1948 HRG Aerodynamic Roadster

HRG Engineering, of Tolworth, Surrey, was formed in 1935 by A.E. Hartford, G.H. Robbins and H.R. Godfrey. The company they created was best known for producing a compact yet individually made sports car at a reasonable price. Designed by H.R. Godfrey, it was a throwback to more traditional sports car design and bore more than a passing resemblance to the Frazer-Nash when announced in 1936. Unlike the Frazer-Nash, though, it boasted a shaft-driven rear axle instead of chains. The cars were assembled at a repurposed gear plant and the designs were influenced by Godfrey's previous work with the GN Company and Frazer Nash.

Coachbuilders Arthur Fox & Bob Nicholls of Tolworth in Surrey, Great Britain were responsible for the coachwork on this aerodynamic roadster. The duo-bodied cars from 1936-1947. The space frame of this model lent itself well to the special design and the firm reportedly bodied 31 (possibly as many as 45) models like this from 1945-1947. Three of these models were shipped to the United States in the late-1940s.

This car was owned by a Florida driver named Phil Stiles who raced it at Watkins Glen in 1950, where the current owner first saw the car. Stiles raced the car at the Linden, N.J. airport races in 1950 and at Palm Beach Shores. After this, the front-end configuration was modified.

The car is powered by a 4-cylinder, 1500cc engine delivering 60 horsepower.

The current owner found the vehicle lying in a farmer's field in Pennsylvania Dutch country in the late 1970s. The front end had been severely damaged. It was much later, with the help of Ian Dussek of the HRG Owner's Club that the new owner discovered it was the car he had earlier seen at Watkins Glen.