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Aston Martin LM19: race star to star honours

25 March, 2015

As with most of the world’s prestigious auto manufacturers, Aston Martin had a factory-works team building cars to compete in the annual Le Mans 24-hour race. Aston Martin’s LM-series of cars were individually numbered from LM1 to LM23 — the first two of these took part in the 1928 Le Mans. The Aston Martin works team’s development of the LM cars began to ramp up over the following seven years, and by 1935, the team produced four special LM-series cars, widely regarded as amongst the best pre-war sports cars.

Three of these cars — LM18, LM19, and LM20 — were built to race in the gruelling Le Mans 24-hour Grand Prix d’Endurance, where they would perform admirably. Thomas Fothringham drove LM19 hard and at the head of the pack, before crashing after nine hours. LM20, however, would finish third overall, and claim the Biennial Cup for Aston Martin.

LM19 would go on to be rebuilt by the works team, and raced by Charlie Martin at the Ards public-road circuit in Northern Ireland. Though the fastest amongst the works cars, faulty piping resulted in low oil pressure, and LM19 — and the rest of the works cars — retired to the pits.

The next year, in 1936, LM19 was sent to compete in the legendary thousand-mile Mille Miglia road race in Italy. The car once again performed well, driven by Tom Clarke and Maurice Falkner, and by Rome, LM19 was an hour and a half ahead of the next competitor in class. Unfortunately, a valve-train issue saw the end once more to what should have been a standout victory.

After its racing career, LM19 was taken in and maintained by the same family since 1969. It is in exemplary condition — valued at an estimated estimated £1,600,000–2,200,000 — and is now to be auctioned at Bonhams Festival of Speed Sale in June where, fittingly, it will be taking star honours.

Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.