Frazer Imps

[driftwood]

I have never really seen Frazer Imp photos or car spec
I raced Imps many moons ago and was looking to build a true replica to race in HSR series
I had a book written by nick britten /CCC and that had many Frazer Imp photos and i knew lot about them after ii had done some basic research used magnifying glass to study the book photos BUT i never had any photos from amatuer photographers
Today we have scanners & websites to list race photos etc so
here is an ideal place to star
Th eImp club doenst have much going
ive found many special saloon Imp photos on the web but nowt form the 60`s which would cover Frazer Imps Nathans Emery cars
George Bevan didnt reallystart til late 60`s and is more the early 70`s

I know the main Frazer team drivers where
Ray Calcutt Nick Britten Tony Lanfranchi and they had a young girl drive (cant recall her name)
they also had 2 sets of cars
Gp 5 which was the main championship and
Club cars for the local special saloon events and these where usually the previous years Gp 5 cars often with larger wheels and flared arches to the rear lighter panels

Frazer also built Sunbeam Tiger 4 .7 litre car called the Monster Tiger
this car is still around in Birmingham area circa 1991/2
The Imps where taken to Majorca to race just after ROOTS canned the unofficial backing of the team and teh cars technically never came back

Ian Frazer moved to Scotland circa 91 to run his donkey sanctuary and i believe is not interested in discussing the Imp team days

I would think the team personel would at least be retired by now so info will be hard to come by & I know Ray kept in touch with Ian Frazer

So chaps over to you

[MONDELLO MAN]

Ian should read Alan , David Hall raced an "ex Fraser Imp " in Ireland , I reckon it was reshelled by him , will try and find out for you .

[driftwood]

f?+~@knows why i said Ian and not Alan too much exhaust fumes i guess!!

There have been a few rumours of racers with ex Frazer cars
i know where the car is in scotland ( i saw it 1987)

i do believe John Homewood and ray calcut raced ex frazer imps in 72-74
i found some comments in AS mags from that era and from memory Homewood ran his car in blue n white livery so its highly likely that he had frazer car and painted roof white

[Anuauto]

Pretty sure one of the Frazer race cars was used as a rally car in 1968 or 1969, on at least one Motoring News Championship rally that included road sections. Driver David Oliver? This was at the time when Colin Malkin in the last "works" rally Imp was the car to beat on such events.

[driftwood]

Peter Harper was also a Frazer team member and he did take a car rally crossing that was allegedly a frazer Imp but i would suspect he had a car built by the workshop rather than a race car sent to the rallycross meeting
Frazer did build some road cars as well
I also heard rumour many years ago of some cars being built for Uraguay or Venezuela not sure if they where race cars or rally cars

[Anuauto]

Peter Harper won the Lydden Rallycross in December 67 (that replaced the RAC Rally that was cancelled because of the foot and mouth disease outbreak) in a works (dark blue) Group 5 Imp. I believe he ran his own car later on in rallycross (which could have been an ex-Frazer race car), although Andrew Cowan's own car around that time was an ex-works rally car.

[glyn parham]

Driftwood.

There are very few of the original Fraser Imp employees around these days and I know where one of them lives.

Please give me some time to speak to him and find out if he will be able to help you out. He was a top man in the team which may give you a clue as to who he is but I am not sure if he ever comes online.

Glyn

[driftwood]

sounds good
i know 1 guy emigrated to canada many years ago
the engine man was Brian Ireland? at westlake engine
i also spoke many years ago to the man who did the cams down in kent for Frazer but i could not find a spanner man
i did try Ray Calcutt but he was not interested back then im sure he would have had all the photos and info i needed back then
I spoke to Alan Frazer but a she said it was 30 years ago
i find they people forget things but slowly recall info when they are presented with photos or autosport articles etc
after 6 days im stunned i have no photos yet!!

[col rooney]

Hi my race imp was a fraser back in the early 70s but has been semi space framed and has glass panels now but i do still have a few bits on the car that were on the original fraser .As for the best person to talk to about fraser imps my friend Robin Human done years of research into them and has a realy nice replica his e/mail is tzar_robin@hotmail.com tell him colin put you in touch hope this helps

col

[dereklola]

Might the guy who emigrated to Canada be a Rick Rose?

[Arty B]

Originally Posted by driftwood

I know the main Frazer team drivers where
Ray Calcutt Nick Britten Tony Lanfranchi and they had a young girl drive (cant recall her name)

Jaqui Smith (daughter of Rosemary Smith?). Do I get a credit note for that?

[driftwood]

i will give that credit
i could be bothered to look up my info
i knew she was not a quick driver but a young girl who did a few races only
are u sure it was Rosemary smiths daughter
now the main thing is NO ONE has come up with any photos

[col rooney]

Well i for 1 never knew that rosemary smith ever had kids

[driftwood]

i dont think she was even married hnce being known as Miss Rosemary Smith at many prize giving/ classic car events

[Arty B]

Was just guessing she was her daughter as Rosemary drove for Fraser as well?

[driftwood]

No- now i take back yr credit!!

[col rooney]

Well i dont think she drove for fraser she was a rootes works driver but she may of had an x fraser imp at some stage

[Neil1982]

Rosemary drove two races for Alan Fraser in the autumn of 1964 in what was a 'Rally Spec' 875cc car.

[driftwood]

yes that will be her own rally car as Frazer was not doing rallies i would guess he was just the entrant to dip his toe into the water as the following year he received some funding from Rootes to run the Imp in Group 5 and club races
He was also a rootes dealer

[MONDELLO MAN]

Rosemary Smith has no children .

[driftwood]

i could not see how a good catholic girl would have children without being married !!

[jph]

Jacqui Bond Smith drove a few races in a Fraser Imp in the mid-sixties. As well as the religious implications associated with the possibility of her being Rosemary Smith's daughter, there could well have been some biological difficulties as well, given that they would have been of similar ages.

Another Fraser imp driver who has not apparently been mentioned on this thread so far was Bernard Unett.

[driftwood]

I must confess i have not dug out my notes on drivers 6 in total i believe
Unett Lanfranchi Calcutt Britten Smith and Harper

i will dig out my files later as i think there will be another 1 to add

Bill McGovern was driving Paul Emerey team car
Roger Nathan drove his own car and George Bevan was not on the scene till 1969/70
im amazed no one has come up with period race fotos yet

[glyn parham]

One of the first drivers of the Fraser Imps was Peter Brown, I think he used to drive Alpines & Tigers for Rootes as well. He was infamous for his "party trick" due, no doubt, to nerves, of fainting in the car at the sight of the five minute board. Not surprisingly he was replaced by the end of the first year.

Correct me if I am wrong but I think that Gerry Marshall had a one off outing as well.

Glyn

[driftwood]

u may be right i heard he sat in an Imp
must have been in the 60`s !!