Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 06:50:12 +0100 (WET DST)
From: Russell Maddock
Subject: Fraser Imps
A trawl through my hard drive turned up the following message from David Duncanson of STOC which was posted on the Tiger list some time ago.
Russ Maddock-----Original Message-----
From: david duncanson
To: tigers@autox.team.net
Date: Sunday, 25 May 1997 10:37
There is at least one of the Fraser Imps still in Tenerife - it belongs to a friend of STOC member Carlos Hafner.
In the sixties Fraser was under contract to Rootes and although he and Marcus Chambers despised each other, Fraser built up a very successful racing team. In 1966 his team of drivers included Bernard Unett, Ray Calcutt and Nick Brittan, gained 30 firsts, 19 seconds and 13 thirds. By half way through the 67 season it was 20 wins, 8 seconds and 3 thirds out of 29 events!!!!!
To say they stomped the BMC and Ford opposition would be an understatement. Fraser ran six imps, three for club events and three for international meetings. The cars developed 120 bhp from the 998c.c. engine - not bad for 1966.
Two tigers were run - the first being the group three car, the second the MONSTER tiger. This ran lowered suspension by 3 inches; Armstrong dampers front; Konis back; 4.07 axle-special competition gearbox; 4.2 block hi po 289 heads giving 325 bhp!
Alloy bonnet boot lid and hard top - 15" wheels 11" disks at the front and 10 at the back.
The whole car was painted blue and white with the cross of St Andrew on the hardtop (Fraser was a Scot! And we Scots are a very patriotic bunch! St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and strangely Tenerife! That's why the Spaniards went bonkers when the cars landed in Tenerife)
During 1965 and 66 the monster stomped the competition with many outright wins. It came 2nd in the autosport championship in both those years.
I'm a bit of a fan of Alan Fraser. I really think that if he'd been in charge of the competition dept., then the debacle at Le Mans would not have happened. He told me that he entered 2 tigers for Le Mans 1965 but his entry was rejected. Fraser insists that the main objection came from Shelby who put pressure on the French authorities.
It's a great story whatever the truth is.
Fraser now runs an animal sanctuary in the highlands of Scotland having sold his dealership business in Hildenborough, Kent.
And to think that the two Le Mans cars sat in a field outside his garage for nearly two years... but that's another story
DSD