From Ziff: a 1996 Fraser Clubman

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According to publicly-available Transport Tasmania records, this ripper Lotus 7-based sports car is a New Zealand-built Fraser Clubman.   Unfortunately, there pretty much endeth the lesson because there’s no readily available information that definitively states what engines, transmissions and other running gear was used when this particular example was built in 1996.  Even AI vacillated on what might be lurking beneath its long, shapely bonnet, suggesting that as it is effectively a kit-car, a range of power-plants may have been used.  It also lamely suggested visiting the Fraser Clubman Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_Clubman)  but that didn’t help, either.


Our chip-for-brains friend did, however, timidly suggest that either a Toyota 4AGE 20 valve or a Toyota 3SGE could have provided this example’s get up ‘n’ go, which is plausible, as both those options were produced in the mid-90s and are still available as current Fraser specs on the marque’s official website (https://www.fraser.co.nz/).  The list of motive options has expanded since then, though; it now includes the ubiquitous 2.0 litre Ford Duratec, Honda’s F20c and even a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle donk.

Photo courtesy of Garage of Awesome (FB)

Garage of Awesome's Dave Carey just recently - as in a couple of days after this post was first published - happened upon a Ford Kent-powered Fraser at a Daikoku car meet in Yokohama, Japan.  As far as engines go, this is unsurprising; the highly tuneable four-pot has always been a popular choice for Clubman-type cars, so it's not impossible that "our" Tasmanian example might be running one, too. It's also kinda fitting, given that the 1960s' masterpiece Lotus engine is actually a 1557 cc Kent wearing an alloy twin-cam head designed by ex-Coventry Climax engineer Harry Mundy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus-Ford_Twin_Cam). 

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U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)

Main photos by Ziffle. 




 



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