The early 1950s was an extraordinary period of many small manufacturers producing wonderfully unique sports cars for the booming American and recovering European markets. These cars were often entirely hand-built which resulted in relatively high sale prices and subsequent low production numbers.
One of these manufacturers was Frazer Nash, named after its founder Archibald Nash, which produced small-capacity chain-driven sports cars from the 1920s up to the Second World War, later under the care of the Aldington brothers.
The Targa Florio model was aimed at being a slightly lower cost model, with a similar parallel-tube chassis to the Le Mans Rep Mk II, clothed in a sporty closed-wheel body. The price difference ended up being minimal, but Targa Florios were available in Turismo (100 bhp) and Gran Sport (125 bhp) specifications.
Despite the lower price, the Targa Florio was still double the price of a Jaguar XK120 Roadster and resulting demand meant that only 15 examples were built, 10 of which were the sportier Mk1s.
Targa Florio’s were produced in two body styles, the earlier and more desirable is the ‘short tail’ body with the unmistakeable Frazer Nash grille, whilst the later cars received longer bodies with an open nose, essentially a roofless Le Mans Coupe.
As a testament to the Frazer Nash build quality and desirability, the vast majority of the 85 post-war cars still exist today. Here below is a set of beautiful photos of the 1952 Frazer Nash Targa Florio.
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