If you want to take part in the new edition of the Mille Miglia, you need a contemporary model that started with the real Mille. The rarer the vehicle, the higher the chances of starting. They are high on the roadster we move.
Only vehicle models that took part in the classic Mille Miglia are allowed to take part in the new edition as a classic car rally. This also applies to the rare Frazer Nash Mille Miglia, although it was presumably never at the start of a contemporary Mille.
Designer and inventor Archibald Frazer-Nash, hence the abbreviation “AFN”, which is often read, who tried his hand at so-called light cycle cars (often with chain or belt drives) and sporty cars with small displacements and a maximum of four cylinders in the twenties of the last century , was founded in the thirties with his company AFN Ltd. as a BMW general importer to the United Kingdom. He mainly marketed popular models such as the 327 and 328 as the BMW Frazer-Nash. No wonder that the legendary two-liter in-line six-cylinder was found in the AFN post-war vehicles.
The first independent AFN racing cars with this engine made their debut in 1948 with the “High Speed” models, later renamed LeMans Replica and the much more delicate Mille Miglia. The sports cars were supposed to be used in those classic road races through Italy at the time. However, the literature does not agree on the details - some sources see the start of the potent AFN athletes in 1950; However, if you search through the old starter line-ups of the Mille Miglia races, you will very well find the high speed in the tables for 1949, but the Mille Miglia never appears. Meanwhile, the Frazer-Nash piloted by Michael Ten Bosch appears with the confusing name “2000 Mille Miglia” - but according to historical pictures a completely different model than our Mille Miglia. No wonder, this is also the "Fast Tourer". It was only later, after strenuous marketing considerations, that the model should better be called “Mille Miglia” in order to boost sales - but more than twelve copies are said to never have hit the streets.
The Mille Miglia with chassis number 421/100/166 competed in honorable competitions such as the Goodwood nine-hour race, the Silverstone British GP and the International Rally of Great Britain at the beginning of the 1977s. And after all, the exotic took part in the Mille Miglia, which was re-launched in XNUMX, with its future owner. We can drive it now.
You first have to find your position in the tightly cut body on the right-hand side, especially sort your knees - so as not to accidentally tear off the large, skinny steering wheel with them. The durable six-cylinder bumper with hemispherical combustion chambers and three carburettors starts up willingly, a few thrusts of gas, then the chubby-sonorous-sounding power pack runs and acoustically stimulates passion. Quirky side note: there's space for replacement spark plugs and a bit of tools in a small box under the long hood.
With 125 British Horse Power, translated: 126 DIN PS, the aged engine has no problem in propelling the tubular frame construction, which weighs well under a ton, forwards. With increasing speed you get pressure in the back. And always keep an eye on the tour counter in the centrally arranged instrument ensemble and let the pointer rotate, then the corners of the mouth are up. If you lose your inhibitions after a while, you quickly become one with the roadster and let the metallic clacking gear lever slide rapidly through the streets. The gears are close together, but the box is not undersynchronized. It does require strength, but not nearly as much sensitivity to be operated as some similar old vehicles.
And because there is no conventional windshield, in addition to the dynamism of the old grumbling straight six, the roaring wind also increases the adrenaline level. The tourer lives up to the reputation of the famous and accomplished racing driver, literally wants to be thrown around the bend with the accelerator pedal, sticks to the ground, simply creates a good mood. It should attract the attention of the vast majority of passers-by. Incidentally, the specimen discussed is for sale at Thiesen Automobile Cologne, and the next Mille Miglia is sure to come.