The formula was simple and some engineers understood this way before Colin Chapman extolled the mantra of “adding lightness”. One of the aces that Frazer Nash added in weight saving was avoiding the need for power sapping gearboxes or differentials. Their cars were chain driven, with a simple solid back axle. A desire to race is why my father, Godfrey Paape, of Dunedin, imported one from England in 1937. He considered a supercharged Bentley (“the world’s fastest lorries”, according to Ettore Bugatti) or an Aston Martin, but the lightning fast and nimble Frazer Nash was head and shoulders above the others for performance.
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My grandfather raced motorbikes pre-1920 and Godfrey, despite being afflicted with polio, was also keen on motorbikes, so the transition to chain drive for him held no mystery, and made sense. If my memory is correct he paid 325 pounds for a used example, the same price as a new Ford V8 sedan. In the mid-’30s a Frazer Nash was the fastest accelerating road car you could buy. Godfrey raced it with success in gravel hill climbs. Circuit racing wasn’t commonplace in New Zealand in those days. He was a life insurance salesman and this car was also his daily driver. On a rainy Dunedin winter’s day, its hopeless roof and lack of side curtains surely meant the car’s appeal wore a bit thin. Although he
