FREIK—the Private Life of the Freikaiserwagen
By Rob and Hugh Dunsterville
Freik was most definitely not a freak. Freik was a perfect example of that peculiarly British fashion of building racing cars out of any bits and pieces that happened to be available at the time of construction. The term “bitza”—bits of this, bits of that—derives from this period.
This is a paper-backed book telling the detailed tale of one car’s life, the Freikaiserwagen. Because the car was rear-engined and built at the time of the rise of the Auto Unions in GP racing, it is considered that its name is a Teutonically fashioned mixture of Joe Fry, its designer and constructor, Dick Caesar, who supplied many of the ideas, and “wagen” because it sounded German.
Now it may seem an unlikely way to go about building a winning racing car but, in the case of many budding engineers from the 1920s onward, this car epitomizes the style of UK motor-racing free-thinking and some of the results were outstanding. The most common type of British motor sport event during the 20 years prewar and, indeed, the 10 years postwar, consisted of short hillclimbs and straight-line sprints, as the only circuits available were Brooklands and, for a short period, Donington, until the conflict removed those two latter options.
So the special-builder had a basic specification in mind before he started; a high power-to-weight ratio achieved through the utilization of highly developed motors mounted in the lightest and skimpiest of frames. Rather like four-wheeled motorcycles.
Freik tells the full story of one of the most successful of these, so it is required reading for anyone who is inquisitive about the development of UK motor sport and an insight perhaps into why Eric Broadleys, Colin Chapmans, and Adrian Neweys are so prolific in the UK.
Available for £15.00 through the Midland Automobile Club www.shelsley-walsh.co.uk
