubra Speedway event of 29 October 1932, where the car was one second behind the fastest cars (Bugatti and 1750 S.C Alfa Romeo).

On the 26^th January 1933 he entered the Five Mile handicap though does not appear in the results (would indicate it may have been a DNS).

On the 25^th of February the car competed at Wisemans Ferry in a Hill Climb and was fastest.

The next event was the Australian Grand Prix which held at the Phillip Island circuit in March 1933. Shepherd was handicapped off 7 seconds with only two Bugatti’s behind him. Unfortunately, the head cracked in practice which resulted in a did not start (DNS) for the Grand Prix. Around this time the head was believed to be replaced with a new Bronze head, believed to be cast in Sydney.

In July 1933 he competed with the Frazer Nash at the Newcastle hill climb where he broke the previous record, but on the day was beaten by Bill Thompson in a Bugatti.

Granville Speedway was the cars next appearance on 12^th August where it was beaten by Bruce Leckies Fronty Ford Special. This event was followed by a disappointing run in a Light Car Club event.

September saw Shepherd and the Frazer Nash at Wisemans Ferry again where he achieved the 3^rd fastest time.

He entered the Frazer Nash at Wentworth Park Speedway on the 11^th November but is recorded as a DNS, this would be the last recorded outing for Shepherd in the Frazer Nash.

MACKELLAR SPECIAL

After Shepherds last outing in the car in November 1933 it’s believed the car was sold to a Mr MacKinnon who owned the car until 1936 where the Sydney Ford Dealer, Ron Mackellar acquired the Frazer Nash Chassis. He installed a supercharged Ford Model T engine and named the Mackellar Racing Special. The car appeared for the first time at Broughton Pass hill climb in July 1937. This appears in Kent Patrick’s book on Thompson a photograph of the car ' page 390” with Bill Balgarnie driving at Waterfall Hill climb circa 36/37.

INNES SPECIAL

The Mackellar Special was then purchased by Hugh Stuart of Melbourne, the two-seater body was removed and fitted with a new monoposto body which was constructed by Bob baker. The mechanical rebuild was undertaken by Reg Nutt. The name of the car was changed to the Innes Special (which was taken from Hughs wife’s name). At this stage the chassis was Frazer Nash with Hudson back end, Vauxhall gearbox (30/98) and of course the trusty Fronty Ford engine.  The two-seater body was reputedly sold to Geoff Russell and fitted to his Morris Special.

TED HIDER SMITH COLLECTION

The car then found its way into the Ted Hider Smith collection. Ted was a long enthusiast for the “Chains and Dogs” and also owned an early 1920’s chain-driven Frazer Nash that took part in the first ever Australian Grand Prix in 1928. Ted was also able to locate and reunite the bronzed head Anzani engine (2002) which was used in a Speedway car for many years.

THE REBUILD

The car was then purchased by Graeme Quinn who undertook a complete rebuild of the car. The decision was made to construct a new body from scratch as after a long racing life in a various body there was no original body left. As the car left the works in 1932 it was thought that it was appropriate to construct a body style that was used by the works at that stage and that was a TT Replica. Mark Rye who had done work for the writer on other cars and certainly had the eyes of a Craftsman was approached to undertake the task. The result was just plain fantastic.

It was decided to restore the chassis with new rails constructed, the transmission, suspension, brakes and steering was restored utilising the help that existed in the Castlemaine area.

The competitive life also took a toll on the engine, one section of the crank was found to be cracked and the crankcase also had visible fatigue and fractures. The expertise of Crankshaft re-builders was called upon to undertake the mechanical rebuild of the motor and to fabricate a new section of crankshaft.

The car was completed and shipped over to WA to be enjoyed but unfortunately the crankcase problems returned. Various options were considered but as there were so few Roller Bearing engines in existence the radical decision was made to have a new crankcase made and fitted. This work was undertaken by the well-known experts Auto Restorations Ltd of Christchurch, New Zealand and was completed in 2014.

The car comes with the following spares;

Standard Anzani Crankshaft

Original crankcase

Spare Standard Anzani head.

The full set of Patterns & Moulds for the new crank case done by Auto restorations.

Brooklands would like to thank photographer Andrew Follows who created some of the images for the car.

Web Site: http://andrewfollows.com.au

Instagram Andrew Follows – Blinkie Photography