Posts Tagged ‘Mercedes Benz W196’

eBay @ Random 1…

Posted: August 31, 2026 in Features, Fotos
Tags: , , , ,
0
(eBay-MBisset-WordPress)

Jack Brabham, Brabham BT17 Repco, leads John Coundley’s McLaren-Elva Mk 1 Olds and winner Denny Hulme’s Lola T70 Mk2 Chev during the 1966 Tourist Trophy weekend at Oulton Park on April 29, 1966.

It was the race debut of the big-banger 4.3-litre Repco-Brabham 620 V8-powered BT17, a car that only did two races in period before a later lash as a hillclimber: the TT and the Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch on August 29. At Oulton it retired with oil leaks after only two laps, and at Brands engine problems prevented it from starting the race. There is a little more about BT17 in here:https://primotipo.com/2019/02/22/rbe-by-the-numbers/

Given its sedentary life of two meetings, in only one of which it started, and then in the corner of MRD, finding photographs for an upcoming Brabham book is problematic. I was having a whinge to ‘me mate, fellow enthusiast/historian Stephen Dalton, who mentioned the image on eBay below.

Even after a tickle with WordPress, it won’t make the cut, but his idea got me looking at the eBay archive/website; problem solved! The one above will do nicely.

Then yer go looking of course, this article is the first in what will become a regular series. Some of the images are good to go, others need sharpening to use. The captions make clear when I’ve given them a tickle. Sadly, more often than not, the vendors selling the shots don’t disclose the photographer. I’ve disclosed them when I can; otherwise, I’ve listed eBay as the source.

(eBay-MBisset-WordPress)

(eBay)

(Miroir Sprint)

Hmm, WTF I thought? Clearly a 1971 spec 917K, close look, Derek Bell behind the wheel, not the usual Gulf signage package. Miroir Sprint image, so quite possibly a shot in France.

And so it turns out. Derek drove the #18 Gulf 917K #016 at the Le Mans Test Day on April 18, 1971, together with teammates Jo Siffert and Jackie Oliver. David Fox believes it’s the Ford Chicane.

Bell and Siffert shared #045 in the race, with Bell doing 246mph on the Mulsanne before transission/camshaft issues intervened. More about Wyer and the 917 here:https://primotipo.com/2017/11/21/grady-davis-john-wyer-porsche-917-london-30-september-1969/

(J-P Froidevaux)

I love Jean-Pierre Froidevaux’ shot of the 2-litre Honda V6 nestled in the back of one of the two works Honda RH6/81s that contested the Hockenheim European F2 Championship round on April 5, 1981.

Mike Thackwell was third, and Geoff Lees fifth in the Deutschland Trophy, a race won by Stefan Johannsson’s Lola T850 Hart 420R. Lees won the championship. More about the Ralt RH6 Hondas here:https://primotipo.com/2023/12/09/ralt-rh6-81-honda-v6/

(eBay-MBisset-WordPress)

Somehow, this poor-quality image of Jim Clark blasting through the Hockenheimer Hardt forest at Hockenheim on that day in 1968 is all the more poignant for it. Works Lotus 48 Ford FVA during the Deutschland Trophy, Euro F2 round on April 7.

Article on the Lotus 48 here:https://primotipo.com/2015/06/05/lotus-48-ford-fva-agp-warwick-farm-1967-graham-hill-and-jim-clark/

(eBay)
(G Molter)

Most Australians of a certain age think of the 1978 Sandown Fangio Meeting when you mention Jack Brabham and the Mercedes-Benz W196 in the same breath. Our Jack ‘diced’ in BT19 Repco with JMF in a W196S 3-litre-engined W196R on a day those who were there will never forget. More about that meeting here:https://primotipo.com/2018/08/21/juan-manuel-fangios-sandown-park/

So, what’s the story here? Does anyone know where and when this drive/demo took place? Perhaps the Mercedes test track at Unterkheim, David Fox suggests.

(C Williams)

Graeme Lawrence’s Ferrari Dino 246T leads the mob into Shell Corner – the first corner on the first lap – of the February 22, 1970 Sandown Park Cup, the deciding final round of the seven that comprised the 1970 Tasman Cup.

It was a season of change; F5000 was the future, but the traditional 2.5-litre cars were eligible, and indeed, Graeme won the series with a summer of consistent, reliable pace in the same chassis #246T/69-0008 that carried Chris Amon to victory a year before. The McLaren M10s of Graham McRae, Frank Matich and Niel Allen were faster but were brittle, so Lawrence’s single win triumphed over the GM and FM’s two, and Niel Allen’s one.

The order is Lawrence, I think the front row, poleman Matich and Allen M10A and M10B Chev, respectively, have gone; #3 is John Harvey, Brabham BT23E Repco 830 2.5, #5 is Kevin Bartlett’s Mildren Yellow Sub Waggott TC-4V 2-litre. Tucked up GL’s clacker is Mike Goth’s Surtees TS5 Chev and behind him is his countryman, Ron Grable, in the stars n’ stripes rear-winged M10A Chev.

Niel Allen won a 100-mile race of attrition – six of the eight F5000s that started retired – from Lawrence with third-place man, party-boy, Ulf Norinder, Lola T190 Chev, third but two laps adrift of the front pair. Lawrence won the Tasman in his 2.4; FM was second in his F5000 with the 2-litre Mildren twins – Bartlett and Max Stewart equal third, not a bad distribution of the spoils in a Tasman where the F1 drivers were sorely missed…

I’ve done more articles on Dinos than just about anything else, try this one:https://primotipo.com/2018/05/01/wings-n-dino-things/

(Publifoto)

Oscar ‘Cacho’ Fangio aboard his Brabham BT15 Ford during the June 26, 1966, Monza Lottery F3 meeting.

Fangio raced his Chas Lucas BT15 Ford to 13th, one place behind Frank Williams’ BT18 Ford. Up front, soon-to-be Ferrari driver Jonathan Williams won in a De Sanctis Ford. See more about Cacho and Tonino Ascari here:https://primotipo.com/2019/08/27/tonino-ascari/

Paul Hawkins/Gerard Koch on the fly through the German countryside during the 1967 Nurburgring 1000 km; second in a works Porsche 910 behind winners Udo Schutz and Joe Buzzetta in another factory 910. Magic shot, more on Hawkins here:https://primotipo.com/2022/01/09/alberto-ascari-and-paul-hawkins-monaco-harbour-submariners/

(eBay)
(DPPI)

Another French mystery shot…If I knew that Simca had built a 2-litre F2 engine, I’d certainly forgotten! The vendor dated the fantastic shot to 1975, and I can see the Chevron insignia on the steering wheel, so that was enough hints to start with.

Quick search of Allen Brown’s oldracingcars.com race results suggests a Chevron B29, as to which chassis and race meeting, your guess is as good as mine…The shot of Xavier Lapeyre’s Chevron B29 #29-75-10 Chrysler-Simca-ROC at Hockenheim on the June 8 weekend (DNQ) below is there only to show you a B29 Simca; I’m not suggesting the engine shot is this chassis.

The 270-290bhp, DOHC, four-valve, Kugelfischer fuel-injected 1993c (92x75mm bore/stroke) engine was developed by Racing Organisation Course (ROC) from the production Simca-Chrysler 2-litre cast iron block used in the Chrysler/Simca range.

(LAT)

In 1975, the dominant BMWs: M12/6 and Schnitzer 20-4 were good for a reliable 290-300bhp. I’m not sure what a good BDA or BDG gave then, but they were towards the front with good steerers. Lapeyre’s eighth at Mugello and 11th at Hockenheim were the best results for the engine in 1975; Jean-Pierre Beltoise qualified his B29 ROC in the Top 10 thrice, but one of those was a non-championship round.

Note that the Chrysler-Simcas were effective in endurance racing, for example, winning the 2-litre class at Le Mans in the back of Chevron B36s in 1977, 1978 and 1980, a story for another time.

‘Racing Organization of Races – ROC’ is the way the French Government describes (annuaire-enterprises.data.gouv.fr) the ‘public limited company (SA) with a board of directors.’ That entity, founded on January 1, 1973, appears inactive from 1999.

Fred Stalder’s (not Stadler, according to Official 24 Hours Le Mans Archives and other sources) business was founded on January 1, 1973 and was based at ZI Les Buchillions 74100Annemasse (Haute Savoie). Doubtless, he used other entities for his subsequent varied career as a builder/preparer/entrant of touring and endurance cars; Google away yourselves, my French, other than when inebriated, isn’t too flash.

(DPPI)

Well rugged up John Cooper watches as Roy Salvadori settles himself into the cockpit of Derrick White’s new Cooper T81 Maserati V12 for its first, or thereabouts, test at Silverstone in March 1966. Date folks?

He’d driven a Cooper T51 Maserati or two, but this beast – Cooper’s first for the new 3-litre Formula – was an entirely different beast. The wily, quick, entrepreneurial Salvadori’s role in the Maserati-Cooper deal is well-told by Allen Brown here:https://www.oldracingcars.com/cooper/t81/

More about Roy, and the Cooper T80 at the end of this piece here:https://primotipo.com/2018/02/22/roy-salvadori/ See here for a piece on the 1966 F1 season and just what a strong contender the Cooper T80 Maserati was that season:https://primotipo.com/2014/11/13/winning-the-1966-world-f1-championships-rodways-repco-recollections-episode-3/

(eBay)

The business end of John Surtees’ Cooper T81 Maserati during the July 16, 1966 British Grand Prix weekend. Q6 and DNF: rear axle failure; Brabham won in BT19 Repco 620.

Tipo 9 Maserati 60-degree, DOHC, two-valve V12. 2989cc – 70.4/64mm bore/stroke – two 10mm plugs per cylinder, Lucas port fuel injection, Lucas transistor ignition, c-360bhp @ 9500rpm. ZF five-speed transaxle.

(G Molter)

You can get the build-season sense of urgency in this Motor Racing Developments shot taken by Gunther Molter in 1964, 1965 or 1966. The question, for you Brabham historians, is whether the Cosworth SCA-powered 1-litre F2 cars in build are 1964 BT10s, 1965 BT16s…or 1966 BT18s.

The answer is important as I’d rather like to use the image in our upcoming Brabham book, and it would be nice to put it in the correct chapter!

(eBay)

Chris Amon contests the LA Times GP Can-Am round at Riverside on October 30, 1966, DNF dead battery from grid seven after 50 of the 62 laps, winner, John Surtees, Lola T70 Mk2 Chev; and subsequent Can-Am Cup victor.

Amon’s bests were third at St Jovite, second at Bridghampton. The other three DNFs were from the front couple of rows…the youngster was pretty handy in these big cars!

The victorious McLaren/Amon Ford GT Mk2 at Le Mans in 1966 below. More here:https://primotipo.com/2016/06/27/le-mans-1966-ford-mk2-andrettibianchi/ There is plenty of Surtees/Lola Can-Am content here:https://primotipo.com/2015/10/23/jackie-stewarts-1971-canam-lola-t260-chev/

(eBay)
(eBay)

François Cevert is doing his best to steer clear of the Heavy-Metal in his Matra MS650 3-litre V12 during the 1970 Daytona 24 Hour classic, a race he shared with Jack Brabham. More here:https://primotipo.com/2016/09/09/jack-and-francois-matra-ms660/

Francois and Jack were tenth in the race won by JW Engineering Porsche 917K driven by Pedro Rodriguez/Leo Kinnunen/Brian Redman. The best-placed 3-litre machine was the ex-works NART Ferrari 312P raced by Sam Posey/Mike Parkes, fourth. More here:https://primotipo.com/2024/07/31/jo-siffert-daytona-24-hours-1970/

(eBay)

Gordon Cooper and Jim Rathman with their Gerhardt 66 Ford during the Indy Month of May in 1967. Watch this space over the next couple of days…

(eBay-MBisset-WordPress)

1978 World Rally Champion, Bjorn Waldegard, was one of the most successful and revered Safari Rally competitors, having won the event five times: 1977 Ford Escort RS1800, 1984 Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo on both occasions navigated by Hans Thorszelius, and in 1986, Toyota Celica Twin-Cam Turbo and in 1990 aboard a Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165, on the latter two occasions, navigated by Fred Gallagher. In the modern era, he won the East African Safari Rally Classis aboard a Porsche 911 together with his son Mathias in 2011.

However…in 1980 he was tenth in the Mercedes 450SLC above. Shekhar Mehta won in a Datsun 160J, Rauno Aaltonen was second in another 160J, and Vid Preston was third in the first home 450 SLC.

(eBay)

Sticking with the Formula 2 thread we seem to have going with this article, shown are shots of the victorious 1-litre Brabham BT18 Honda, which was as dominant in the ‘1966 European F2 Championship’ – there wasn’t one – as the Brabham BT19 Repco was lucky in the 1966 World F1 Championships. I have Ferrari and John Surtees shooting themselves in the feet in mind in saying that.

Between them, Hulme and Brabham won all but one race they contested. The story is told here:https://primotipo.com/tag/brabham-bt18-honda/ and here:https://primotipo.com/2021/12/17/brabham-honda/ David Fox ID’s the shot of Jack above as the Thillois Hairpin, Reims, July 2, 1966.

(eBay)
(F Prysen)

I love this Pau F3 GP shot taken during the April 17, 1966 weekend. Roby Weber’s Alpine A270 Renault is en route to third place in the 30-lap, 83km race won by Piers Courage, Lotus 41 Ford-Cosworth, from the similarly powered Brabham BT18 raced by Chris Williams.

Weber was second in both the French F3 Championship and the Challenger Craven A-France; Johnny Servoz-Gavin, Matra MS5 Ford-Cosworth, won the former and Courage the latter. There’s more about Alpine here:https://primotipo.com/2022/12/18/jean-pierre-jabouille/

Credits…

eBay, Miroir Sprint, Gunther Molter, Jean Pierre Froidevaux, F Prysen, Publifoto, Allen Brown and oldracingcars.com, David Fox

Tailpiece…

(eBay)

Finito…

Mercedes Benz W196R Take 4 or 5…

Posted: October 24, 2023 in F1
Tags: ,
1

I uploaded this butt-shot of a naked Mercedes Benz W 196 R Grand Prix car taken at the factory in 1954 to the primotipo Facebook page the other day, with interest levels as crazy as a frog-in-a-sock since…

So I’ve updated the piece with the shot and a few others from Mercedes’ archive, see here; https://primotipo.com/2015/10/09/mercedes-benz-w196-french-gp-1954/

The photograph shows the spaceframe chassis, two inboard brake drums and rear mounted 5-speed transaxle. The rear suspension comprises swing axles and tubular shocks with the spring medium longitudinally mounted torsion bars, which are not in view.

Credits…

Mercedes Benz

Finito…

Juan Manuel Fangio’s Sandown Park…

Posted: August 21, 2018 in F1, Icons & Iconoclasts, Who,What,Where & When...?
Tags: , , , ,
17
(B Howard)

The Light Car Club of Australia achieved a major promotional coup by securing Juan Manuel Fangio’s attendance at the fiftieth anniversary of the first Australian Grand Prix, at Sandown, Melbourne on 10 September 1978…

Here the great man ponders his car during practice. Fangio raced a Mercedes Benz W196 straight-eight Grand Prix car, the design with which he won his 1954-55 World Championships: whilst noting the two wins he took in Maserati 250F’s in 1954 before joining Mercedes, from the French Grand Prix.

JMF wanted to drive in a Polo-Shirt as he did in the day but the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport would have none of that, hence the overalls over his normal clothes.

Mercedes Benz W196 : French GP 1954…
Fangio W196 on display behind the Sandown grandstand- the ‘Interstate Betting’ is a function of the place’s prime function- donkey races (mouserat159)
(S Dalton Collection)
Fangio hooks the big Mercedes into Dandenong Road corner at Sandown (I Smith)

The Sandown event created huge interest far beyond the racing fraternity, including articles in such unlikely places as the Australian Womens Weekly – normally the province of the Royal Family, cooking recipes and similar – such was the mans immense global stature decades after his last championship win in 1957. He won five F1 titles of course: 1951 in an Alfa 159, 1954/5 Benz W196, 1956 Lancia-Ferrari 801 and the final in 1957 aboard a Maserati 250F.

It was the Argentinians first visit to Australia, he had planned to race in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games GP at Albert Park, a race won by Stirling Moss in a Maser 250F, but in the end conflicting commitments scuttled the idea. He returned to Melbourne in 1981 and came to Adelaide twice I think, the sight of him blasting along Adelaide roads during the wonderful 1986 ‘Eagle On The Hill’ run from the city up through the Adelaide Hills to the top of Mount Lofty is not something any of the large number who saw it will readily forget either. He drove a Mercedes sports-racer, a 300SLR on that occasion. If memory serves he may have boofed an Alfa Romeo Alfetta 159 of the type he raced in 1951 at Adelaide doing a demo- by that stage he would have been well into his late seventies mind you.

Fangio contested a ‘Race of Champions’ at Sandown which included Jack Brabham aboard his 1966 championship winning Brabham BT19 Repco 620, and former Australian champions Bill Patterson in a Cooper T51 Climax and Bob Jane in a Maserati 300S. Both were cars they had raced in period and retained.

(mouserat159)
(C Griffiths)
(I Smith)

All eyes were on the Fangio, Brabham ‘battle’ over the three lap journey of course, the footage well known to most of you says it all in terms of the speed and spirit in which the cars were driven, note that JMF was 67 at the time and had suffered two heart attacks in the years before his visit.

The sight and sound of Fangio driving the big, noisy W196 on the throttle, kicking it sideways in the manner for which he was famous lap after lap in practice around Sandown’s third-gear Shell Corner onto Pit Straight is forever etched in my memory – he could still boogie at that stage, well and truly.

As you all know, normally the paddock is a hive of activity with mechanics and engineers getting on with necessary preparation of their steed for the next session or race. Sandown’s then layout afforded those in the paddock a great view of the cars on circuit from or near the pit counter. On the occasions that Fangio was on circuit the tents in the cuddly-small Sandown paddock were empty as drivers and mechanics watched Fangio strut his stuff. It was simply not to be missed whatever the competitive needs of the moment were.

It’s always funny to re-live discussions of that-weekend with fellow enthusiasts as so many of us were there from all over this vast land, all having a different experience or highlight but equally excited recollections of it all despite the elapse of forty years. As a student at the time I was there from the meetings start to finish, it was sad when it was all over, I was very conscious of the fact that I had witnessed something special.

Fangio was the President of Mercedes Argentina and owner of two dealerships when he visited Oz and had to sing-for-his-supper over the week he was here. He did a range of promotional events, dinners and drives with motoring writers to promote, mainly, the ‘Benz 450 SEL 6.9 which was the range-topper at the time, a snip at $A68,500 in 1978.

(C Griffiths)

Postscript…

The 1978 AGP, held to F5000, was a race of attrition won by Graham McRae in his see-through perspex cockpit McRae GM3 Chev from John David Briggs and Peter Edwards in Matich A51 Repco and Lola T332 Chev respectively.

In fact it was an entirely forgettable AGP. Very bad accidents hurt both Garrie Cooper, Elfin MR8 Chev and Alan Hamilton, Lola T430 Chev. These very high speed shunts, together with a tangle that eliminated second placed Jon Davison’s T332 and Vern Schuppan’s Elfin MR8 Chev on lap 28, and a broken head-gasket for pole-sitter John McCormack’s unique ex-F1 McLaren M23 Leyland, conspired to rob a race which had lots of potential.

An arcane end to this piece.

It’s a long story, but a decade or so ago, an Australian enthusiast ‘discovered’ in contemporary newspaper reports that a very short race named ‘Australian Grand Prix’, was contested on an oval layout at Goulburn’s racecourse, New South Wales on 15 January 1927.

This race was shortly thereafter recognised by many, but not all historians as the first Australian Grand Prix thereby replacing the previous event which held that honour, the ‘100 Miles Road Race’ held at Phillip Island in 1928, later recognised as the first AGP.

So, Juan Manuel Fangio was here in 1978 to celebrate the 51st AGP not the 50th…

1936 Australian Grand Prix, Victor Harbour…

Photo / Other Credits…

Bruce Howard, John Stoneham aka Stonie, Chris Griffiths, Stephen Dalton Collection

Tailpiece: I wonder which particular W196 chassis Fangio ran here in 1978?…

(mouserat159)

Big butt isn’t it? All fuel and oil tank, its an object lesson in Vittorio Jano’s design intent with the D50 Lancia to get the fuel between the wheelbase via his pannier-tanks. I’ve a vague recollection this particular chassis was fitted with a 3-litre SLR engine for demonstration purposes rather than the GeePee 2.5? Interesting the way the body comes together too.

Finito…

Moss’ Mercedes First Drive…

Posted: April 7, 2017 in F1, Features
Tags: , , , ,
1

moss 1

(Bert Hardy)

Stirling Moss sets off on his first test laps of an ‘orrible looking Mercedes Benz W196, Hockenheim 4 December 1954…

Stirling Moss started the 1954 Grand Prix season, the first year of the 2.5 litre formula with a customer Maserati 250F acquired with family resources and some trade support. By seasons end he was Officine Maserati’s ‘team leader’ albeit unsigned by them for 1955 which rather created an opportunity for others.

Mercedes re-entered Grand Prix racing from the ’54 French Grand Prix and quickly, again, became the dominant force. The idea for this article was finding some Bert Hardy ‘Picture Post’ images of Stirling Moss’ first test of the W196 at Hockenheim on 4 December 1954, the precursor to him joining the great marque for 1955.

Some quick research uncovered an article written by Mattijs Diepraam and Felix Muelas on 8w.forix.com, a great website if you haven’t tripped over it by the way.

It’s a ripper article the contents of which they sourced from Ken Gregory’s and Stirling Moss’ books. Rather than re-invent the wheel I have truncated their article a smidge without taking away their interesting, nitty-gritty of circumstances around Stirling and Alfred Moss, and Moss’ Manager, Ken Gregory’s deliberations and negotiations about ‘the boy’s 1955 contractual commitments.

‘The Hockenheimring, was still raced anti-clockwise like they do at Indianapolis when Stirling Moss flew in to test the car that was the class of the field from the word go at the 1954 French GP.

After a few laps he knew. And then there was that handsome offer made to Ken Gregory. Mercedes simply wanted Moss and the effort to get him was meticulously planned. It left Gregory gaping at the negotation table – as he readily admits in his highly entertaining 1960 book ‘Behind the scenes of Motor Racing.’

‘And still it almost went wrong – although knowing Neubauer cum suis a plan B and even plan C would have been rushed out of the Untertürkheim premises forthwith. The first thing Moss and Gregory noticed of Mercedes-Benz interest was a brief and factual telegram by Daimler-Benz AG enquiring about the availability of Stirling Moss for 1955.’

“CABLE WHETHER STIRLING MOSS BOUND FOR 1955 STOP. OUR INQUIRY WITHOUT COMMITMENT – DAIMLER-BENZ.”

‘Stirling’s gut reaction was no. He had a signed contract with Shell-Mex and BP for 1954 and 1955 and was sure of a sponsorship clash with Mercedes suppliers, Castrol. Beside that, the contract was a done deal and he would not think of dissolving it so shortly after he had given his word – of which, in Stirling’s view, the contract was merely a written confirmation. He didn’t have time to think about it anyway, as he was due to leave for the US, to race in the so-called Mountain Rally.’

moss 3

Moss relays to Rudy Uhlenhaut left and Karl Kling what its like out there, car far less forgiving than the 250F Moss raced in 1954. Stirling has done plenty of laps by the look of his face (Bert Hardy)

‘Gregory thought otherwise, and after consulting Alfred Moss, decided to go Stuttgart himself. On the advice of Stirling’s dad, Ken armed himself with monstrous demands, to act like a tough British cookie and see what happens. It was a total shock to Gregory to find that Herr Neubauer, the long-time Mercedes boss, was infinitely better prepared for the meeting. Not only did the overbearing team manager come up with the most remarkable details of Stirling’s career – he also came up with a figure that would amount to Moss’ salary, a number that froze Gregory to the ground and left him gasping for air until he got on the flight back to England.’

‘Before leaving he convinced Alfred Neubauer to pair Moss with Fangio in the new 300 SLR sportscar, and of giving Stirling a test before anything was signed. The rest of the deal was ironed out on the spot. The Shell and BP matter was conveniently postponed until after Stirling’s arrival.’

‘On his return Gregory phoned Stirling in the States, having tracked him down in the Rootes building in New York. Initially an irritated Stirling reiterated his view on the contract with Shell and BP but then Ken told him about the contract terms – the sportscar pairing with Fangio, the permission to race his 250F in non-championship events – and, of course, the money involved. An honourable human being he may be, Stirling is only human as well. This was too good to be true.’

‘According to Gregory his stance immediately made an about-turn. And this is where Stirling’s own account of things takes off in his 1957 book In Track of Speed… “I was to receive the sensational and most encouraging news that the German Mercedes firm was ready and anxious to sign me as one of their official Grand Prix team for 1955. It is not easy, now, properly to analyse my feelings when the news reached America. I had gone over there to compete in the Mountain Rally, and had driven a Sunbeam in a trio of cars which won the team prize. When I heard of the Mercedes offer, I was a little awed, a little bewildered, and very pleased. With all my experience, I had not done a lot of real racing in the Grand Prix series on cars which stood a real chance. True, I had led the Maserati team for the latter half of the year, but to have a place in that all-conquering team – and I felt in my bones that it would all-conquering – was to give me a unique personal opportunity.”

And this is the November 22 entry for Stirling’s diary: “Up early, called on Jaguars, then to Rootes, where Ken called and told me of the fantastic Merc offer. Wow!”

Enough said.

moss 2

Neubauer projects and Moss listens and talks to Uhlenhaut (Bert Hardy)

Hockenheim Test and Build-up…

‘Between November 22 and December 3 lay a couple of weeks that became a string of field days for the press. The latter date would be the day of Moss’ return flight to London where he would meet up with his father and manager, the three of them flying straight through to Frankfurt for the planned test on December 4. In the meantime, Jerry Ames of Downtons, the British publicity agent for Mercedes-Benz did everything to alert his Fleet Street colleagues on the arrival of the important test, and this caused a flurry of reports on the Moss-Mercedes case. Did he have a verbal agreement with Maserati? What about the Shell/BP deal? How much would Neubauer be willing to fork out? And where were the principles of a man that had stated that he wanted to win the World Championship in a British car?’

‘All of it was fairly benign, though. From the US, Stirling had already released a carefully worded statement about his ambition to win the Championship in a British car but that there was very little hope in doing so the following year, and that as a professional racer he really had no other option than to accept the offer. These words were generally accepted as sincere. On the day of the test, however, the press were dealt a red herring by a wicked Neubauer. Although the news of the test was carefully leaked by Ames, leading to Picture Post magazine sending their feature writer Trevor Philpots and star photographer Bert Hardy on a plane to Frankfurt the very same day, the two Brits were picked up by a Mercedes-Benz driver pretending to have no knowledge of English and driven off in the wrong direction. It left Neubauer in the safe knowledge that Moss would say yes to them first before the British press could get hold of a possible no. The Picture Post duo were only allowed onto the Hockenheim grounds by the time the serious business was long underway.’

‘And so Stirling arrived at Hockenheim undisturbed to find everything thoroughly prepared for his test. And that’s understating things- to Moss and his party thoroughness was redefined. Mercedes chief engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut had seen to it that the car had every aspect modified to Stirling’s build and style. So that was one excuse out of the way. Then there was Mercedes regular Karl Kling to set a yardstick – one that was set at 200kph just days before by the same Kling. But there had been a recent rainstorm, so that when Stirling did his reconnaissance laps on a 220A saloon, then switching to the 300SL gullwing sportscar, the track was still wet. These first laps soon created a dry-ish line on which Moss got his first hand on the W196.’

‘He thought it (the W196) was uncompromising, as any Mercedes driver would reveal. He admitted as such to a watchful Ken Gregory. “Stirling was not immediately at home with the Merc, and while Kling was circulating he told me he thought it was a very difficult car to drive; it was ‘fighty’, inclined to oversteer, and much more sensitive to handle than the Maserati, though the power, he said, was ‘fantastic’.” Despite being confused by the peculiar transmission at first he felt confident that he could master the car. He got down to a 2.15 – comparing to an average of 201kph – a time that was later equalled by Kling on a track still drier. A previously nervous Uhlenhaut was by now beaming with pleasure. A short discussion followed with Alfred Moss and Gregory, after which Stirling concluded that he should take Mercedes up on their offer, assuming that the sponsorship clash between the oil companies could be solved – and indeed it was solved in a most gracious way, with Bryan Turdle, competitions manager of Shell-Mex and BP, not hesitating to release Stirling from his 1955 Shell commitments.’

image

Neubauer and a thoughtful Moss, the most recent of so many stars the German worked with (Bert Hardy)

Maserati Intervention…

Then came another thing to be solved. During the test a telegram arrived for Neubauer. It came from Commendatore Orsi of Maserati, claiming he had a contract with Moss and that Mercedes should back off. The claim was understandable as Moss had quickly become the lead Maserati driver since his display at the 1954 Italian GP and Orsi wasn’t particularly keen to see the second best driver of the world go off and team up with Fangio, doubling Maserati’s task. But Moss Sr and Gregory were able to convince the Germans that Stirling had in fact not agreed to anything, not even verbally. And so Stirling Moss was announced as the number two Mercedes-Benz driver for 1955 shortly after.’

‘For Moss the choice of Mercedes was obvious…The British manufacturers were a long way from threatening the establishment, and the new Climax engine was still not ready. Mercedes-Benz by all means were. And they showed it at that December 4 test. It had been a test with a thoroughness previously unseen by British drivers. But also one with immaculate attention for the human being inside the driver. That was Mercedes-Benz too. This is Stirling’s own recollection of the comfort he was supplied with as soon as he got back to the pits: “What really impressed me was that as I clambered out of the car, rummaging in my pockets for a handkerchief or rag to wipe my face, a mechanic suddenly appeared, bearing hot water, soap, a flannel and a towel! Out there in the middle of the desolate Hockenheimring this was forethought I could hardly credit. I thought then that to be associated with such an organization could not be bad…”

 Checkout my article on the Mercedes W196…

Mercedes Benz W196 : French GP 1954…

Photo Credits…

Bert Hardy

Bibliography…

8w.forix.com article ‘How Stirling Got His Mercedes Breakthrough’ by Mattijs Diepraam and Felix Muelas

Tailpiece…

image

Neubauer, Alfred and Stirling Moss toast 1955 success, a year of bitter sweet for the great marque, Le Mans not in their wildest, worst dreams (Bert Hardy)

 

Monaco 1955…

Posted: December 16, 2016 in F1, Fotos
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

monaco fan moss

(Maurice Jarnoux)

The Mercedes Benz 1955 1,2; Fangio and Moss in W196, 22 May 1955…

Mercedes had three 1/2 finishes for the year; at Spa and Zandvoort when Fangio led Moss and at Aintree where Moss led Fangio. At Monaco things were looking good for another but JM’s car broke a rear axle on lap 49 and Moss had an engine failure in the closing laps of the race (lap 80 of 100).

image

(Jarnoux)

Maurice Trintignant (above) took a somewhat lucky, but well deserved win in his Ferrari 625 from Eugenio Castellotti’s Lancia D50, the Italian putting in a charge in the final stages of the race trying to catch the Frenchman.

image

Ascari and Castelotti in D50’s ahead of Behra’s 250F, later in the race but before lap 80 when Alberto took his afternoon swim (Jarnoux)

image

Moss discussing the Mercedes teams prospects with its legendary engineer/test driver Rudy Uhlenhaut during Monaco practice. This car was comprehensively rooted later in the day when Hans Hermann had a bad accident, hurting himself as well as the W196. Andre Simon was brought into the team to race the spare (GP Library)

This was the famous race in which Alberto Ascari crashed his Lancia D50 into the harbour perhaps distracted by Moss’ engine problems in front of him late in the race. He popped to the surface unharmed but was killed several days later testing a Ferrari sportscar at Monza.

image

Ascari’s D50 cruises past Lance Macklin’s Maser 250F, DNQ. Ascari 2nd on the grid (unattributed)

 

It was a pivotal time in the history of GP racing; Ascari’s death robbed Lancia of the driver around which its GP campaign was built and Gianni Lancia’s lavish race program was quickly driving his company into insolvency.

The famous ‘handover’ of Lancia assets to Ferrari occurred later in the year, solving Enzo’s immediate need of competitive cars. The ‘sponsorship’ in the form of an annual contribution to the Scuderia’s budget from Fiat laid the foundations of a strategic partnership which, via ownership of the road-car division from 1969 and ultimate acquisition of the company upon Enzo Ferrari’s death continues today.

image

Louis Chiron 6th let’s teammate Gigi Villoresi 5th Lancia D50 past whilst Jean Behra’s equal 3rd placed (with Cesare Perdisa) Maser 250F threatens (GP Library)

image

Farina’s Ferrari 625 4th about to be swallowed by Ascari’s Lancia D50 (GP Library)

image

That! high speed Mercedes transporter, Monaco 1955 (GP Library)

Credits…

Maurice Jarnoux, GP Library

Tailpieces…

monaco moss

Moss heading up the hill from Ste Devote,  Monaco 1955, Mercedes W196 (unattributed)

image

The master in the lead; Fangio led from pole until transmission dramas intervened on lap 49, Benz W196, Monaco ’55 (unattributed)

Teutonic Tiller…

Posted: July 21, 2016 in F1, Icons & Iconoclasts
Tags: , ,
0

teutonic tiller

Wonderful drawing of Fangio’s 1954/5 Mercedes W196 cockpit. Was there ever a more complex GP car than this in the context of ‘its time’!? A very successful one mind you…

Click here for an article on this fabulous car; https://primotipo.com/2015/10/09/mercedes-benz-w196-french-gp-1954/

Drawing Source: Setright ‘The Grand Prix’…

60th Anniversary of Jack’s First F1 GP Today, British GP 16 July 1955: Cooper T40 Bristol…by Stephen Dalton

Posted: July 16, 2015 in F1, Icons & Iconoclasts
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
5

jack from kling

Baptism at Aintree – Karl Kling’s Mercedes W196 & Roberto Mieres’ Maserati 250F push Jack at his 1st World Championship F1 event. Cooper T40 Bristol. 1955 British GP. (Jack Brabham Story)

Sixty years ago today, Jack Brabham made his Formula 1 GP debut at Aintree, but first he had to build the car…

The first half of 1955 was full of many goings on for Jack Brabham. With encouragement from the UK RAC motor sporting administrator, Dean Delamont, Jack was convinced to head over to the UK for some motor racing. Little did anyone know the success this would bring – although it was hardly immediate.

It the pages of the February 1955 ‘Australian Motor Sports’ there’s a brief piece on Jack and his trip to the Continent and it rumours that he had ordered a Cooper-Alta and might have a trial drive with Mercedes Benz. To finance such a trip he had to sell his highly developed & successful ‘RedeX Special’ – aka Cooper-Bristol. Stan Jones, having wrecked his Maybach II at the 1954 Australian GP purchased it. Just prior to selling though, Jack had his last race in the ‘RedeX’ at the January 31, 1955 Gnoo Blas meeting. This was a big meeting for the country NSW circuit with international drivers’ Peter Whitehead and Prince Bira running Ferrari & Maserati respectively. For Jack another part of financing the UK journey also meant selling his lathe and some other equipment – all to his later lament.

jack ibsley

The unloved ex-Whitehead Cooper-Alta at Ibsley. (Jack Brabham Story)

Flying to the UK, meant initially leaving his wife, Betty and young son, Geoffrey in Australia. Soon after arriving Jack took delivery of the ex Peter Whitehead Cooper-Alta. In fact he originally set up camp at Whitehead’s Chalfont St Peter’s race garage before a slightly later move to Bob Chase’s RJC Motors operation at Saltdean. His racing activities in the UK, began with the Cooper-Alta at the April 11, 1955 Goodwood Easter Monday meeting. The same meeting Cooper Cars debuted their petite 1100cc Coventry-Climax T39 ‘bobtail’ sports car. Their first foray into what would become a successful ‘Climax’ engine relationship.

brabham GP-1955-debut

Brabham’s brand new, self built Cooper T40 Bristol, Aintree, British GP 1955. Car and driver victorious in the 1955 Australian GP, Port Wakefield later in the year. (unattributed)

History tells us that Jack Brabham never said much, he let his ability do the talking, whether by his driving or engineering skills. But he knew how to get what he wanted. Neither Charles, nor John Cooper ever officially interviewed Jack for a job at Cooper’s Surbiton works. He just hung around often enough until he was one of them.

Despite its Cooper heritage, Jack’s lack of enthusiasm remained for the Cooper-Alta. Even after an engine blow-up at the April 30 Ibsley meeting on the old RAF base, saw him convert it to Bristol power. Meaning he was never going to be satisfied continuing to race that car.

So having gained his new friendship with the likeable John Cooper, Jack was allowed use of Cooper’s Surbiton facilities to knock together what would be his own interpretation of Cooper’s new T39 ‘bobtail’ – shoehorning a big engine into a small sports car. One could even say this was an early incarnation of what would evolve into the Can Am style cars of the mid 60s and onwards.

t40 construction

The bare bones of the Cooper T40 Bristol under construction. Tubular ‘curvy in the usual Cooper way’ chassis frame. Front and rear suspension upper transverse leaf spring and lower wishbones with Arnstrong shocks, drum brakes, 2 litre Bristol 6 cylinder engine.(Jack Brabham Story)

Part of Jack building his ‘streamliner’ F1 car, involved adding 50mm to the chassis’ wheelbase to accommodate the familiar to him, 2 litre Bristol 6 cylinder lump – in place of the 1100 Climax 4. Both built with the engine behind the driver. Worth noting is that in some official entry lists the car is claimed to have a 2.2 litre Bristol. Apparently that was the intent, but not reality. It was also built devoid of lights and anything that would add unwarranted weight.

t40 engine

The Bristol 2 litre 6 cylinder in the rear of the T40. (Jack Brabham Story)

This project later tagged as T40 in the Cooper genealogy stakes – with 2 constructed. One Jack would use himself, this car was allocated chassis number CB/1/55 and another that Bob Chase’s RJC Motors would briefly run for Mike Keen. I say briefly, because unfortunately a crash at the August 20, 1955 Goodwood 9 hour took Mike’s life and the ever present problem of fire destroyed the car.

Jack Brabham’s UK presence hadn’t gone unnoticed by the UK specialist motoring press, gaining a few comments in race reports. Autosport magazine even showed off the incomplete T40 in their pages the day before its first race. Admittedly the photo would have been taken sometime before that, but it was a brand new car when it hit the circuit – with no test time.

jack and autosport

Autosport 15 July 1955 Cooper/Brabham announcement.

Liverpool’s Aintree circuit was the venue for the running of the July 16, 1955 British GP meeting. This meeting became Jack’s F1 debut race. The programme even mentions ‘The Cooper Grand Prix entry is a prototype of a full team to be built to race in 1956.’ A slightly premature comment as it turned out and the only F1 Grand Prix the T40 would take part. The car’s haste to complete meant new car sorting was lacking and a rear of grid start. Having liberated the Harley Davidson clutch setup from his Australian ‘RedeX’ C-B before sale, with some irony it was this part that let Jack down at Aintree making for an early retirement at 30 of the intended 90 laps the outcome. The dominant Mercedes Benz W196 team that included Juan Manuel Fangio, Karl Kling and Stirling Moss, saw Stirling taking race honours.

Brabham-Aintree-55-small

Jack Brabham’s Cooper T40 Bristol from Ken Wharton Vanwall VW55 equal 9th, with victor Stirling Moss about to round them up in his Mercedes W196. (Bill Henderson)

Despite the niggling start Jack had more faith in the T40 than the Cooper-Alta. What followed over the ensuing month were national events at July 30 Crystal Palace & August 1 Brands Hatch with further retirements at both. Then crossing over the Scottish border his luck with the T40 began to change at the August 6 Charterhall meeting. Finally two 4th placed finishes in his Heat and Final. Continuing into the following week’s damp August 13 Snetterton. At that meeting Jack was able to mix it amongst some of the motor racing luminaries. Such as Harry Schell & Ken Wharton in Vanwall’s, Stirling Moss in his privately entered Maserati 250F and Roy Salvadori 250F. That being the finishing order for Snetterton’s RedeX Trophy race with Jack slotting in between Stirling and Roy for another 4th place. Had he not spun during his tussle with Moss it may well have been a 3rd place greeting him. This race alone was enough to convince Jack he would return to the UK in 1956 as he was about to send the Cooper T40 home to Australia. Jack and Betty then set to return to Sydney in late September to catch up with their son and more motor racing.

brabham and hawthorn

Jacks thoroughly modern mid engined, ‘central seat sports derived F1 car’ ahead of the over the hill Ferrari 625 of Mike Hawthorn, monstering the little Cooper. MH finished equal 6th in the race with Fazz teammate Eugenio Castellotti. Things got better for Ferrari, the Lancia D50 ‘gifts’ were not too far away! (unattributed)

autocar

The year of 1955 was also a period whereby other Aussies had made the trip to England for a racing holiday. Orders had been placed with Aston Martin for 3 of their DB3S racing sports cars. The ‘Kangaroo Stable’ as it was so named with members being Tony Gaze, David McKay, Les Cosh, Dick Cobden, Tom Sulman & Jack Brabham. Circumstances played against them though. Late delivery of the cars didn’t help, but it was the June 11-12, 1955 running of Le Mans that put the skids on racing soon afterwards with a number of events cancelled as a result to the Pierre Levegh Mercedes going into the crowd at Le Mans.

1955 Hyeres Kangaroo

‘Kangaroo Stable’ Aston Martin DB3S at the Hyeres 12 Hour, France 29 May 1955. L>R Gaze, McKay, Brabham, Cosh and Cobden standing near the post. Only Tom Sulman is missing from the shot. Race won by Canonica/Munaron Ferrari 750 Monza, then came the Kangaroo Stable trio; Gaze/McKay 2nd, Cosh/Cobden 3rd and Sulman/Brabham 4th. (David McKay ‘Behind The Wheel’)

Jack Brabham was present at the famous French road course that year, but as a reserve driver for the Bristol team. He got to qualify, but never received the call up to put his helmet on for the race. That may well have been one of several omens Jack was granted in 1955 and over his outstanding career.

Cooper Cars Ltd also had a presence at Le Mans with the John Brown/Edgar Wadsworth Cooper T39 1100 and the Whitehead Brothers Cooper-Jaguar that year, but it was the infancy of Jack and John’s friendship, hence no involvement with the Surbiton marque’s effort

Another instance of Brabham luck was just before he headed for home. September 17 was the Dundrod RAC Tourist Trophy meeting in Ireland, with Jack there to share the Michael O’Shea owned Cooper T39 with London driver, Jim Mayers. An inexperienced French driver, Vicomte Henri de Barry created annoyance for several drivers as he baulked their progress, with those drivers’ having to take risks to get past to further their race on the testing Irish road course. Unfortunately the situation ended as badly as it could with a fiery crash at Deer’s Leap involving several cars. Jim was one of 2 drivers to die at that crash scene – the Cooper scattered to oblivion. This event would also claim another driver, elsewhere around the course. Although not knowing otherwise, Dean Delamont had sought out Betty Brabham, thinking it was Jack involved in the main crash – only to find him in the pit. Jim and Jack had flipped a coin to decide who did the first stint. We know who won…

jack and betty

Together in the UK, Betty Brabham followed Jack mid-year. While their son, Geoffrey stayed with his grandparents in Sydney. Cooper T40 Bristol. (Jack Brabham Story)

So as can be seen there were a few familiar names that helped establish Jack Brabham in those early days in the UK – Whitehead, Chase, Cooper & Delamont. The Bristol marque also played its part with their engine and the Le Mans reserve driver gig. Through them, Jack Brabham, Jim Mayers & Mike Keen are also entwined with their 1955 Le Mans Bristol team involvement. Taking out 7th (Mayers), 8th (Keen) & 9th places behind Jaguar’s Mike Hawthorn, Ivor Bueb winning entry. It was all a taste of the next 15 years Jack would encounter in the highest levels of motor racing, including building more racing cars.

Etcetera…

jack

Jack shipped the Cooper Bristol home to Australia at the end of 1955, and in the saltbush country of the new Port Wakefield circuit, 100Km from Adelaide, won the 1955 Australian Grand Prix on 10 October. A lucky win from Reg Hunt’s ailing Maserati A6GCM and Doug Whiteford’s Talbot-Lago T26C. The first mid-engined AGP win. (unattributed)

Bibliography and Photo Credits…

‘The Jack Brabham Story’ Jack Brabham and Doug Nye, ‘Behind The Wheel’ David McKay, Bill Henderson

Finito…