Revival Revealed – Lavant Cup

Frazer Nash had been importers and assemblers of BMW cars from 1934 and, after the war, retrieved a Mille Miglia 328 and the technical plans from BMW’s bombed factory along with representatives of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. A deal was struck for Bristol to take over Frazer Nash and what they brought back from Munich would lead to the two-litre Bristol engine that proved to be a great powerplant not just for sportscars but also for F1 when the World Championship downsized in 1952 to F2 regulations and insisted on a maximum engine size of two litres.

In addition, it also led to a run of sportscars from Frazer Nash, including the High Speed model and then Le Mans Replica, Le Mans Coupe, Mille Miglia and Targa Florio. When Goodwood opened for racing in 1948, with few new racing cars having been built since the end of World War Two, the 328 was still very much a car to have, even though it had gone out of production in 1940.

Indeed, Ken Watkins won the fourth race of the inaugural meeting, for large-engined sportscars, in one such car. By 1953, British sportscar builder John Tojeiro was fitting his cars with Bristol power and Cliff Davis won the sportscar handicap at the Easter meeting, while Bristol-engined Coopers starred in the F2 race, too.

Early AC Aces also had the option of being fitted with this Bristol plant, helping to stretch the 328’s legacy deep into the 1950s.