1937 Frazer Nash-BMW Type 319/2 Cabriolet

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | December 9, 2013

We featured a Frazer Nash last week and described a bit of the history of the company. In the early years, Archibald Frazer-Nash (why is his name hyphenated and the company not?) formed AFN Ltd. after the GN cyclecar failed.

Their original purpose and business model was to import BMWs from Germany and assemble them in the U.K. The cars were marketed as “Frazer Nash-BMW”s and not BMWs. The company was the official British BMW importer between 1934 and 1939, before things between Germany and Britain got a little tense – to say the least.

The BMW 319 was introduced in 1935 and lasted through 1937. It was a version of the 303, which dated back to 1933. The engine is a 1.9-liter straight-six making 45 horsepower. This car has known ownership before the war and it picks up again in the 1960s. The current family who owns the car acquired it in 1978.

This car has covered about 54,000 miles in its life and shows an older restoration that could use attention in spots. It’s been in a museum recently and might need a little work to get it roadworthy. A total of 6,646 BMW 319s were built – a small fraction of which were sold as Frazer Nash-BMWs. This is a cool car that will bring between $65,000-$73,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams’ Oxford sale.

Update: Failed to sell.