Quick 5 with Richard Frankel

Richard Frankel from Peterborough, England, who has a well established property business owns an extraordinary car collection that includes a 50’s Ferrari 750 Monza and the 1952 Jaguar C-type that racing legend Sir Stirling Moss drove and won in at Rheims. It was the first car to have all four disc brakes, the car that stopped the world and changed the automotive history.

Mr. Frankel’s C-type is in Mumbai and is going to be showcased at the Cartier - Concour d’Elegance at the Taj- Land’s End, this weekend on the 9th and 10th of February, 2013. He is one of those people that work very hard so as to enjoy his hobbies: cars and racing.

We get a chance to exchange a few words with the old timer-enthusiast.

Q. How did you come about owning the C-type?

Richard: - “I have been around this car most of my life. It used to be owned by a family friend. I sort of pestered him for some 20 years and said if ever you decide to sell it, please let me know. I have always lusted after that car because of its history and because of what it is and eventually he said yes and I bought the car.”

Q. Sir Stirling Moss raced this car and won many races with it. How do you feel about owning a piece of history?

Richard: - “Well, its like all these things, when you do eventually get your hands on it, its very exciting but now its part of the family and been in my garage for about 8 or 9 years. I love the fact that it did so much in its period. I love the fact that Sir Stirling is still around and that he occasionally takes the car out for a spin and equally I’m very happy to take it out and go to the pub. I suppose I am very thrilled to have it. I love the fact that it is not in a museum and that it just gets used and is still out there being enjoyed. I love that. It’s a great privilege to own a piece of history.”

Q. Cars are meant for driving, how often do you drive this car?

Richard: - (Smiles), “Probably not as often as I should but if the weather is nice and its not raining I do take it out. It does quiet a lot of rallies; it takes part in the Millie Miglia most years. I take it out maybe once or twice a month. In England if the weather is nice and the sun is shining what better to do than go for a drive.”

Q. What else does your garage have?

Richard: - “I have one or two other cars. I have an old Bentley that I inherited from my father, some old Alfa Romeos that I race and one or two sort of eclectic cars. For me the 50’s sport cars are the most exciting. I have an old Ferrari as well and a pre-war MG. My everyday car is just a modern BMW, it’s not a Jaguar sadly, it should be. Modern cars are wonderful but I find that they are so, so fast, that I find that I get more of a thrill driving older cars which you can exploit and enjoy the performance at lower speeds, whereas if you had a modern XF or an XK, they are wonderful cars but they are so fast, I’d just be concerned about gathering points on my license, so I love the experience of driving an old car where you have to change gear, work the clutch and manage the steering.”

Q. I was told that you enjoy racing and it is one of your big passions. Have you raced the C-type before?

Richard: - “I do actually, I do get quite excited by that. I just love racing old cars. I love the fact that they twitch and that you can drift them. I have raced the C-type, but that particular car is the way it was back in 1952 and there are quite a few C-types and replica C-types that race and they have much hotter engines and have been developed for racing in the modern era. That was a very competitive car that won a lot of races in it’s era where as today those cars are more developed, so even if you put that car up against 2 or 3 racing C-types it wouldn’t be very competitive because they are much faster now than they were. I tend not to race that one because it doesn’t need to be beaten. It has a lot of history and heritage and its nice to preserved that. I love the fact that, that is the way it was when it came out of the factory.”

Richard’s 1952 C-type has not been restored for any Concours d’Elegance and is truly original. The entire heritage, glory and wonder of this gem of history is preserved due to collectors with huge passions for their cars.