Graham Hill working his radical four wheel drive Ferguson P99 Climax hard to stay in front of the mid-engined paradigm, Homestead Corner, Warwick Farm, Sydney…
Jack Brabham won the race from John Surtees and Bruce McLaren in Brabham BT4, LolaMk4A and Cooper T62 respectively, all powered by Coventry Climax FPF 2.7 litre ‘Indy’ engines. Bored versions of Climax’ successful 2.5 litre F1 Championship winning motors. Hill finished 6th in his 2.5 litre FPF powered car. At the time Australian National F1 was Formula Libre, the ‘2.5 Tasman Formula’ commenced in 1964.
David Mckay congratulates Jack Brabham, Brabham victorious in his BT4. A very relaxed, bearded Stirling Moss wearing that great Australian footwear fashion icon, rubber ‘thongs’ looks on. Moss still recovering from his Easter Monday, 23 April 1962, near fatal and career ending Goodwood Lotus crash. Mckay a great Australian driver and ‘Scuderia Veloce’ team owner/patron. McKay finished 4th in the race also Brabham BT4 Climax mounted. (David Mist)
Hill also raced the Rob Walker entered, 2.5 litre FPF engined car at the ‘Lakeside International’, in Queensland the following weekend finishing second to Surtees on this very fast track, not necessarily the sort of circuit on which one might expect the car to shine. Hill was victorious in a wet preliminary race on the Saturday, the car excelling in the wet conditions.
Graham Hill in the wet Lakeside preliminary event he won in P99. Lakeside. (John Stanley)
P99’s ‘Summer Sunshine Tour’ started in New Zealand in January the car being campaigned by ‘newly minted’ World Champion Graham Hill, victorious in his BRM P57 in 1962, and Innes Ireland.
Hill drove in the NZGP, held at the brand new Pukekohe circuit on January 5, DNF with gearbox dramas on the second last lap, Surtees won in his Lola.
Start of the ’63 NZGP at Pukekohe. Surtees left and McLaren right LolaMk4a and Cooper T62 get the jump at the start. Hill is on the far right in P99. Beside Surtees and back is his teammate Tony Maggs LolaMk4a, the green nose of Amons’ Cooper T53 and Brabhams turquoise Brabham BT4…all Coventry Climax powered. (sergent.com)
Hill then returned to the UK, Ireland handling the car at Levin, Wigram and Teretonga on the 12th, 19th and 26th of January respectively. Innes was third at Wigram, victory going to Brabhams’ BT4, he retired with overheating at Wigram, the race won by Bruce McLarens’ Cooper T62 and was third at Teretonga, McLaren again victorious.
The car was then shipped to Sydney for the Warwick Farm AGP and finally north to Brisbane by road before returning to the UK.
Lakeside Queensland paddock scene 1963. P99 middle of shot lashed onto an open trailer behind a Holden FC ‘Station Wagon’, as we call an ‘Estate’ in Oz. The car travelled the 950 Km from Warwick Farm on Sydneys’ outskirts to Lakeside, north of Brisbane. McLarens Cooper T62 is at the front of this group, and the red nose car is Maggs’ Lola Mk4a. (Ray Bell)
Graham Hill looking pretty relaxed at Lakeside in 1963 (J Psaros)
Ferguson Research…
The Ferguson Family Museum summarises the P99 as follows…’The creation of the Ferguson Formula four wheel drive system began shortly after World War II.
Harry Ferguson had always loved the world of motorsport and had a vision of creating a four wheel drive system with the purpose of improving road safety. The Ferguson car, ‘the R5’, was 40 years ahead of its time. It featured four wheel drive, anti-lock braking, electric windows, disc brakes and a hatchback design, it was the forerunner of the modern car.
Not the prettiest of things but 4WD, powered by belt driven SOHC 2.2 litre engine, 4 wheel discs, ABS…all at the time of the Cortina Mk1. This car has escaped me, i have included John Bolsters’ Autosport road test of the prototype at the bottom of this post. (Autocar)
Harry Ferguson decided the best way to prove the importance of four wheel drive and anti-skid braking was to demonstrate it on a successful Formula 1 car.
In 1950 designer, Claude Hill, Brooklands Riley racer, Fred Dixon and Tony Rolt, a POW escapee and 24 hour Le Mans winner, teamed up with Harry Ferguson to start development on what was later to become the world’s only Formula 1 winning four wheel drive car – Project 99.
Later the Ferguson Formula four wheel drive system was widely adopted by rally cars and the motor industry worldwide in the form of the viscous coupling. Although designed as a racing car P99 was also a research vehicle intended to show the advantages and reliability of the four wheel drive system. What better way to generate public interest than to successfully race a car using the Ferguson Formula four wheel drive’.
P99 being fettled by Rob Walkers team at Lakeside, February 1963. Thats’ G Hills legs in the driving suit at rear of the car. Lovely alloy body, Climax 2.5 FPF 4 pot engine, spaceframe chassis and upper and lower wishbone/ coil spring damper units, alloy Dunlop wheels,vestigial roll over bar all clear in this shot. (Peter Mellor)
P99 Design and Specifications…
Spaceframe chassis, 2.5 litre Coventry Climax FPF 4 cylinder engine circa 235bhp. Suspension front and rear by upper and lower wishbones and coil spring/damper units. Rack and pinion steering. Dunlop disc brakes and alloy wheels. Ferguson 5 speed box and 4WD transfer case…(James Allington)
Ferguson hired Claude Hill from Aston Martin to design the car. He used a then ‘state of the art’ space-frame chassis, front and rear suspension comprising upper and lower wishbones and coil spring/Armstrong damper units and adjustable sway bars. Brakes were Dunlop anti-lock, which was tested but unraced.
Lightweight Dunlop alloy wheels were used, steering is rack and pinion.
The clever bit was of course the 4WD system. It comprised a transfer box bolted directly to the 5 speed gearbox. The Climax engine was installed at an angle to allow space for the driveshaft to the front differential. The rear driveshaft was installed on the left side of the chassis, the driving position slightly off centre to the right. Similar to the weight balance, the torque was evenly divided between the front and rear wheels.
P99 was planned for the 2.5-litre F1 utilising the championship winning Coventry Climax FPF 235bhp, DOHC, four-cylinder engine. The rules changed and Formula 1 was restricted to 1.5-litres from 1961, which meant the extra weight of the four-wheel-drive system was a handicap. The Intercontinental series was established for the old 2.5-litre engined F1’s, to be raced in 1962, the Ferguson was therefore built to accommodate both the Climax 1.5 (151bhp) and 2.5 litre (235bhp) FPF motors.
The whole project took less than a year.
There were to be no concessions in relation to tolerance. Perfection would only just be good enough. Dixon was right when he calculated that differentials, bearings, gears and other drivetrain parts could be lighter if the energy was dispersed to four wheels rather than two.
Ferguson’s central differential system, which would be the key to Peugeot’s and later Audi’s rally success in the 1980s, could balance out the delivery of that power to the wheels.
Ferguson were keen to try the Dunlop Maxaret anti-lock brake system, the whole assembly would eventually find its way into the automotive mainstream some 30 years later. Sadly, Harry Ferguson died before his dream took to the track and it was Rolt who eventually became the projects’ driving force.
P99 from aft. Rear suspension detail; upper and lower wishbone and adjustable Armstrong shock. You can just see the driveshaft below the upright. Beautiful ally bodywork of pretty car. Driving position offset to the right, gearchange for 5 speed box to drivers left, right side more conventional in a single seater. (Unattributed)
By 1961 Mid-Engined cars were de-rigeur the Front-Engine GP car obsolete, so the Ferguson P99 was a complete dark horse…
Stirling Moss, Aintree British GP 1961. On a charge and soon to be disqualified. The photograph below is of Jack Fairman earlier in the race before he pitted to allow Moss to take over the car (Unattributed)
(Simon Lewis Transport Books)
Launched at the 1961 British Empire Trophy at Silverstone, Jack Fairman drove the car which was entered by Rob Walker. The P99 had mechanical problems and didn’t finish.
Its next outing was at Aintree in the British Grand Prix. Rob Walker entered a Lotus 18 for Moss and the P99 for Jack Fairman, when the Lotus 18/21 brake pipe broke Moss took over the P99. The P99 was under investigation by the Stewards when Moss took it over because Fairman had a push start from the pits, which was not allowed by the rules- as a consequence the car was black-flagged on lap 57, his progress to that point had been swift…
For the September 1961 Oulton Park Gold Cup, Moss returned in the P99 and to his delight, it was a classically British summer’s day – 57 degrees, steady drizzle and a wet track! Moss won the race by 46 seconds from Jack Brabham’s Cooper T51 Climax, the only F1 race ever won by a four-wheel-drive car.
Moss wins the 1961 Oulton Park “Gold Cup’ in P99. The only GP win for a 4WD drive car, albeit Non-Championship F1 race. Greasy conditions tailor made for the fabulous, innovative car. (Unattributed)
The CSI then banned four-wheel-drive from F1.
Moss had the option of using the Dunlop Maxaret anti-lock brakes but preferred to turn them off and use his own judgment. They would reappear in 1967 on the Jensen FF- the Chrysler-power coupé that was a four-wheel-drive version of the Interceptor utilising both the Ferguson four-wheel-drive and anti-lock brakes.
The Ferguson P99 then raced in New Zealand and Australia in 1963 as outlined above fitted with a 2.5-litre engine in our 1963 F Libre International Series. It would have been interesting to see how the car would have performed with a 2.7 Litre FPF equivalent in capacity to the engines of the other front runners that summer.
World Champ Graham Hill about to board P99. Lakeside, Queensland again. He was keen on the car, with his support BRM developed a 4WD variant of their P261/57 GP car, the BRM P67 1.5 V8 in 1964, using Ferguson technology, well ahead of the ‘1969 4WD pack’, comprising Lotus, Matra, McLaren and Cosworth. BRM P67 qualified in Richard Attwoods’ hands, second last on the British 1964 GP at Brands Hatch grid but was withdrawn from the race, circa 7 seconds off the pace. (Peter Mellor)
P99 returned to England and was lent to hillclimb racer Peter Westbury, who won the 1964 British championship with it, it also ran competitively in 1965 and 1966 and was retired in 1968.
Peter Westbury, P99. Harewood Hillclimb 1964, he won the British Hillclimb Championship in the car that year. (Unattributed)
P99 also played a key role in the resurgence of 4WD at Indianapolis.
There had been a lot of activity both immediately pre and post war with Harry Miller’s 4WD specials. STP’s Andy Granatelli, on one of his trips to Europe was regaled by the recently retired Stirling Moss, his career ending accident was at Goodwood in 1962, about the dominance of his damp Oulton Park 1961 victory in P99.
Granatelli then approached Tony Rolt at Ferguson to try P99 at Indy, Jack Fairman shortly thereafter put in some impressive 140mph laps in the 2.5 litre car around the famous ‘Brickyard’.
Andy was convinced and ordered a car from Ferguson powered by the Novi V8, the 4WD setup the same FF system as used on P99 but with the split being variable from 70/30 to 60/40 rear/front instead of the P99’s fixed 50/50 split.
Bobby Unser qualified the car sixth at Indy 1964.
This is a tangent too far for this article (see ‘Etcetera below for a cutaway drawing and further details) but for those with an interest in 4WD in motor racing click on this link to a great forix.autosport article on the subject; http://8w.forix.com/4wd.html
Ferguson Novi ‘STP Studebaker’ with Bobby Unser at the wheel. Indy 1964. Q6, DNF after hitting the wall seeking to avoid the fatal McDonald/Sachs accident. (Unattributed)
Four-wheel drive made another appearance in Formula 1 in 1969…
As teams struggled for more traction- the Ford Cosworth engine was developing well in excess of 400bhp at this stage, putting the power down was key to improved performance.
At the time 4WD was being used successfully at Indianapolis, it was therefore a natural direction for the F1 teams to explore, particularly Lotus who had been racing at Indy since 1962 and using 4WD competitively, putting accidents to one side, in their 1968 and 1969 contenders, the Lotus 56 Pratt & Whitney gas turbine powered car, and Lotus 64 Ford, powered by a Turbo Ford engine.
Matra, Lotus and McLaren all tried the Ferguson system and Cosworth devised their own 4WD car. The introduction of wings, which could achieve the same traction outcomes without the weight penalty, and advances in race tyre technology and widths provided simpler cost-effective solutions than persevering with 4WD.
Overall, only eight four-wheel-drive F1 cars were ever built.
Robin Herd’s Cosworth 1968 4WD design (Bennet)
In 2004 following a period of 35-plus years in the Donington Collection…
The ‘one of a kind’- only 1 chassis was ever built Ferguson P99 was retrieved by the Ferguson family to the Ferguson Family Museum on the Isle of Wight and overhauled.
The car was stripped and was in remarkably good order, it was re-assembled using all of the original parts, including the extremely rare twin-choke Weber 58 DCO carburettors and re-fitted with the totally original bodywork which still wears original Rob Walker team paint and livery.
Sir Stirling Moss drove it at the 2005 Goodwood Revival and at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix in 2008. In 2006 Moss handed it over to Barry “Whizzo” Williams at Goodwood, who started 18th and had worked his way up to third before his brakes faded, he finished in that position.
P99 still appears regularly in suitable events, its historic significance enormous.
Stirling Moss in P99 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. (Unattributed)
Etcetera…
P99
P99 (R Roux)
Cockpit shot British GP, Aintree 1961. Driving position offset to the right, gearchange for 5 speed box to the left. 1.5 litre FPF powered Climax engine in the last year of the 1.5 Litre Formula. (B St Clare-Tregilgas)
Push start for Hill from the Warwick Farm pit counter, P99. AGP meeting 1963. (autopics)
Hill at Warwick Farm trailing smoke from the rear. Probably practice as the car finished the race. (Adrian Schagen)
Evocative David Mist shot of Hill during the 1963 AGP Warwick Farm. P99. (David Mist)
Hill again at Warwick Farm during the ’63 AGP, this shot showing the not inconsiderable frontal area of P99. Weight and width of car a function of ‘4WD hardware’. (autopics)
Ferguson Novi
What a wild car this is! Conceptually similar to the P99, the chassis was a spaceframe with a monocoque centre section. As you can see the suspension is inboard with rockers actuating the spring/dampers, P99 is outboard. Contrary to common Indy practice then the suspension was not offest, but the engine and transmission were, a simpler solution. Novi used Dunlop 7X15 inch tyres fitted to alloy wheels and disc brakes using alloy calipers.
The Novi engine was designed pre-War by Bud Wingfield and Leo Goossen and built by Fred Offenhauser. It was a 90 degree, DOHC V8, 2741cc in capacity. Bendix fuel injected and using a Paxton 2 stage centrifugal blower power was circa 830bhp @ 8200rpm.
The engine never won Indy but the engine and its unique sound remain iconic to this day.
R5 Prototype
Ferguson R5 road car prototype. Autosport Road Test P1.
R5 Road Test P2.
Credits…
John Ellacott, Bruce Wells, B St Clare-Tregilgas, James Allington, Adrian Schagen, John Stanley, autopics.com, David Mist, Peter Mellor, theroaringseason.com, Theo Page, Robert Roux, Autocar, Autosport, Jock Psaros, Simon Lewis Transport Books
Wonderful shot of Stan Jones winning the 1959 Australian Grand Prix. Tannery Corner, Longford, Tasmania. Maserati 250F (B Dunstan via Ellis French)
The Ascaris, Jones, Hills and Villeneuves…
When Alan Jones won the 1980 Australian Grand Prix at Calder, he and his father Stan joined the Ascaris as the only father/son combination to win their home Grands’ Prix.
Antonio Ascari won the 1924 Italian Grand Prix in an Alfa and his son Alberto won it in 1949, 1951 and 1952 for Ferrari.
Stan won the 1959 AGP at Longford in his Maserati 250F, the last AGP won by a front engined car.
Graham and Damon Hill both contested the British Grand Prix, Damon winning in 1994 aboard a Williams Renault, whilst Graham came close he never had a hometown win. His luck in the UK was as bad as it was good in Monaco where he won five times!
Similarly, Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve both contested the Canadian Grand Prix but only Gilles took a win, for Ferrari in 1978.
Sadly, all four fathers had one thing in common, they all died before their sons achieved Grand Prix success. Alberto and Gilles in testing/race accidents, Graham in the light aircraft he was piloting, together with his team, and Stan of natural causes at the very young age of 49.
Foreword…
Like so many of my articles, this one on Stan started with a photograph, the one above at Longford. I figured the article would be short but the more I dug, and there is not a lot of information available on Jones, the more interested I became in him and the series of Maybach cars which were such an important part of his career.
So, it’s ended up rather long but I hope of interest.
I leaned heavily for information on the Maybach phase on Malcolm Preston’s great book ‘From Maybach to Holden’, sadly, Malcolm died a month or so ago. He was very kind and helpful to me with the article on the John McCormack McLaren M23, that article in many ways was the inspiration for starting this blog, so I dedicate this article to him. RIP Malcolm Preston.
Famous shot of Stan Jones shaking hands with Otto Stone, his engineer after the 1959 Longford AGP victory in his Maserati 250F. Alan is 12, John Sawyer, the other technician wears the flat cap…Stan a justifiably happy-chappy after so many years trying to win this event! (unattributed)
Stan Jones…
Much has been written about Alan of course, but not so much about Stan, one of the great drivers and characters of Australian motor racing in the immediate post war years until the dawn of the 1960s.
He was raised in Warrandyte, then a rural hamlet 24km north-east of Melbourne and still semi-rural now, by his mother and grandfather. He served in the Australian Armed Forces based in Darwin during World War 2. He married Alma O’Brien circa 1940, Alan was born on November 2 1946.
Stan commenced motorsport after being encouraged by Otto Stone, a racer and engineer who would later make a great contribution to his success as an elite driver. He competed in his MGTC at Rob Roy Hillclimb, at Christmas Hills, not far from where he grew up in 1948.
Stan was soon a keen competitor in all forms of the sport including trials, twice winning the Cohen Trophy awarded to the best trials driver of the year by the Light Car Club of Australia.
His MGTC was supercharged, as so many of them were, his first circuit meeting was at Fishermans Bend, Melbourne in late 1949. He did well, finishing seventh against more experienced opposition.
In need for more speed, he bought an HRG chassis to which a local monoposto body was fitted, achieving success with the car in 1949 and 1950. His first road racing event was at Woodside, in the Adelaide Hills, he finished second in the Onkaparinga Class handicap in November 1949. Australian Motor Sports reported that it was the first appearance of one of the new production monoposto racing HRG 1500’s.’ In 1951 he also bought an Allard J2.
These faster cars were funded by Superior Cars, a dealership he opened in Richmond: yards in Coburg and South Yarra followed, northern and inner eastern Melbourne suburbs respectively.
Jones Allard J2 in the Bathurst paddock, 1951. (Ray Eldershaw Collection)Charlie testing Maybach circa 1950 on the road, in the grounds of ‘Willsmere’ the hospital for mental illnesses in Kew not far from Charlie’s home. His other testing venue was Princes Park Drive behind the Melbourne General Cemetery in North Carlton. This ‘track’ was conveniently close to Repco Research in Sydney Road, Brunswick. What a super car it was/is! (Dacre Stubbs Collection)
Charlie Dean, Repco and Maybach…
The turning point in Stan’s career was the association with Charlie Dean, the ‘Maybach’ racers which Dean built and the ‘Skunkworks’ at Repco Research, which continued to develop the car and its successors after Jones acquired it/them.
Charlie’s business, named ‘Replex’, manufactured large industrial transformers. He became involved in the Australian Motorsports Club and using his wartime knowledge of sophisticated German engines, sought a suitable motor to form the basis of a special.
A friend who operated a war surplus wrecking yard was briefed and Charlie was soon the owner of a ‘Demag’ half-track armoured personnel carrier. Critically, it was powered by a Maybach six cylinder 3.8 litre SOHC, crossflow engine. The block was cast-iron, the head aluminium, the crank ran on eight main bearings. In standard form the engine produced 100bhp at 2800rpm, but the engine’s performance potential was clear to Dean.
Initial modifications involved fitment of twin Amal carbs to a fabricated manifold, increasing the compression ratio to 8:1 by planing the head, fitment of a Vertex Magneto and a re-ground cam to increase valve lift and duration.
At about the time Dean started to build Maybach 1, he sold his business to Repco, being retained to run it, this gave him both time for his hobby and access to Repco resources.
The engine was fitted into a tubular chassis, the basis of which was two 4 inch diameter 10 guage mild steel tubes to the front of which was mounted suspension mounting framework. Front suspension comprised a transverse leaf spring with suspension arms and stub axles from a 1937 Studebaker Commander. Rear suspension was of conventional semi-elliptic leaf springs, Luvax lever-arm shocks were used. A Fiat 525 gearbox drove an open prop-shaft to a Lancia Lambda seventh series rear axle. A Jeep steering box was used. Standard Studebaker brakes and wheels were deployed at the front and Lancia brakes, hubs and wheels at the rear.
It was a quick sports car and was soon developed further for competition use, Charlie debuting it at Rob Roy Hillclimb in 1947.
The car was clothed in a metal body built by fellow Repco Engineer Frank Hallam. It was made from surplus metal Kittyhawk aircraft fuel belly-tanks. (made by Ford)
Charlie raced the car in the 1948 AGP at Point Cook, an ex-RAAF base in Melbourne’s inner West. He retired on lap 12 from magneto failure in a race of attrition in searing heat, victory going to Frank Pratt’s BMW 328. In those days the AGP was Formule Libre and handicaps were applied.
Charlie Dean with Jack Joyce as ballast competing at Rob Roy Hillclimb, Christmas Hills, outer Melbourne in March 1949. Maybach 1 Evolution B in the car’s never ending developmental cycle (Dacre Stubbs Collection)
The development of Maybach was constant and ongoing, the ‘program’ having strong Repco support due to its promotional value and the development of its engineers. In 1950 Dean was appointed to head up a Research centre for the Repco Group, located at the ex-Replex premises at 50 Sydney Road, Brunswick…from acorns do great oaks grow.
In June 1951 Jones, looking for an outright class winning car, bought the car for a nominal sum. Repco involvement continued with the car’s preparation, development and use by Repco for product development and testing. The car was engineered at Repco Research.
Dean’s business and family commitments had made ongoing motor sport participation difficult. Jones lived in the Melbourne eastern suburb of Balwyn, in Yongala Road, not far from Dean’s home in Kew so communication was easy despite the lack of email and iPhones.
By the time Stan bought ‘Maybach 1 Series 3’ the body was still a two-seater. Three feet of rear chassis rails had been removed from the original, it had rear axle mounted trailing quarter elliptics with radius rods.
The engine was 4.2 litres and used three 2 3/16 inch SU carbs, had a compression ratio of 9:1 and a reliable (sic) Lucas magneto. After the SUs were fitted the engine developed 200bhp @ 5000rpm. Tyres were 16×6.50 touring type.
A 1922 American truck Power Lock ‘slippery diff was adapted in the Lancia housing which was modified to suit. The brakes had also been changed substantially using 16 inch/ 14 inch drums front/rear.
Doug Whiteford, Lago Talbot leads Jones in Maybach 1 onto the main straight at Woodside in October 1951, Whiteford won the race, Stan second. Just look at the nature of this road circuit: telephone poles, fence posts, railway crossing etc. A tragic accident in a motor-cycle handicap race where an early starter completed his first lap before the scratchmen had gotten away, killing two people in the starting area caused a ban on racing on public roads in South Australia (Clem Smith via Ray Bell)
Racing Maybach…
Stan’s first race in the car was at Gawler, South Australia, the main scratch race setting the pattern for the season with Jones and Doug Whiteford in the Lago Talbot fierce rivals, the two cars passing and repassing before Whiteford won the event.
Jones then raced the car at Bathurst in October 1951, winning a 3 lap scratch race but finishing second to Whiteford’s Talbot-Lago in the 50 lap handicap. The following week Jones again finished second to Whiteford at Woodside, a road circuit in the Onkaparinga Valley of the Adelaide Hills.
Stan’s Maybach chasing Ron Tauranac’s Ralt Jap through Parramatta Park, Sydney on 28 January 1952. You can see the energy being expended by the drivers in getting everything from the two, dissimilar cars (unattributed)
He adapted to the car quickly, and well, having progressed from a low powered road going TC to one of the fastest cars in the country in less than three years, his money allowed it but he still had to extract all the car had to offer, which he did from the start.
He next raced the car at the Ballarat Airstrip in rural Victoria, winning both the Victorian and Ballarat Trophies from Lex Davison’s aristocratic pre-war Grand Prix Alfa Romeo P3.
Maybach 1 at rest. Rob Roy Hillclimb early 1950s (unattributed)
As Stan became used to the car he became quicker and quicker, it was a considerable step up for him in terms of the performance of his preceding cars. He was the favourite to win the AGP at Bathurst in 1952 but excessive tyre wear resulted in a victory for Whitefords’ Lago.
Stan finished second having stopped six times to replace rear tyres, the six-ply touring tyres used on the 16 inch wheels, running hotter than four-ply racing tyres. The racing Pirellis on order had failed to arrive on time, it’s interesting to reflect on supply-lines in those far off days between Australia and Europe.
Maybach at Bathurst, October 1951, exiting Hell Corner and heading up Mountain Straight (Malcolm Preston)
The car won three Victorian Trophies – the big race on the Victorian calendar – two at Fishermans Bend, another airfield circuit in Melbourne’s inner West, the first was in 1952 at Ballarat Airfield, the car beating Whiteford with specially made four-ply tyres for Maybach.
In 1952 Stan also raced a newly acquired Cooper Mk 4 Jap 1100, successfully on both the circuits and the hills.
On New Years weekend 1953 the new Port Wakefield circuit opened with Jones taking another win. He had been unbeaten in all but a couple of minor handicap races since the 1952 AGP, the sensation of the weekend was the blowout of a tyre on Davison’s Alfa and the multiple rollover which followed.
Lex was a lucky boy as only days later Davo, Jones and Tony Gaze set off to Europe to compete in the 1953 Monte Carlo Rally. The racers were competitive, finishing sixty-fourth, at one stage having been in the top ten amongst much faster cars in a field of 440 far more experienced teams in a Repco prepared Holden 48-215.
Graham Howard describes this as ‘one of the great feats of Australian motoring, this trio clean-sheeted from Glasgow to Monaco and then finished 64th after minimal reconnaissance, in the final elimination, with Jones working stopwatches while sitting sideways across the front bench seat so he could use his feet to brace Davison behind the wheel’.
Jones/Davison/Gaze Holden FX,somewhere in Europe…Monte Carlo Rally 1953 (unattributed)
Stan led the 1953 AGP at Albert Park…
Its inaugural meeting, by lap ten he was ahead of Whiteford by thirty seconds, by lap fourteen he and Whiteford had lapped the field, which was indicative of both their pace and dearth of outright contenders in Australian racing at the time.
The Maybach needed fuel and a replacement water pump drive belt. Jones then had to vacate the cockpit when he was splashed by methanol, sluiced with water he rejoined the race only for clutch failure to end a brave run, Doug Whiteford won in his Lago Talbot.
Some compensation for Jones was fastest lap at 2 mins 03 seconds, an average of 91.46mph. Imagine that Victorians who can remember the ‘circuit’ in its pre-modern era format.
L>R front row: Davison HWM Jag, Jones Maybach, Whiteford Lago Talbot, start of the 1953 AGP at Albert Park, its first meeting. Cec Warren #6 Maser 4CLT, Frank Kleinig #7 Kleinig Hudson, W Hayes #10 Ford V8 Spl and a smoking Ted Gray #11 Alta Ford V8 (Peter D’Abbs)Profile of Maybach 2 during the ’53 race (unattributed)The tension on the faces of his team is palpable as Jones fires up the engine after the monumental job in rebuilding it onernight. 10.30AM Sunday January 9 1954, Shorter Bros workshop in Auckland. Team is Don Busche, Dean in tie!, Bib Stillwell and Jack Joyce (Malcolm Preston)
New Zealand Grand Prix victory 1954…
Stan was said to be hard on his cars, but he also had poor luck. Everything finally came together for Jones and Maybach with a win in the first NZGP at Ardmore in 1954.
He beat a class field which included Ken Wharton in the BRM P15 V16, Peter Whitehead’s Ferrari 125, Horace Gould and Jack Brabham in Cooper Bristols and Lex Davison and Tony Gaze, both driving HWMs.
It was a triumph over adversity as the car threw a rod in practice, punching a sizeable hole in the crankcase and damaging a cylinder bore. Dean ‘phoned Australia for spares which could not be delivered in time. Undeterred, the team comprising Dean, Otto Stone, Jack Joyce, Bib Stillwell and Don Busch scoured town, patched the crankcase and machined both a GMC rod whose weight was carefully matched to the original, and a new cylinder liner.
The engine was running by 10.30AM on Sunday morning, with Stan catching some beauty sleep to be race-ready. The event’s duration was 2 hours and 45 minutes, the patched Maybach and Jones doing justice to the ingenuity and resilience of their small team.
The spoils of victory for Jones, winner of the 1954 NZGP. Close up shot showing the quality of fabrication and build of the car. Maybach 1 in its ultimate form (KE Niven & Co)Stan, Maybach 2 and Charlie Dean, venue unrecorded, but early 1954. Big drums were by Patons Brakes, a Repco Subsidiary, big ‘Lago’ SU’s, exhaust not fitted in this shot (Unattributed)
Maybach 2…
When they returned from NZ the team began work on a new monoposto.
The chassis was similar in layout to Maybach 1 but adapted for the narrower and lower body. The rear axle was of ‘speedway type’ which allowed a lower propshaft and the easier changing of gear ratios. Front suspension used Chev upper control arms. The new rear axle was attached to quarter elliptic springs but with revised control arms, a Panhard rod with Monroe Wylie tubular shocks used. Les Tepper built the chassis, Brian Burnett and Bob Baker the body. Great attention was paid to reducing weight, aluminium was used for the body, as a consequence the cars’ weight was reduced from 19.5 to 16cwt.
The engine was rebuilt with a capacity increase to 4250cc by increasing the bore to 91mm. Power was 257bhp @ 5200rpm and torque 288lb ft @ 3000rpm. The compression ratio was 11:1 and the 110 octane fuel was an intoxicating brew of 60% methanol, 20% benzol and 20% av-gas. The fuel tank fabricated by Burnett held 25 gallons.
The same brakes were used with the addition of air scoops to the front backing plates and a dual master cylinder supplied by Repco subsidiary, Patons Brakes. Peugeot rack and pinion steering replaced the earlier Jeep cam and roller setup.
The first race for Maybach 2 was the Victorian Trophy at Fishermans Bend in March 1954 which Jones duly won, lapping the entire field with Brabham’s Cooper T23 Bristol three miles behind!
Jones victorious Maybach 2 in the Victorian Trophy at Fishermans Bend, an airfield circuit in Melbourne’s inner industrial west. March 1954 (VHRR Archive)
Further preparation for the AGP was the Bathurst 100 at Easter.
18,000 spectators attended the event, one of the ‘most successful meetings ever stage at the circuit’ according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Jones won a preliminary race on the Saturday but broke the gearbox in a handicap event late in the day. W Clark’s HRG won the handicap ‘100’ from Brabham’s Cooper Bristol and Stan. Jones won a 3 lap scratch race in the morning during which Maybach was timed at 132.6 mph over the flying quarter-mile. Not a bad reward for the mechanic who drove back to Melbourne overnight to collect a spare ‘box!
Maybach 2 was also raced at Altona twice, and again at Fishermans Bend in October in the lead up to the AGP, achieving success in the first of the two Altona meetings in May. He lost to Brabham’s Cooper T23 Bristol in the handicap at Altona in June and had gearbox failure at Fishermans Bend in October.
Demonstrating his versatility as a driver, Stan competed in the 1954 Redex Round Australia Trial in the Repco ‘prepped Holden FJ navigated by CAMS co-founder, Don Thomson, finishing equal fifth.
He also continued to compete in the Cooper with at least three wins on the circuits and again success in the hills, including lowering the Rob Roy record which had stood for three years.
Stan Jones drives Maybach 2 onto the main straight at Southport 1954 AGP, early in the race. A road course and a very rough one at that. These are now well paved roads can still be driven (Malcolm Preston)
1954 AGP…
The 1954 AGP was held on public roads at Southport on the Gold Coast not far from Surfers Paradise.
The roads were bumpy, were recently sealed, having loose gravel shoulders, some humps and two defined ‘no-passing’! sections. The crcuit was 5.7 miles long with a race distance of 155 miles or 27 laps. It promised to be a tough event.
Jones lead from the start, initially from Davison’s HWM Jag and Brabham’s Cooper. Malcolm Preston in his fantastic book ‘From Maybach to Holden’ records ‘…Jones was reportedly maintaining a furious pace and consistently lifting all four wheels off the ground over one of the humps…On lap 14, whilst negotiating the S bends the Maybach ran onto the gravel. As Jones endeavoured to steer the car back onto the road it spun and careered backwards into the roadside trees at an estimated 100mph…passing between two large trees, one tree caught the side of the engine, ripping the carburettors and front suspension from the car, whilst the body containing Jones continued a little further on its side. Jones emerged uninjured from the wreckage apart from a small cut on his lip’.
Their are mixed accounts as to the cause of the accident, those sympathetic to Repco suggest that failure of a front suspension frame weld did not occur and that Stan made a driving error. Graham Howard in his book, ‘The History of The Australian Grand Prix’ concludes, drawing on contemporary sources, that a weld failure caused the accident.
Brian Burnett who built the chassis at Repco ‘explained that the two main chassis rails, of 4 inch 16g chrome molybdenum alloy steel, passed through holes in the diaphragm-type front crossmember and were completely electrically welded into position. These welds crystallised and cracked, and in the course of the Grand Prix one chassis tube eventually broke away and touched the ground. It was a problem as simple, as enormous, as unfamiliarity with new materials and techniques,’ Howards book says.
Jones was tight lipped at the time, and it was a gentler age when journalism did not go hard at a large corporate such as Repco. From Stan’s perspective it made no sense to bite the hand which fed him and be forthcoming in a manner damaging to Repco.
The race continued and was won by Davison’s HWM, the first of his four AGP wins, from Curly Brydon and Ken Richardson in MG Spl and Ford V8 Spl respectively.
Brian Burnett, Maybach’s body builder, Preston records, told Jones at the team debrief at the Chevron Hotel that ‘he had driven too fast and recklessly’, Jones responded by flooring him with one punch! Out of character for a bloke who was generally the life of the party and a favourite with the ‘babes’, but perhaps reflecting Jones’ view that the destroyed car was not his fault.
Jones was awarded the ‘Australian Driver of The Year’ in 1954 for his NZGP, Victorian Trophy, Bathurst 100 and Victorian Hillclimb Championship wins.
Maybach 2 on the trailer for the trip back to Melbourne. The car was destroyed by the voyage backwards through the Southport trees at high speed Main frame members clear, front suspension torn from the car. Mechanical failure or driver error? (‘History of The AGP’ G Howard)
Maybach 3…
Shortly after returning from Southport, Charlie Dean hired Phil Irving, already a famous engineer for his work on Vincent motorcycles, and later the designer of the Repco Brabham RB620 Series V8 which won Jack Brabham’s 1966 World Drivers/Manufacturers Championships.
Whilst Maybach 3 was being built, Stan bought Jack Brabham’s ‘Redex Special’ Cooper T23 Bristol when Jack left for the UK, his businesses continuing to prosper and funding some wonderful cars.
At Fishermans Bend in February he qualified the Cooper on pole but finished third behind Davison’s HWM and Hunt’s Maserati. He ran the car again in the Argus Trophy at Albert Park in March finishing second to the Hunt’s Maser and the Whiteford Lago.
He also raced the Cooper 1100 and a Cooper T38 Jaguar in sports car events, winning in the latter at Fishermans Bend in February and also racing it on the hills.
Jones added a Cooper T38 Jag to his stable winning in it on both the circuits and in hillclimbs (motorsportarchive.com)
Early in 1955 construction of the new Maybach commenced.
To lower the bodywork the engine was canted at 60-degrees, offsetting the engine and driveshaft to the right allowing a driving position left of centre. New rear axle housings and steel gearbox housings were built to Irving’s design.
The remaining stock of 110mm stroke cranks were cracked, so a 100mm one was used. With a 90mm bore the engine capacity was 3800cc. The special SU carbs could not be readily replaced so six Stromberg side-draft carbs were used, the engine developing 240bhp @ 5000rpm.
A similar suspension layout to Maybach 2 was used. Brakes were made from flat plate steel rolled into circles and then welded at the ends, the drums were machined internally and externally for attachment to the hubs. Brian Burnett again built the body which was inspired by the contemporary Mercedes Benz W196 GP car.
The car was finished in April 1955 and entered for the Bathurst 100 at Easter.
It was timed at 145mph but had severe handling problems causing a spectacular spin and finishing second to Hunt’s Maserati A6GCM. The car also had a severe flat spot so was not run in the ‘100’, Stan winning the Group B Scratch race in his Cooper 1100.
It was found that the front cross member was flexing under braking, affecting the steering. Irving rectified the flatspot by devising a fuel injection system using the Stromberg throttle bodies, part throttle flow was regulated by a Lucas ignition distributor, with fuel delivered by an aircraft fuel pump; when dynoed the engine produced 250bhp.
Dean tested the car at Templestowe Hillclimb and Jones won the A.M.R.C Trophy at Altona, Melbourne in May from Ern Seeliger’s Cooper Bristol.
Jones raced the Cooper Bristol at Mount Druitt, western Sydney in August, losing a wheel in practice but winning the preliminary race only to have the car’s chassis snap in the 50 mile main race, fortunately bringing it to a halt without hurting himself.
Start of the race with Hunt’s Maser A6GCM and Stan in Maybach 3 alongside, front row. Jack Brabham and Doug Whiteford are on the second row in Cooper T40 Bristol ‘Bobtail’ and Lago-Talbot (Malcolm Preston)
1955 Australian Grand Prix, Port Wakefield, South Australia…
The car was fully rebuilt prior to the October 10 race and run in a preliminary event at Fishermans Bend the week before, Jones, whilst second to Hunt was happy with the car’s performance.
Jack Brabham was racing a Cooper Bristol T40 he built himself (to race in the 1955 British GP) and although hitherto fairly unreliable, he won the race from Hunt, who had led in his Maser A6GCM before breaking a rocker, and Jones whose clutch failed. Doug Whiteford was third in his Lago.
Stan competing at Gnoo Blas, Orange in the South Pacific Championship. Maybach DNF with a broken conrod in the race won by Hunt’s Maser 250F from the Brabham and Neal Cooper Bristols (Gnoo Blas Classic Car Club)
Maybach was next raced at Gnoo Blas, Orange, in January 1956 in the South Pacific Road Racing Championship meeting. Hunt took the lead by a small margin, Jones was second having lapped the field, then Brabham a distant third. On lap 23 the Maybach broke a conrod, locking the wheels and sending the car spinning down the road, Hunt won from Brabham.
Upon examination, the block and crank were badly damaged, there was little of Dean’s original cache of spares left and in any event the more modern cars from Europe, readily available at a price, meant it was increasingly difficult to develop the Maybach to the required levels of competitiveness.
After all those years Dean and Stan decided the cars elite racing days were over.
Stan Jones applying some gentle correction to his Maserati 250F #2520, AGP Caversham, WA 1957 (David Van Dal)
Maserati 250F…
Maybach 3 was never really competitive and Reg Hunt upped-the-local-ante when he imported an ex-works Maserati A6GCM in late 1954. Lex Davison followed suit with his ex-Ascari/Gaze Ferrari Tipo 500/625 3-litre. Stan, having the resources, invested £10,000 to acquire a Maserati 250F, chassis #2520 and a spare 3-litre 300S engine.
Stan despatched Charlie to Modena to do the deal. 2520 was built in late 1955 to 1956 spec and used by Frolian Gonzalez and Pablo Gulle in the 1956 Argentinian and Buenos Aires GPs respectively, (DNF and eighth) before being shipped to Melbourne, arriving on the SS Neptunia on April 22 1956.
In a 1981 issue of MotorSport Alan Jones describes his joy in ‘unwrapping the car’ at Port Melbourne but also his disappointment as a 9-year old that the car was a Maserati, real Italian racing cars being Ferraris…
In any event, Stan had the ‘ducks guts’, the most competitive customer Grand Prix car of the period, a tool with which he would demonstrate his mastery over the following three years.
Jones raced the car for the first time at Port Wakefield, coming second in the wet to Stillwell’s D-Type in the SA Trophy. He raced the car again in September at Bathurst winning both the three lap curtain raiser and NSW Road Racing Championship later in the day, setting a lap record in the process.
Jones’ 250F in the foreground and Owen Bailey’s ex-Whiteford/Chiron six-plug Lago-Talbot @ rear of the Albert Park Paddock, AGP 1956. The uoung mechanic in the brown overalls is noted Australian engineer/fettler Ian Tate (Rob Bailey Collection)
Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park 1956…
Melbourne hosted the Olympic Games in 1956. The AGP at Albert Park that November is still regarded as one of the greatest ever, certainly the best to that point in the race’s long history. It is the event which changed the face of motorsport in Australia, such was the calibre and competitiveness of the entry and scale of the event.
The meeting was a double-header featuring the Australian Tourist Trophy for sportscars on the first weekend and the AGP the following one, with support races of course, the AGP is still famous for those!
The overseas entry was headed by the factory Maserati team which brought five cars, three 250Fs and two 300S sports cars for Stirling Moss and Jean Behra. They based themselves at the Esplanade Hotel nearby in St Kilda, (still there, the ‘Espy is a great pub and band venue) the cars themselves were housed in Maserati driver and local Holden dealer Reg Hunt’s premises on the Nepean Highway in Elsternwick, close to the circuit.
Moss heads out to practice the spare 250F…three chassis came to Oz, two of the latest spec cars with offset driveline, lower seating position and revised bodywork, and this earlier car. Hunt tested it in practice and Brabham was entered to race it but ran his Cooper T39 Climax instead (unattributed)
So close that the 300S were driven to and from the track, adding to the cosmopolitan atmosphere. The large local Italian community, many of whom migrated post-war turned out in force to support the big red cars.
Other Maserati 250Fs were entered by Ken Wharton, Stan and Reg Hunt with Kevin Neal in Hunt’s old A6GCM. Ferraris were entered for Peter Whitehead and Reg Parnell: 555 Super Squalos’ with 860 Monza 3.5-litre four cylinder engines.
The strong field would test the local talent who were in cars of more or less equal performance to the vistors: Jones and Hunt in their 250Fs, Davison in his venerable 3-litre Ferrari Tipo 500, Whiteford’s Lago was long in the tooth but he ran his 12-plug T26C as did Owen Bailey in Doug’s old, successful car.
Jean Behra, Stirling Moss and cuppa tea! Albert Park pits AGP 1956 (unattributed)
Moss disappeared into the distance from Behra with local interest centred on the battle of the Melbourne drivers: Jones, Hunt and Davison. Moss initially led Behra, Whitehead, Parnell, Davison, Hunt, Neal and Jones. Bailey’s half shaft failed on the line. Jones was fast early, passing Hunt, with Wharton, Parnell and Davison dropping back.
Rain started to fall with the Jones/ Hunt dice continuing until Jones eased with smoke coming from under the Maser’s long bonnet. Post-race this was found to be a broken crankcase breather pipe leaking onto the exhaust. Rain started to fall heavily with 10 laps to go, Neal crashing the A6GCM into a tree and breaking both of his legs and those of the official he collected in the process. Moss won by nearly a lap from Behra, Whitehead, Hunt, Jones, Parnell and Davison.
The duel between Hunt and Jones was the first and last in similar cars, Hunt shortly thereafter retired from racing, neither Stillwell nor Glass were as competitive in the car subsequently.
Jones continued to also compete in rallies finishing second in the Experts Trial and getting hopelessly bogged in the wastes of North Queensland in the Mobilgas Trial co-driven by Lou Molina, legendary Melbourne racer, restauranteur and raconteur.
Jones and Hunt during their spirited early AGP race 250F dice. Such a shame Hunt retired shortly thereafter, the battles between Jones, Hunt, Davison and Ted Gray in the Tornado Chev would have been mega. The other ‘maybe’ would have been Doug Whiteford in an ex-factory 250F rather than the ex-factory 300S he bought from the Maserati team immediately after the meeting…Bob Jane bought the other 300S and sadly all three 250F’s left the country (unattributed)
1957 Australian Gold Star Series…
Stan shipped the Maserati to NZ for the Grand Prix at Ardmore in January hoping to repeat his earlier success, the race included internationals Reg Parnell, Peter Whitehead and Jack Brabham. Stan qualified well and in a tough 240 mile race of 3 hours 7 minutes, finished third in a typically gritty drive from Parnell and Whitehead in Ferrari Super Squalo 555s.
The Maserati also gave Stan a lot of unreliability grief, his fortunes in it changed when Otto Stone took over its preparation after the 1957 AGP held in searing 104 degree heat at Caversham in WA.
Jones was initially awarded victory after a stunning drive, but on a lap count back two days later, Davison got the win albeit with Bill Patterson as his co-driver. Tough-nut Stan drove the distance on his own. Alec Mildren also thought he (Mildren) had won the race.
Stan Jones in practice, AGP Caversham WA 1957. Superb David Van Dal shot makes the car look very long and low – Maserati 250F. Davison’s year 1957, winning the AGP, Gold Star and Victorian Trophy in his Ferrari Tipo 500 (David Van Dal)
Lex Davison won five rounds of the championship that year winning the Gold Star from Tom Hawkes’ Cooper T23 Holden and Stan. Jones only Gold Star win for the year was in Queensland, winning the Lowood Trophy in August. At Bathurst a UJ broke, at Lowood a spur gear, and back at Bathurst the clutch failed.
Stan entered the Maser in the Victorian Trophy meetings, over two consecutive weekends at Albert Park in March, winning a preliminary event from the Davison Ferrari 500/625 and Brabham’s F2 Cooper T41 Climax, but his engine let go in a big way in the 100 mile Trophy race whilst chasing and catching Davison in the lead. A conrod broke, carving the block in half after setting fastest race lap on this big-balls circuit. Davison won from Brabham and Hawkes.
Stan’s businesses continued to expand, he was awarded a Holden franchise, Stan Jones Motors was located at 408 Victoria Street, Richmond/Abbotsford. Many of his fellow ‘elite racers’ were also motor-traders including Bib Stillwell, Lex Davison, Bill Patterson, Alec Mildren, Arnold Glass, Stan Coffey and Reg Hunt.
Wet practice session for the Maser, Victorian Trophy at Albert Park in March 1957 (Rodway Wolfe Collection)
Australian Gold Star Champion 1958…
Stan won at the Victorian Tourist Trophy meeting at Fishermans Bend in February 1958 from Arnold Glass in a Ferrari Super Squalo and Doug Whiteford in an ex-works Maserati 300S sports car acquired from the Maserati team after the 1956 AGP.
In a consistent year with the now well prepared and reliable Maserati, Stan also won the final round of the championship, the Phillip Island Trophy race and scored second places at Gnoo-Blas, (Orange NSW), Longford and Lowood, Queensland. He won the title from Alec Mildren and Len Lukey in Coopers T43 Climax and T23 Bristol respectively.
Jones leads Ted Gray across the top of Mount Panorama, AGP 1958. Maser 250F from Tornado Chev (Alan Stewart Collection)
Davo took the AGP at Bathurst in October 1958 in a thriller of a race, Jones led for the first 17 laps with Davo in close company until the 250F clutch failed, and several laps later the engine. Ern Seeliger finished second in Maybach 4 (see below for specifications) with Tom Hawkes third in his Cooper T23 Bristol.
Start of the 1958 GP’s preliminary race: Ted Gray’s Tornado from Davison # 12 Ferrari Tipo 500/625 and Stan (Bernie Rubens)
In a year of relative consistency Stan amassed enough points to win the CAMS coveted Gold Star for Australian Champion driver of the year.
It was a fitting reward for one who had contributed so much to the sport and been a drawcard from the moment he first stepped into Maybach 1.
Grid of the 1958 AGP Mount Panorama, Bathurst. Front row L>R Davison #12 Ferrari Tipo 500/625, Tom Clark Ferrari 555 Super Squalo, Ted Gray blue Tornado, row 2 L>R, Alec Mildren Cooper T43 Climax, Merv Neil Cooper T45 Climax and Curley Brydon Ferrari Chev, Tornado red clad crew well to the fore. (David Van Dal)Jones, Hell Corner, Bathurst AGP 1958, this shot taken from the inside of the corner, the following one from the outside. These shots show the truly challenging nature of the place in the 1950s in 250bhp plus GP cars (Ed Holly Collection)Jones wheels his 250F into Hell Corner Bathurst 1958 AGP (Bernie Rubens)
The Australian Grand Prix win he had strived for for so long was finally his with a victory on the power circuit of Longford in Tasmania 1959.
Stan’s 250F was at its peak, lovingly and skilfully prepared by Otto Stone, Stan beat Len Lukey’s Cooper T43 Climax at just the right moment. The day of the front engined GP car was over in Australia, a bit later than in Europe.
Stan was fortunate that there were no 2.5-litre Coventry Climax engined Coopers in Australia at that stage. Lukey’s little 2-litre did not quite have the ‘mumbo’ to do the job on Longford’s long straights, but if anyone deserved some luck Stan certainly did!
Stan being pushed to the start in front of Arnold Glass in the ex-Hunt/Stillwell 250F. Otto Stone beside Stan, fair haired Sawyer pushing Maser’s pert rear…(Walkem Family/Ellis French)
Jones led from the start followed by Lukey and Whiteford, Whiteford’s Maser 300S did not survive the landing off the railway line spraying copious amounts of oil over Lukey.
Ellis French shot as the flag has dropped catches all the ‘fun of the fair’ of country Tasmania in much simpler times…Jones from Lukey, Glass and Whiteford in the 300S. Blue coloured sports car at rear is Ron Phillips’ Cooper T38 Jag. Formula Libre event (Ellis French)
The lap record was taken by Jones, Lukey and Glass. Lukey lead for six laps, Jones regained the lead, tapping Lukey’s Cooper up the chuff whilst going past the Prince of Wales Hotel. Glass made a bid for the lead, getting right up to Jones, but had to use the escape road at Mountford Corner, his brakes locking. He recovered, joining the circuit still in third in front of Mildren’s Cooper.
Jones worked his away back to the front again, and built a small lead over Lukey, winning by 2.2 seconds from Lukey, with Glass 2.5 minutes behind them and Mildren 39 seconds behind Glass. Ted Gray’s Tornado, the other outright contender had troubles in the qualifying heats, he ran a bearing in the fabulous Lou Abrahams built Chev V8 engined Australian special on lap 4.
Amazing shot of Jones and Lukey ‘yumping’ their cars over the railway line towards Tannery Corner on the outskirts of Longford township (Charles Rice)Stan Jones and Len Lukey in their epic 1959 AGP Longford dice, the cars touched here on lap 9 (oldracephotos-ed steet)
Stan contested the Gold Star Series again in 1959, winning at Port Wakefield in Maybach 4. The car, still owned by Jones, was modified by Stan’s friend Ern Seeliger by fitment of a Chev Corvette 283cid V8, de Dion rear suspension, a 30 gallon fuel tank and less weight. The dry-sumped Chev was fitted with 2 four barrel Carter carbs and developed 274bhp at 6000rpm and 300ft.lbs of torque. The last victory for the car was that race at Port Wakefield, in March, in back to back wins with his AGP triumph.
Stan in Maybach 4 Chev alongside Alec Mildren’s Cooper T43 Climax. Stan won the Gold Star round at Port Wakefield in March 1959, mixing drives in the Maser and Maybach that year. Relative size of the ‘old and new’ apparent, Mildren’s Cooper is tiny in comparison! (Kaydee)
The 1959 Gold Star Series was very long at twelve rounds, Len Lukey winning it in Coopers T23 and T43 Climax from Alec Mildren in Coopers T43 and T45 Climax, and Stan.
Alan and Stan Jones, Phillip Island circa 1959. Car is Maybach 4 Chev, still owned by Stan but modified by fitment of the Corvette V8, fettled and mainly raced by Jones’ mate Ern Seeliger. PI track surface not quite what it is today…(Fan.one)
Coopers…
The Maserati 250F was advertised for sale at £4500 (selling some years later for circa £2000), Maybach 4 was pressed into service at the AGP held in 1960 at Lowood, Queensland in June. The Chev engine failed after four laps, Alec Mildren took a fantastic win by less than a second after a race long dice with Lex Davison’s Aston DBR4/300.
Mildren’s car was a clever combination of Cooper T51 chassis and Maserati 250S engine taken out to 2.9 litres, deservedly, he finally won the Gold Star that year and then retired, forming a race team and over the following decade putting far more back into the sport than he ever took from it.
The mid-engined way forward was clear. Stan’s new Cooper T51 2.2 Climax arrived in time for the NZ Grand Prix at Ardmore in early January 1960. Stan’s practice times were fifth quickest of a grid which included Stirling Moss, David Piper, Denny Hulme and Len Lukey, all driving Coopers.
Jones finished fourth behind Brabham and McLaren in works Cooper T51 and T45 Climax 2.5s, and Stillwell, like Stan in a new Cooper T51 but 2.2 Climax engined.
Stan contested the Craven A International at Bathurst in October 1960. He retired the car in a lap one accident, the race was won by Jack Brabham’s T51.
Merv Bunyan photo50,000 people turned up to see Jack Brabham win the Craven A International at Bathurst in 1960. Front row L>R Jones, Mildren, Brabham. The red car on row two is Stillwell, the yellow behind is Austin Miller, the white one behind him Patterson..all in Cooper T51 Climax. The Glass 250F is clear, third row outside (Australian Motor Racing Museum)
Grand Prix Racing changed from a 2.5 to 1.5 litre Formula in 1961 but many internationals contested our summer races…bringing 2.5-litre ex-GP cars, the ‘Tasman Series’ was still three years away. Stirling Moss, Innes Ireland, Dan Gurney, Graham Hill, Ron Flockhart as well as our Jack raced in Australia that summer.
Stan missed the opening Gold Star round at Warwick Farm but was the fastest of the locals, making a particularly big impact on Dan Gurney at the Victorian Trophy meeting held at Ballarat Airfield in mid February. He was fourth, bested only by Gurney and Hill in their BRM P48s and Ron Flockhart’s Cooper T51 Climax 2.5. Jones led home the locals Stillwell, Mildren, Glass and Miller all in Cooper T51’s.
The oldracingcars.com commentary of the 1961 season asserts that Jones was the quickest of the Australians at the start of ’61 but only won later in the year at Lakeside in July.
At the Longford Trophy in March he had a DNF on lap four, the race won by Roy Salvadori’s Cooper T51 Climax. At the Queensland Centenary Road Racing Championships at Lowood in June he finished third behind Bill Patterson and Mildren, both Cooper T51 mounted.
In April he contested the Craven-A Gold Star event at Bathurst finishing second to Patterson’s winning Cooper T51. Pattos’ Cooper and the four cars behind Jones 2.3 Climax, all 2.5-litres in capacity or bigger.
Stan in his Cooper T51 Climax alongside Bib Stillwell in Aston DBR4/300. Stans’ BRDC badge proudly displayed on the Coopers side. Longford practice, March 1961 (Ron Lambert Collection)
But for Stan difficult times had begun…
In 1961 there was a credit squeeze in Australia as the Menzies Government tightened monetary policy to control inflation with the usual brutally fast consequences of an instant drop in consumer demand, cars included.
Sales on Jones’ multiple sites dropped and continued to decrease as consumers kept their wallets in their pockets or could not obtain consumer credit, which was nowhere near as sophisticated or as common as it is today. Superior Motors was sold in 1960. If you were highly geared, as Stan’s businesses were, you were in trouble, his assets were progressively sold as his cashflow could not keep up with creditors demands.
Jones initially raced on and won the Lakeside Libre Race in the Cooper in July, ahead of Arnold Glass’ Cooper T51 Maser and the Lotus 18 Ford FJ of Bruce Coventry.
He didn’t start the 1961 AGP at Mallala, South Australia, the race was won by Lex Davison in a Cooper T51 borrowed from Bib Stillwell. David Mckay was penalised for a jumped start and lost a race many believe he should have won, Davos’ AGP luck was legendary!
The Gold Star was won by Patterson from Davison, with Jones equal third with Bib Stillwell despite not competing at most rounds and having his mind on much bigger issues, his financial survival.
That unfortunately was the end of Jones’ racing career, he simply no longer had the financial means to compete, the fastest Australian at the start of 1961 was effectively retired twelve months later.
Stan Jones, John Sawyer and Otto Stone with the Cooper, Calder 1962. A drive of the car at this stage was no doubt some relief from the financial issues Jones was dealing with (autopics)
Jones retained the Cooper, racing it at local Calder, Victoria, events several times into 1962. Whilst for sale, the 250F had not sold, Stan ran the car in an historic demonstration event at Sandown in November 1963, which seems to have been his last competition outing. By 1965 the car was sold and running in historic events in the UK.
Stan was ‘a player’, his marriage to Alma ended in divorce. Stan gained custody of Alan and moved to The Boulevard in Ivanhoe, a more salubrious address than Yongala Street, Balwyn. By the mid-1960s all of Stan’s businesses had been sold and he was struggling to find an income; all of this tumultuous for Alan, by then in his late teens.
Stan and Jack McDonald in Maybach 1, mid 1960s in the Calder or Sandown paddocks. Fit and well at this point pre-strokes (Graham Thompson Collection)
Jones suffered two debilitating strokes in the mid-1960s. Alan, after an initial trip in 1967, moved to the UK to pursue a racing career in 1969, Stan moved there to live with Alan and Beverley, AJ’s first wife.
He died in a London hospital in March 1973 just short of his fiftieth birthday. He was a shadow of his former self but a family friend who visited the Jones family in London spoke on the ‘blogosphere’ of Stan using two walking sticks but still looking dapper and smart.
Sad as this was, he would have been proud of Alan as 1973 was his breakthrough year in the UK. He had been competing in F3 for several years, winning a lot of races in a GRD 373 in 1973 and finally broke free of F3, getting his first F1 drive in the Harry Stiller owned Hesketh in 1975.
Champion Racers both, Stan and Alan…and in elite company with Antonio and Alberto Ascari.
Stan Jones Cooper T51 Climax Bathurst Gold Star, March 1961 (John Ellacott)
Where Does Stan Jones rate in the pantheon of local Australian drivers of the period?…
It’s much harder to rate the drivers of the period as they raced mainly cars of different performance. It isn’t like today when drivers come through controlled junior formulae and into controlled senior formulae including F1! telemetry and the like making the job of picking who is fastest easier.
The competitor set includes Doug Whiteford, Lex Davison, Jack Brabham, (whom I have excluded from this analysis given he went overseas) Reg Hunt, Ted Gray, Alec Mildren and Len Lukey. Guys like Bib Stillwell peaked later and David McKay wasn’t in single seaters until the very end of Stan’s career so lets say that is the ‘elite group’, based either on results or speed – Ted Gray an example of the latter.
Whilst their is some chatter about the merits of Jones on the blogosphere, of more relevance are contemporary reports of those there in the day, assessing the drivers of the day in the context of the day.
Australian Motorsport Yearbook 1958/9 refers to Jones ‘two most important overseas appearances have done more to put Australia on the map than many other drivers’. His ‘finest achievement must still be driving an Australian Special against International drivers in works cars in the first NZ International GP.’ ‘On the results of these experiences (the other being the Monte Carlo Rally) Jones should then have spent one season overseas; his potential as a racing driver, was superior, at the time to Jack Brabham’.
This did not happen primarily due to his family and business commitments so ‘..it is therefore not surprising that when he has recently driven against overseas drivers, he has been unable to match their skill…’
‘It has been suggested Stan is a car killer. This is not true. Jones is the first to admit that when he began motor racing he had little knowledge of what went on under the bonnet, but on the credit side he has the ability to give the mechanics details of incorrect symptoms…’
‘It must be admitted Jones is a hard driver…This determination to win has been one of the most important factors contributing to Jones’ success…his record shows he has rarely been unplaced when completing a race.’
‘Jones has been a complete all rounder…He is not temperamental and like many similar drivers his easy friendliness off the track is only matched by his determination once a race has started.’
Stans adaptability is mentioned above, that was not unique at the time as circuit events were not as common as now so drivers with the means had to be prepared to travel interstate and to do trials, rallies and hillclimbs to get their ‘racing fix’.
Jones had the financial means to race, but so too did the competitor set above, who were all sucessful businessmen/racers with the wherewithal to match their skill.
As the oldracingcars.com analysis earlier states, Stan was the quickest local driver in 1961…Dan Gurney stating after racing against him at Ballarat Airfield, ‘wow he is some driver that Stan Jones’. He successfully made the change from front to mid-engined cars, he was as adept in his Cooper Climax as Maybach 4, both entirely different beasts raced successfully in the same year.
Ray Bell, noted Australian motor racing journalist and Racing Car News contributor talks about Jones on ‘The Nostalgia Forum’ as ‘..the dominant figure of his day. He probably won the 1957 AGP at Caversham denied by poor lap-charting by the organisers. He stood out amongst drivers of the fifties, Brabham shot off to the UK to really make an impact’. ‘At Albert Park in 1956 only two drivers took Golf Links Bend flat, Moss and Jones’
Was he our fastest of the period? Probably.
It’s a pity Whiteford bought a 300S rather than a 250F from the visiting Maserati factory team after the 1956 Albert Park GP, equally it’s a shame Hunt retired, those battles would have been interesting and perhaps conclusive.
Was he the best in the period? Possibly.
Perhaps mechanical sympathy, important at the time was a slight negative.
Lex Davison is the other ‘best’ contender and an honorable mention should be made of Hunt who really wasn’t around long enough in outright cars to call it, he definitely had a car advantage when the A6GCM arrived, raising the bar and forcing others to buy Red Cars.
The final word goes to John Medley, another racer/enthusiast/historian of the period also writing on ‘TNForum’. He said of Stan, ‘He was an impressive operator, a determined and at times exuberant driver and usually with good equipment. Alan Jones was not the only goer in the Jones family. Stan was a serious goer full of fire and brimstone.’
Jones returns to the pits, final victory in Maybach 4 Chev, Port Wakefield, SA Gold Star round March 1959 (Kevin Drage)
Etcetera…
Charlie Dean…
Repco PR shot of Charlie Dean circa 1972 (Malcolm Preston)
The importance of the Research & Development ‘Skunkworks’ Dean created at Repco post-war is important to recognise.
Its existence and focus on development by racing attracted an incredible number of talented engineers who graduated from the ‘Repco University’ and achieved much within Repco, or more often outside it.
Repco engineering alumnus include Ivan Tighe, Paul England, Peter Holinger, Nigel Tait, Michael Gasking, George Wade, Don Halpin, Frank Duggan, John Brookfield, John Judd, John Mepstead, David Nash, Ian Stockings, Ken Syme, Brian and Norm Wilson and many others. Phil Irving is not on this list as he was already of world renown when he joined Repco.
This unit within the company led to the Coventry Climax FPF maintenance program in the early 1960s, this and the capabilities of the engineers made possible taking on the Jack Brabham request to design and build the 1966-67 World Championship winning RB620 and 740 Series of engines, a program supported and sponsored by Dean, by that time a Repco Board member.
Board membership was a considerable achievement in Dean’s career as Repco were for many years an Australian Stock Exchange Top 200 company. Even though by then he wore a suit, by thought, word and deed he was a racer to his core and a fine engineer to boot.
As a Repco Director he retired compulsorily at 60 in 1973, then doing a variety of engineering projects, and some property refurbishment work. He died suddenly in 1984 after suffering a fatal blood clot following surgery after a fall moving a concrete slab at his home.
To my knowledge his story has not been fully told but it is well covered in Malcolm Preston’s great book referred to in the bibliography.
Charlie Dean, Maybach 1, Rob Roy 1948 (George Thomas)
Etcetera…
Tony Gaze, Lex Davison and Stan Jones with their Holden, Monaco quayside, Monte Carlo Rally 1953 (unattributed)1958 AGP, Mount Panorama, Bathurst…Stan in his 250F from Ted Gray’s Tornado Chev and Davison in the Ferrari 500/625, first lap. Hell Corner from the inside, beginning the run up the mountain…(Peter Wherrett Collection)Jones and 250F at Phillip Island circa 1959 (Peter D’Abbs)Ern Seeliger and Stan after the latter won the 1953 Victorian Trophy at Fishermans Band in Maybach 1 prepared by Ernie (The Age)
Bibliography…
Barry Green ‘Glory Days’, Malcolm Preston ‘Maybach to Holden’, Graham Howard ‘History of The Australian Grand Prix’, ‘Australian Motorsport Yearbook 1958/9’, ‘The Nostalgia Forum’
Photo Credits…
David Van Dal, John Ellacott, Ron Lambert, oldracephotos.com, Rodway Wolfe Collection, Merv Bunyan Collection, Bernie Rubens, John Ellacott, Charles Rice, Ellis French, B Dunstan, Ed Steet, Walkem Family, KE Niven & Co, Peter Wherrett Collection, Australian Motor Racing Museum, Rob Bailey Collection, Kevin Drage, Dacre Stubbs Collection, motorsportarchive.com, Graham Thompson Collection, Ray Eldershaw Collection, Alan Stewart Collection, Ed Holly Collection, fan.one, George Thomas, VHRR Archive, Pter D’Abbs, Historic Racing Car Club of Tasmania, The Age
Tailpiece…
(HRCCTas)
Happy Stan, no doubt a relieved Stan, in the Longford paddock post 1959 AGP win, Maserati 250F…
Stirling Moss, Vanwall VW10 correcting a delicate slide on the cobblestones of the Boavista Circuit, Portuguese Grand Prix 1958 (LAT Archive)
The Perils of Grand Prix Racing in the days of Yore…
Casually placed haybales the only barrier between the cobblestoned road surface, tramlines and decorative telephone poles, Sunday 24 August 1958. This was a very dangerous circuit even by the standards of the day.
The circuit was in Oporto, it began on the harbour front esplanade, continued onto the ‘Avenida da Boavista’, then through small neighbourhoods and back to the start/finish line. It was also used for the GP in 1960.
Moss’ Vanwall leads Hawthorns’ Ferrari Dino , Behras’ BRM P 25 on the inside, then 2 more Vanwalls of Brooks and Lewis-Evans and the other Dino of Von Trips..challenges of the circuit apparent (‘restos’)
50000 people attended the event held in treacherous conditions, the track damp after earlier rain.
It had been a tough couple of months for the motor racing world as Luigi Musso and Peter Collins died in Ferrari Dino’s in the French and German Grands’ Prix respectively.
Graham Hill, Lotus 16 Climax, lands atop the haybales after a spin on lap 25, DNF. Hill made his Grand Prix debut in a Lotus 12 at Monaco that May, starting a long, wonderful, successful, ‘Triple Crown Winning’ career. His final GP was also at Monaco in 1975, unfortunately not qualifying (Pinterest)
Gee Hill beached from either angle!
In a fantastic display of sportsmanship Stirling Moss intervened in a post race protest against Mike Hawthorn, who it was alleged had driven a short distance in the wrong direction on-circuit, having restarted his car. Moss advised the stewards Mike was on the footpath at the time, therefore not breaching the rules and keeping the points which ultimately won him the 1958 Drivers Championship by 1 point…from Moss.
All the fun of the fair…Moss leads teammate Stuart Lewis-Evans through the Oporto suburbs. Moss won with Hawthorns Ferrari Dino 246 second and Lewis-Evans third (Pinterest)
Tony Brooks and Stirling Moss swap notes during practice, note Brooks’ ‘kidney belt’ to cope with the rigors of the rough circuit(s) (‘restos’)
Circuit of Boavista panorama…(‘restos’)
This shot of Hawthorn amongst the tramlines shows the delicacy of car control required on that day given the combination of rain, cobblestones, slippery steel tram lines and the hard, narrow race tyres of the day! (‘restos’)
Moss’ Vanwall leads Hawthorns Ferrari Dino 246 early in the race…Moss post race intervention in a protest about Hawthorns’ diqualification critial to him holding second place and the points which ultimately won him the 1958 Drivers Title from Moss (Pinterest)
Moss victorious in Vanwall VW10 (Pinterest)
Vanwall Team lap of honour…L>R Vandervell, waving Moss and Lewis-Evans (‘restos’)
Photo Credits…
LAT Archive, Pinterest
Many of theses shots are from a blog: restosdecoleccao.blogspot.com .Well worth a look even if your Spanish is not flash!
Etcetera…
Roy Salvadori ponders the 2 litre Coventry Climax FPF engine of his ‘works’ Cooper T45, Roy was ninth, and last, Jack Brabham in the sister car seventh (‘restos’)
Start from the rear this time. #14 Brabham Cooper T45 Climax, # 4 Brooks Vanwall, # 10 Schell BRM P25, # 8 Behra BRM P25. Up front its Moss Vanwall, then Hawthorn Ferrari to the left of Moss, Lewis-Evans Vanwall outside on the right, and Von Trips Ferrari also right behind Lewis-Evans…the nose just appearing in shot is one of the Maser 250F’s entered…Shelby, Bonnier or Maria de Filippis (‘restos’)
Jean Behra BRM P25 ahead of Jack Brabhams’ Cooper T45 Climax, now at 2.2 litres capacity, and tiny in comparison to the BRM. Fourth and seventh respectively, a Vanwall, Brooks perhaps, following (Pinterest)
Mike Hawthorn enroute to second place in his Ferrari Dino 246 (Pinterest)
Moss’ Vanwall nose up under acceleration (Pinterest)
Stirling Moss on his way to Ain Diab victory in his Vanwall VW5, 1958 (Moss Archive)
Stirling Moss, Vanwall VW57 and Mike Hawthorn, Ferrari 246 went to Morocco for the final round of the 1958 Championship, with Moss needing to win and set fastest lap and Hawthorn to finish no lower than third to take the title…
Morocco had recently gained its independence from Spain and used the race to help establish its global identity. The newly crowned King Mohammad V attended ‘Ain Diab’, a very fast, dangerous road circuit on public roads near Casablanca.
Moss took the lead, with Phil Hill also starting well- Hill waved teammate Hawthorn through to chase Moss with Brooks challenging in the other Vanwall. Moss set a new lap record, Ferrari slowed Hill to allow Hawthorn into second. Moss ran into Wolfgang Seidels’ Maserati 250F, damaging the Vanwalls nosecone, but fortunately not the radiater core.
Tragedy struck on lap 42 when the engine in the Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall blew, the car’s rear wheels locked then the car careered into a small stand of trees- the vulnerable tail tank ruptured and caught fire, Lewis-Evans jumped out but was disoriented and headed away from fire marshalls who may have been able to minimise the terrible burns from his overalls- despite being flown home to the UK he died in a specialist hospital six days later.
Stuart Lewis-Evans, Morocco 1958. His death robbed Britain of its great ‘coming-man’ (The Cahier Archive)
Stunning Moroccan backdrop, Hawthorn, Ferrari Dino 246 (Unattributed)
Moss’ car survived the heat despite the damaged Vanwall nosecone having hit Seidel’s Maser 250F ‘up the chuff’ taking the win and the Constructors Championship for Vanwall (Unattributed)
Phil Hill turns his Ferrari Dino 246 into an open right hander on the prodigiously fast Ain Diab road circuit, Casablanca, Morocco 1958- he finished third (Unattributed)
Moss won the race, and Hawthorn the Drivers Championship, but the Constructors Championship was won by Vanwall in a fitting reward for Tony Vandervell who had passionately supported the BRM program before setting out on his own, frustrated by the process of management by committee and the lack of agility which went with it.
Hawthorn shortly thereafter announced his retirement from racing, aged 29, and, ‘dicing’ with Rob Walker’s Mercedes on the Guildford Bypass not far from his home, crashed fatally in his Mark 1 Jag 3.4- an horrific end to a tragic season for British motor racing.
This article started life as a piece I wrote in September 2014 about the Moroccan GP and then over time morphed into a rough bitza on Vanwall of 1,500 words, before substantially re-writing it as a 10,000 word feature in February 2020. The article uses as its primary technical resources two 8W Forix articles- one by Ron Rex ‘The Vanwall Grand Prix Engines’, quite staggering in the level of detail, http://8w.forix.com/vanwall-grandprix-engine-introduction.html and another by Don Capps ‘A Year by Year Look at the Vandervell Racing Machines including Thinwall Specials’ http://8w.forix.com/vanwalls.html
If you are interested in the topic do read these articles and others on Vanwall on that site- you will be fascinated for a weekend at least.
Tony Vandervell…
Vandervell Products ad in the ‘BRM Ambassador for Britain’ booklet (Stephen Dalton Collection)
Guy Anthony ‘Tony’ Vandervell (TV) was the son of Charles Vandervell, the fouder of CAV, later Lucas CAV.
He made his fortune from the production of ‘Thin-Wall’ bearings under licence from the innovative American inventor- Cleveland Graphite Bronze Company, these products were made by Vandervell Products Ltd (VP) from 1933 in a purpose built factory at Western Avenue, Acton, west of London.
As a captain of the automotive industry Vandervell was invited to be a member of the British Motor Racing Research Trust (BRM) in 1947 but he soon tired of BRM’s ‘management by committee’ and the consequent lack of agility so started an independent race program with a series of Ferraris modified by VP called ‘Thin Wall Special’.
He was born on 8 September 1898 and died on 10 March 1967.
The Chief, Tony Vandervell with Tony Brooks in the Monza pitlane in 1958 the day before Brooks went out and won the Italian GP, Vanwall VW5 (John Ross)
Reg Parnell in Ferrari 375 Thinwall 3 before going out and beating the three Alfa Romeo 159s of Fangio, Farina and Bonetto in the May 1951 International Trophy at Silverstone- the race was held in teeming rain and ended after 6 laps, no official winner apparently but Parnell got the prize which tends to indicate he won! Car #29 is Johnny Claes, Talbot Lago T26C (Getty-GP Library)
Peter Whitehead in Thinwall 3, Ferrari 375 during the 1951 British GP at Silverstone, 9th in the race won by Froilan Gonzalez Ferrari 375- Ferrari’s first championship GP win
Mike Hawthorn in the Ferrari 375 V12 ‘Thinwall 4 Special’, National Trophy Race, Turnberry Airfield circuit, Scotland 23 August 1952. Tony Vandervell is to the left of the mechanic, Hawthorn is on pole and sportingly allowed the BRM mechanics to repair a leak in a water rail on Reg Parnell’s car, before stepping aboard his car, and then found a box full of neutrals at the start and retired it shortly thereafter. Parnell won the race from Bob Gerard’s ERA and Ken Wharton in the second BRM V16 (Unattributed)
The first Thinwall (i have used ‘Thinwall’ throughout this article but note the correct names of the cars were ‘Thin Wall Special’) was a 1949 Ferrari 125 GPC- a 1.5 litre supercharged V12 short wheelbase machine which was returned to Ferrari after examintion by BRM, chassis number unknown. Describing these cars is context for the Vanwalls which followed, a description of the Thinwalls and the modifications made to them is an article in itself for another time.
By 1950 VP had built an additional factory at Cox Green, Maidenhead complete with engine test beds and it was here that the Ferrari, and later Vanwall engines were built and tested. The Vanwall racing team (VR) itself was based at Acton with Fred Fox in charge and Phil Watson as Chief Mechanic with close access to VP’s drawing office, toolroom and major workshop located in the main factory over the road. In essence, by the end of 1950 all the necessary infrastructure was in place to take on and beat the best in the world.
Thinwall 2 was a 1950 Ferrari 125, it was similarly powered to the first car but had a more powerful twin-plug V12. The long wheelbase chassis was numbered ‘125-C-02’ and had swing axle rear suspension, it was returned to Maranello to be rebuilt into Thinwall 3.
The 1951 Thinwall 3/Ferrari 375 used, as noted above, the same chassis as ‘2’ but fitted with a normally aspirated 4.5 litre, single-plug V12 with a de Dion rear end- retained by the team, it was broken up in 1952.
Thinwall 4/Ferrari 375 was a long-wheelbase ‘Indianapolis’ 375, chassis number ‘010-375’ and was again a 4.5 litre V12 but this time twin-plug and de Dion rear axled- the car was retained by the team.
The Ferraris raced mainly in British Formula Libre events providing the main opposition to the BRM Type 15 V16 which was essentially too late for F1 before the formula changed, rendering it obsolete.
Vandervell was restless and wanted to race in the new 2 litre F2 of 1952-1953 which of course became the category to which the World Championship was run in those years.
Peter Collins, then 22, at the wheel of the original Vanwall Special ‘01′, ‘Goodwood Trophy’ in September 1954. He qualified and finished 2nd to the Moss Maser 250F (Louis Klemantaski)
In 1954 the Thinwall Specials became a Vanwall Special…
The name was an acronym of Vandervell’s Acton based ‘Thinwall’ bearing company and his surname. The chassis was designed by Cooper’s Owen Maddock and built at the companies Surbiton factory (given the Type 30 designation retrospectively). The machine had Ferrari inspired suspension and steering components together with a Ferrari 4 speed gearbox modified by VP. Goodyear disc brakes were used, as on the Thinwall, the interesting bit at this early stage was the heart of the car- its engine.
Vandervell became a member of the Norton Motors Ltd Board in 1946 and was naturally impressed by their very successful 500cc single but he felt the company needed to develop a multi-cylinder engine to combat the Italians and contracted BRM’s design arm, Automotive Developments Ltd to design a 500cc four-cylinder engine for Norton. BRM experimented with a water-cooled version of the Norton 500cc single which developed more power than the air-colled original- the design was to be significant in 1954 when Vandervell sought an engine for his new car.
Technically minded and interested, TP had spent plenty of time in the Norton test house with Chief Engineer Joe Craig and Polish Design Engineer Leo Kuzmicki as they developed their latest 500 singles which developed 45bhp on 80 octane fuel in 1951. TP could see how four times that amount and a bit more given alcohol based fuels were allowed in the new 2 litre F2 would be competitive. Additionally the BRM 500 test engine gave 47bhp on test whereas at the time Norton’s air-cooled motor gave 44.2bhp- and so the die was set.
Norton were prepared to help with the head design, Eric Richter, who had worked on the Norton project at BRM, joined Acton from Bourne in late 1950 so Fred Fox and his team were tasked to do the overall engine design, working closely with Craig and Kuzmicki at Norton on the the head and valve gear with specialist tradesmen in milling, grinding and turning seconded from VP to Vanwall Racing- with the coming change to F1 from 2 to 2.5 litres in 1954 the design was to be capable of taking that jump in capacity.
And so it was that the Vanwall engine was essentially the same as the Norton/BRM water cooled single- four Norton single cylinder barrels spigoted into the cylinder head and crankcase, integrated ‘en-bloc’ with added on non load-bearing water jackets.
The bore and stroke of the 2 litre motor mirrored those of the 1952 Norton 500- 85.93cc X 86mm for a total capacity of 1995cc. This double overhead camshaft cylinder head used twin inclined valves in each combustion chamber with motor cycle style hairpin valve springs.
The engine had a deep crankcase into which the four cylinder barrels were spigoted atop which sat the shallow cylinder head casting. Both these key components were held together by ten long, threaded high-tensile steel rods which passed through the head, beside the barrels and through the crankcase and main bearing caps and were secured at each end with nuts.
In the interests of time the team were looking at proprietary crankcases they could adapt to their needs, the ‘winning choice’ was made by TV’s eldest sone Anthony, who had been apprenticed at Rolls-Royce and suggested the four cylinder variant of the R-R B Series military engine, the ‘B40’. This engine was of aluminium ‘F-head’ configuration- overhead inlet valves and side exhaust valves, the five main bearing crankcase was made of cast iron and its capacity when fitted to the Austin Champ military vehicle was 2838cc.
An order was placed for a crankcase cum block in February 1952. Later Leyland were approached- who were making the engine under contract for Rolls-Royce to supply a set of patterns and baked cores for suitable modification.
Vandervell machined a B40 crankcase to their needs as a pattern, together with the cores provided by Leyland to cast a prototype crankcase in aluminium- plenty of work was required by VP to increase the wall thickness to allow for the reduced strength of the alloy to be used and to incorporate the change from five to four main bearings.
The choice of the change from five to four main bearings was thought to be due to savings in weight and friction- Ron Rex in his wonderful series of 8W Forix articles on Vanwall engine design points out that Richter had worked with Stewart Tresilian at ERA and BRM- he was a strong proponent of the use of four main bearings in four cylinder race engines inclusive of BRM”s successful 2.5 cylinder four which raced in the P25 and P48 GP machines from 1953 to 1961.
The crankcase was cast by Aeroplane and Aluminium Castings Ltd of Coventry in RR53B aluminium, the engine used a forged crankshaft machines by Laystall with Vandervell ‘Thin-Wall’ copper-lead-indium bearings used. The wet cylinder barrels were made of cast-iron with the surrounding water-jacket made of RR50 aluminium again by ‘Aeroplane’. The engine was of course dry-sumped with two gear type oil pumps- a triple pinioned scavenge pump and single pressure pump housed in a casting fixed to the front of the engine below the crank.
Vanwall 4 cylinder, DOHC design. Of note are the hairpin valve springs, the train of gears to drive the cams and auxiliaries and high pressure fuel injection pump- at the front of the engine (Vic Berris)
Vanwall engine in 1958 (Jesse Alexander)
The head was to all intents and purposes the latest Norton 500 head with the combustion chamber, ports and valve sizes identical- similarly Harry Weslake’s changes to the Norton heads to promote swirl were also adopted. The inlet and exhaust valves were inclined at an included angle of 64 degrees, as per the works Norton of the time- the inlet ports were 44.5mm in diameter and the exhausts 39.4mm in diameter.
Annular recesses were incorporated into the head into which the barrels were spigoted, around thess were Wills pressure ring copper gaskets. Twin plugs were used (the Norton single had only one), the head was quite shallow as the two camshafts were carried in separate housings on steel pedestals 40mm clear of the head.
The cam housings were open top magnesium boxes capped by beautiful flat plates secured by many screws, the cams were driven off the crank by a train of spur gears contained in a magnesium casting bolted to the front of the engine, an outer gear case provided drives for the magnetos and fuel pump.
Carburetion was provided by four motor cycle type Amal 3GP’s probably with throat diameters of 49.2mm, air intake trumpets with large radii bell-mouths were ftted to each carb. Fuel injection would come soon enough of course, when Bosch and Vanwall worked together on such a system with Mercedes Benz blessing- there existed an exclusivity arrangement between the two companies. The exhaust system was designed and manufactured with Norton practice in mind but in use a four-into two- into one set up was used- with a single pipe extending to the back of the car.
Vanwall contracted British Thomson-Houston Co to supply magnetos which could fire two plugs at up to 8000rpm, when these were late twin Scintillas were used firing KLG plugs.
It became clear the car/engine would miss the final F2 year of 1953 with development of the 2 litre and design of the 2.5 litre happening in parallel throughout that year, the 2 litre first ran in December 1953, producing 148bhp @ 5150rpm in January 1954. By March 1954 235bhp @ 7500-7600 was claimed.
After extensive testing at the RAF Oldham Airfield the machine made its public debut in the 15 May 1954 International Trophy at Silverstone, driven by Alan Brown.
Brown was fifth quickest in practice, three seconds clear of the other 2 litre cars, second practice was wet and the car was quickest starting heat 1 from the front row for sixth and ran a shigh as fifth in the final before retiring on lap 17 with a broken oil pipe.
After the race the 2 litre engine was removed for further development doing over 20 hours on the dyno but it never raced again as it destroyed itself during edurance testing.
Collins raced the car in the British Grand Prix in July fitted with an interim 2.3 litre engine, this was achieved by increasing the bore to the maximum permissible, Peter qualified on the third row and raced well amongst the other cars until a cylinder head joint leaked forcing his retirement.
The major change to the 2490cc engine (bore nor 96mm) was the adoption of a five, rather than four main bearing crank, the valve incuded angle was also reduced from 64 to 60 degrees. Amal carbs were used initially but work progressed with Bosch on the port fuel injection TV wanted with the German company making a four-cylinder injection pump specifically for the purpose.
Peter Collins The Vanwall Spl during the Goodwood Trophy in September 1954
The first 2.5 litre engine, the third engine built was running on the Maidenhead test-beds by August 1954 with an Italian GP entry planned but the engine dropped a valve in endurance testing so the 2.3 litre engine was used at Monza by Collins, there the car again showed promise despite carburetion problems again. In the race Peter pitted with an oil pressure gauge line leaking but he soldiered on to finish seventh.
The 2.5 litre engine finally made its race debut at the Goodwood Trophy on 25 September.
Peter Collins raced the car into second place behind Moss’ Maserati 250F- the added grunt did expose some chassis shortcomings however, then Mike Hawthorn drove it in the Formula Libre race to fourth.
On 2 October at Aintree Hawthorn was second in the F1 race but retired in the Libre event after Mike spun and ingested dirt into the oil coller causing overheating. Hawthorn commented that real power didn’t come in until after 4500rpm but above that it was quite fast with fluffiness over 7000rpm he put down to fuel starvation.
It was time to test the car in a GP so an entry was made at Pedralbes, Barcelona on 24 October for the Spanish race- the Lancia D50 made its race debut that weekend.
Between Aintree and Pedralbes there was much testing of fuel blends and hairpin valve springs which were breaking- by race weekend the engine was giving good results but Peter Collins crashed in practice, he took on rather a large tree- too badly damaged to be repaired the machine was taken back to Acton. There the team wrote it off- Peter bent the frame severely, broke the de Dion tube assembly and rear suspension as well as destroying the rear three Borrani wheels, one of the side fuel tanks and the rear tank which took most of the impact. Clearly Peter was a lucky boy to walk away, the car was not so fortunate.
Preparations for the 1955 season were now well underway, Don Capps notes by November 1954 there were enough spares to assemble two chassis and that TV had acquired two Milling Machines from Count Orsi for then-thousand pounds and the Maserati 250F rolling chassis ‘2513’ in order that the team could suss one of the very best F1 cars of the time.
David Yorke had been signed on as Team Manager with Mike Hawthorn and Ken Wharton signed to drive the two cars the team planned to run.
The main focus of development was to get the fuel injection working- by February the first of the Bosch pumps had been set up on a test engine- these 1955 engines were given the drawing office type number ‘V254′ (the 1954 engines were typed ’54’) and numbered V1 onwards, whereas the cars were now called ‘Vanwall’ not ‘Vanwall Special’ with the chassis’ numbered from VW1 onwards- four 1955 spec cars were built- VW1-VW4 and were essentially based on the Cooper design which picked up Ferrari suspension and steering.
Mike Hawthorn in the Cooper designed Vanwall chassis VW55, Monaco GP 1955, DNF with throttle linkage problems in the race won by Trintignant’s Ferrari Squalo 625 (Unattributed)
Mike Hawthorn during the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Vanwall (Getty)
Harry Schell awaits the start of the 1955 British GP at Aintree with the lads including the chief at far left. #4 is the Luigi Musso Maserati 250F, #20 is Eugenio Castellotti’s Ferrari 625, #8 Andre Simons’s 250F
When fitted with fuel injection the engine weighed 163kg and on a compression ratio of 12.5:1 gave an estimated 270bhp. Much work was done on the cars suspension to improve the handling but Mike Hawthorn was disappointed in testing at Oldham Airfield to still find a big flat spot between 4000-5500rpm- as events proved it would be a very challenging year.
At the International Trophy at Silverstone in May Hawthorn qualified second to Salvadori’s Maserati 250F but retired in the race due to a gearbox oil leak- Wharton pitted with throttle linkage problems and then crashed trying to unlap himself- the car then burst into flames with both car and driver the worse for it.
Only Hawthorn raced at Monaco and Spa with disappointing results- he was 4.5 seconds off the pace of Fangio’s Mercedes Benz at Monaco and 14.9 seconds behind Ascari’s Lancia D50 pole in the Ardennes. A broken throttle linkage ended his race at Monaco and an oil leak at Spa. TV approached Rolls-Royce about the vibration induced throttle linkage failures with R-R suggesting fitment of Hoffman ball bearings in the ends of the control rod.
Mike Hawthorn decamped though, telling David Yorke in animated fashion to ‘shove it’ whilst having a few brews with some friends in Spa’s Pierre Le Grand restaurant, he ‘cancelled his contract’ and refunded some of his retainer to Vandervell, with Harry Schell engaged as his replacement in time to contest the British GP at Aintree in July.
There, Harry and Ken were 3.4 and 8 seconds off Moss’ Mercedes W196 pole time. Harry muffed the start but made up time until he pushed the throttle linkage off its mount, whilst Wharton pitted with an oil leak- Harry then set off in his car but still finished last.
In the wake of the Le Mans disaster many races were cancelled so Vanwall Racing entered some minor British events, whilst Harry won four of them but it was clear a lighter, stiffer and more sophisticated chassis was needed as engine development came along nicely- the first of Schell’s wins at Crystal Palace in July resulted in Vandervell shelving a plan to pop one of the Vanwall fours into 250F ‘2513’…
The team took three cars to Monza in September but again were way off the pace- Harry retired with a broken de Dion tube and Ken when the steel bracket supporting the fuel injection pump fractured.
Vandervell’s staff modified the basic Cooper frame and had a mock-up of the proposed chassis for 1956 at which point Colin Chapman was introduced to Vandervell via Vanwall’s transport driver, Derek Wootton, an old friend of Chapman to look at the frame- Vandervell was impressed with Chapman’s knowledge and track record and signed him on to start from scratch rather than evolve the Owen Maddock design.
1956 Vanwall…
Moss in the 1958 Dutch GP winning VW10. Shot shows extreme attention to aero for the day by Frank Costin. Borrani wires at front Moss’ preference for driver feel but cast alloy wheels were adopted in 1958 to save weight- this Vanwall, with two GP wins survives today (Copyright JARROTS.com)
The choice of Chapman, then an up and coming designer and manufacturer of Lotus sportscars in Hornsey behind his fathers pub was a defining moment in Vanwall’s future success. For his first single-seater project Chapman designed a modern multi-tubular spaceframe chassis and engaged aerodynamicist Frank Costin to concept and create the gorgeous, low drag, ultra-slippery body which clothed it.
Chapman retained the 1955 double wishbones and coil spring front suspension, Ferrari derived gearbox and brakes but laid out new de Dion rear axle geometry using a Watt linkage for lateral location whilst retaining the transverse leaf spring.
All four of the 1955 chassis were torn down to form the basis of the four new cars for 1956 which were numbered VW1/56-VW4/56. The new frame featured round section top and bottom longerons of 1.5 inch diameter tube, at the front a sheet metal fabrication (see photo below) provided a cross member for location of the coil and wishbone suspension setup- the frame was complex and rigid weighing only 87.5 pounds.
One of Chapman’s new frames coming together at VP Maidenhead plant in early 1956- car behind perhaps one of the 1955 cars being reduced to parts?
High quality of forgings and fabrication of spaceframe chassis evident. Front cross-member visible, steering arm, top link, radius rod, coil spring/damper unit and Goodyear patented disc brakes (Vandervell Products/The GP Library)
Vanwall rear end 1957 with Chapman struts, coil springs and Armstrong dampers.De Dion rear axle with Watts linkage. 5 speed ‘box in unit with diff, see the ducts for the disc brakes. The tail tank is connected to auxiliary tanks mounted alongside the chassis (Automobile Year 5)
Whilst the de Dion rear end was retained the suspension geometry was changed to allow much more negative camber at the rear to enhance the loaded outside tyres adhesion, for 1957 the transverse leaf spring was replaced by ‘Chapman Struts’, coaxial coil springs and locating links.
The most striking feature of the car was its Costin designed, teardrop shaped body. Painstaking attention was devoted to underbody fairing, the elliptical body section was designed to minimise deflection in cross winds and drag. Flush ‘NACA’ ducts were used and the distinctive tall headrest faired a 39 gallon fuel tank with two subsidiary 15 gallon tanks located low on each side of the scuttle.
Engine development continued under Kuzmicki’s direction with Harry Weslake’s oversight, TV focused them on camshafts, cylinder head design, fuel injection control and exhaust systems. New cylinder heads were being cast by Aeroplane and Motor Aluminium Castings the key element of which were larger inlet valves. The power curve of the engine was now much broader than the year before with maximum torque of 218 lb/ft developed at 5000rpm with plenty of punch from as low as 4000rpm, maximum power was 276bhp @ 7300rpm.
The best of everyting was used throughout the machine- Bosch fuel injection, Goodyear disc brakes, Mahle pistons, Porsche designed 5 speed synchromesh gear set for the Ferrari designed gearbox cum final drive- Vandervell didn’t get hung up on the whole ‘only British BRM thing’, simply buying the best when he could not readily or cost-effectively build it.
Harry Schell was joined by Maurice Trintignant that season. The team missed the British season opening non-championship events at Goodwood and Aintree in April but Moss raced one of the cars at the 5 May Silverstone International Trophy, as Officine Maserati, Moss’ team in 1956 had not entered the event- he set fastest time and won the 175 mile race which included amongst a big field the works Lancia-Ferraris of JM Fangio and Peter Collins in a tremendous start to the season. Moss was sufficiently impressed to make himself available whenever he was not bound to Maserati.
Harry Schell, Vanwall VW56, Belgian GP Spa 1956 (MotorSport)
Moss during and after the 1956 Silverstone International Trophy win, Vanwall. Note Colin Chapman third from the left, who are the other fellas in shot? (Getty)
Harry Schell with a smile upon his face as Taffy von Trips susses out the Vanwall, DNF for Harry and DNS practice prang for the Ferrari driver- Italian GP 1956. Moss won in a 250F. #26 is the Collins/Fangio second placed Ferrari 801
From that point 1956 demonstrated that the Vanwalls were acquiring the pace they needed to win- straight line speed good and traction out of slow corners but reliability and high speed roadholding were to be areas of focus over the winter of 1956-1957.
The team missed the Argentine opening championship round but at Monaco the cars qualified Q5 and Q6- Schell and Trintignant respectively, Harry had an accident on lap 2 after Fangio made a rare mistake upfront and Harry and Luigi Musso were unable to get through and hit the haybales and Maurice had overheating problems as a result of damage to the nose, the cylinder head cracked so he failed to finish.
At Spa they were Q6 and Q7, Schell finished fourth in the race won by Peter Collins’ Lancia-Ferrari D50, encouraging for Vanwall but the car was a long way adrift of the leaders, deficiencies in handling on high speed corners was readily apparent, whilst Trintignant retired with fuel injection mixture problems which caused a misfire.
At Reims Maurice raced the Bugatti T251, an experience which no doubt reinforced the promise of his Vanwall if not its reliability to this point!- Schell was Q4 and DNF engine, he missed a shift due to gearbox problems but then took over Mike Hawthorn’s car, who was having a run with Vanwall on loan from struggling BRM.
Harry caught the leading Ferraris in a splendid display until he had a problem with the fuel injection control rod linkage which caused him to pit but he was still tenth in a plucky, fast display which endeared him even more to his mechanics- Harry was a popular boy at Vanwall. Colin Chapman- tasting the fruits of his labours missed the cut after a collision in practice with Hawthorn when he locked a brake going into Thillois and hit Mike up the chuff.
(Unattributed)
Silverstone was next with hopes of a good result at home dashed- both the regular drivers failed to finish with fuel system problems- fuel starvation caused by blockages which was later traced to the sodium silicate used to seal the fuel tanks when manufactured. Schell had started well from Q5 whilst Trintignant was Q16 and guest driver, Froilan Gonzalez- always quick at Silverstone with Q4 failed to get off the line with a broken universal joint in one of the half-shafts- Fangio won in a Lancia-Ferrari D50.
The team missed the Nürburgring with insufficient time to prepare the cars but were back again for Monza, the final round of the championship where Fangio and Ferrari won the titles but where all three Vanwalls retired- Piero Taruffi- Q4 and oil leak and Schell Q10 held second place for quite a while before suffering gearbox failure whilst Trintignant, Q11 was out with a broken front spring mount.
The ultra slippery shape of De Havilland aerodynamicist Frank Costin’s body is shown to good effect in the shot above of Stuart Lewis-Evans at Rouen in 1957. Its practice for the French GP, he retired with steering problems. Brooks and Moss absences gave him his chance in several events, he was quick and reliable, Vandervell signed him on as the teams third driver.
1957 and 1958…
Tony Brooks, winner of the Belgian GP at Spa 1958. Pictured here at Eau Rouge. Chassis is VW5 the most successful ever British front-engined GP car with five wins to its credit, subsequently dismantled and rebuilt around a fresh frame (Unattributed)
Further evolution of the design took place over the winter, the ‘Chapman Struts’ were fitted and Fichtel & Sachs dampers in place of Armstrongs. The engines were teased to develop 285bhp at 7300rpm with an enormous amount of development work devoted to the problematatic hairpin valve-springs, Rolls Royce’ recommendations as to springs being wound from chrome vanadium wire were given to a German supplier S. Scherdel KG to manufacture after the efforts of George Salter and Co and Herbert Terry & Sons in England had still not overcome persistent breakages. Other areas of engine focus were fuel injection pipe and throttle linkage fracture both of which were caused by the big-fours high-frequency vibrations at 4500 and 7000rpm. By this stage the engine numbers ran to ‘V7′, whereas cylinder head numbers were in the forties.
In terms of the chassis’ used during 1957, the four 1956 cars were retained and modified to the latest specifications by a team of eighteen mechanics, Don Capps wrote that ten were planned for the year, his notes on the cars are as follows- VW1, VW2 never completed, VW3, VW4 won the British GP, VW5 won the Pescara and Italian Grands Prix, VW6 was the Streamliner which was converted back to normal bodywork, VW7, VW8 Lightweight chassis, VW9 Lightweight chassis not assembled during the season and VW10.
Moss signed to drive with Tony Brooks as number two- Stirling tested BRM, Connaught and Vanwall’s 1957 offerings at both Silverstone and Oulton Park, on the same days, before making his decision as to his mount for the season, in so doing two critical elements were put in place- an ace in each car.
Tony Vandervell, without sponsors to whom he would have been in part accountable, again missed the season opening GP at Buenos Aires, Argentina on 13 January where JM Fangio won aboard his Maserati 250F in the season in which he took his fifth and final World Championship.
Vanwall did race at the Siracuse and Goodwood non-championship races in April with both cars showing impressive speed. Moss was Q3 Brooks Q4 in Sicily, they raced at the front when an injection pipe to the number 1 cylinder broke on Stirling’s car caused him to pit- he recovered to third but Brooks retired when the water offtake split causing a misfire and overheating which cracked the head- the race was won by Peter Collins Lancia Ferrari D50.
Before Goodwood a fix for the problems of broken injection pipes and throttle linkages was found in the form of Palmer Aero Products ‘Silvoflex’ high pressure rubber fuel lines which would withstand the 450psi of pressure delivered by the Bosch pump to the injectors. Vandervell realised part of the problem was the overhung nature of the injection pump on the front of the engine- which would have been better mounted elsewhere. This did eventually happen when the engine was adapted for the mid-engined car in 1960. ‘Rose Joints’ made by Rose Bros Ltd provided spherical universal joints to fit the throttle linkage which was also part of the fix.
In the Glover Trophy Stirling started from pole only to DNF again with throttle linkage problems- this time the control rod between the throttle linkage and the injection pump control rack broke on both cars. Tony Brooks started from Q2 and was sixth but 5 laps adrift of the winner, Stuart Lewis-Evans won in a works Connaught B-Type, much to Vandervell’s chagrin, watching from the pits, but Stuart would soon be a permanent part of the Vanwall Team.
Vandervell felt that this problem should have been clear in dyno testing but frustratingly happened only when the cars were competing. Palmer were confident their Silvoflex pipe was strong enough in torsion to be used as a flexible joint in the control rod to the injection pump that had broken at Goodwood- it worked perfectly- problem solved.
Whilst all of the above was happening Stirling Moss suggested some engine changes which would sacrifice a little top-end power for greater mid-range torque at Monaco- this was achieved by a change of cams and valve timing- the two race engines for Monaco gave 275 and 276bhp.
Stirling Moss shot off into the lead of the Monaco GP on 19 May but crashed at The Chicane on lap 4- he felt it was the brakes but the team could find no fault after the race- Tony Brooks started fourth on the grid and finished second despite being hit up the rear by Mike Hawthorn’s Ferrari after Moss’ accident. The two scheduled Grands Prix at Spa and Zandvoort were cancelled after squabbles about money.
Vanwall line up at Abbey Panels early in 1957 (unattributed)
Stuart Lewis-Evans on the spectacular, daunting Pescara road circuit in late 1957 (MotorSport)
Vanwall tested this ‘Streamliner’, chassis VW6, at the Reims GP in July 1957 in practice. The changes were not successful the increase in weight and ‘sighting’ out of the car not greater than the increase in top speed (Automobile Year)
Rouen-Les-Essarts French GP Vanwall line up 1957- #18 Stuart Lewis-Evans and #20 Roy Salvadori (MotorSport)
The circus next journeyed to Rouen on 7 July for the French Grand Prix where the Vanwall line up was impacted by Moss suffering sinusitis when he inhaled too much salt water whilst water-skiing and Brooks recovering from leg injuries as a result of an Aston Martin accident at Le Mans.
Stuart Lewis-Evans and Roy Salvadori- who had just left BRM were offered the drives and did well in the unfamiliar cars. Roy Q6 and DNF engine valve springs (the German jobbies) after 25 laps and Stuart Q10 and DNF cracker cylinder head in a race won by Fangio in a display of a man at the height of his powers with delicate, majestic high-speed drifts throughout the French countryside.
A week later, still in France the team contested the Reims GP- Q5 and fifth for Salvadori and Q2 only a smidge behind Fangio and third for Lewis-Evans, who led easily for 20 laps until the sustained high speeds on the straights caused piston ring blowby and oil mist escaped from the crankcase breathers affecting his rear brakes and causing him to ease off allowing Luigi Musso’s Lancia Ferrari D50 to win. This impressive, mature performance led to TV signing Stuart as his third driver.
The ‘Streamliner’ body was tried that weekend in practice, its design was supervised by Frank Costin and built by Abbey Panels in Coventry, the detail work including adaptation to chassis VW6 done by Cyril Atkins. Initially the cars gearing was too tall, whilst both drivers tried the car they focused on the normal bodied machines, the body never to be tried again. Clearly the car should have been tried by the regular drivers familiar with the machines rather than ‘newbees’ without a frame of reference.
In the lead up to the British GP four cars were prepared and two spare engines, one of which had a new head which gave more power between 3500 and 5000rpm whilst still giving the same output at 7200rpm. All of the engines were fitted with British Hepworth and Grundage Hepolite pistons after experiments with German Mahles were finally abandoned.
Vanwall finally broke through in that home race, winning their first championship GP on 20 July at Aintree in a car shared by Tony Brooks and Stirling Moss. Moss qualified on pole, led for 22 laps having caught Jean Behra who made a wonderful start, but retired on lap 51 with magneto or plug trouble (depending upon the source), Brooks was summoned into the pits, he had been having a hard time of it with his legs still not perfect after the Le Mans accident, and Moss raced the car to win in magnificent fashion after Jean Behra’s leading Maserati 250F retired with clutch failure. Stuart had throttle control problems and was disqualified and pitted to rejoin the race and finish seventh.
Off to the Nürburgring the team missed the experience of running the prior year- Moss was Q7 and fifth and Brooks Q5 and ninth whilst Lewis-Evans was Q9 and DNF spin and crash after oil from his gearbox breather got on his rear tyres after 10 laps in one of the best Grands Prix ever when Fangio hunted down and passed the Lancia-Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins.
Two races in Italy rounded out the championship season- on the daunting Pescara road circuit on 18 August and at Monza on 8 September. Moss won from second on the grid on the Adriatic Coast course whilst Lewis-Evans was Q8 and fifth and Brooks Q6 and DNF seized piston after one lap.
At Monza Tony Vandervell finally realised his dream of beating The Bloody Red Cars at home, and to top off Moss win the Vanwalls qualified first to third on the grid in the order Lewis-Evans, Moss and Brooks, Stuart DNF leaking cylinder head core plug but led the race for 5 laps further reinforcing his growing maturity as a driver with Brooks a distant seventh after pitting with stuck throttles.
Given that the Moroccan Grand Prix was a championship round in 1958 David Yorke convinced TV to enter the late October race- there Stuart was second from pole and Tony retired with electrical trouble- a faulty magneto, the race won by Jean Behra’s works Maserati 250F by 30 seconds from Lewis-Evans.
The Bloody Red Cars- that front row in that GP! The three Vanwalls on the Monza front row in 1957- this side is Fangio’s Maserati 250F, #6 is Jean Behra, 250F. Lewis-Evans #20 on pole, Brooks #22 fastest lap and Moss #18 the race winner (unattributed)
Moss’ Vanwall at Silverstone during the 1958 British Grand Prix, DNF engine after 25 laps, Peter Collins Ferrari 801 won (Getty)
Stirling Moss German GP 1958, Vanwall VW4, DNF magneto, teammate Tony Brooks took the win. Vanwall VW4 (Unattributed)
Alcohol fuels were banned for 1958 causing big problems for Vanwall and BRM both of whom used ‘big banger’ four cylinder engines which needed the cooling effect of the alcohol- as a consequence the engine power dropped from 290bhp on alcohol to 278bhp on ‘pump fuel’, to get there is easy to write but was a considerable engineering undertaking.
Changes to the engine involved investigation of cam profiles, three and four valve heads and water injection- changes to port shapes, valve timing and metering cams were the mix of modifications which in the end allowed the engines to get along with less friendly fuel. The Ferrari Dino was reckoned to have circa 286bhp but Italian dynos’ have always been a bit ‘eager’.
Weight saving was investigated but the cars were already light, the rear of the car was also re-profiled slightly by Frank Costin, cast alloy wheels were adopted but often Borrani wires were preferred especially at the front where they gave greater driver ‘feel’.
The chassis used in 1958 were the 1957 machines with detail modifications to the suspension and bodywork. Capps notes, again, as follows- VW1-VW3 and VW8 were not assembled and used for spares, VW4 won the German GP and was destroyed at Casablanca (Lewis-Evans) VW5 won the Belgian, Italian and Moroccan Grands Prix, VW6, VW7, VW9 and VW10 which won the Dutch and Portuguese GP’s.
Given the time taken to make all of the modifications to the engines to meet the new pump fuel regulations, the 19 January Argentine Grand Prix was missed as were the early non-championship events but Stirling Moss made hay whilst the sun shone winning the race in Rob Walker’s Cooper T43 Climax 1960cc against all of the odds and won a famous victory- the first championship win for a mid-engined car.
Moss tested the first of the modified cars at Silverstone at the end of April, well prior to Monaco on 18 May. There Brooks ran in second from pole to Behra’s BRM P25 until he retired when stripped thread caused a spark plug to blow out of the head. poor Behra retired and Moss led (Q8) but retired on lap 38 when a valve cap came off whilst Lewis-Evans retired on lap 12 form Q7 when a warped cylinder head joint failed. Maurice Trintignant won in one of Walker’s Cooper T43 Climax’.
Zandvoort was the following weekend with the three Vanwalls up front- Lewis-Evans from Moss and Brooks. Stirling won despite limiting his revs to 7200 given sagging oil pressure on right-handers, Tony retired after 13 laps with handling problems and Stuart finished 46 laps before a broken valve spring holder intervened.
At Spa Mike Hawthorn was on pole in his Ferrari Dino 246 with Moss Q3, Brooks Q4 and Lewis-Evans Q11. Moss was out on the first lap having muffed a gear, bending valves then Tony Brooks took the lead and battled with the Ferraris to win whilst Stuart was third. It was felt that the Vanwalls had more power on the climb from up from Stavelot but the Ferrari’s higher top speed gave them the edge on the downhill straight to the Masta Kink.
Zandvoort 1958 front row- Lewis-Evans at left on pole, then Moss and Brooks at right (Unattributed)
The Moss, and winning Brooks Vanwalls are pushed onto the Monza grid in 1958- feel the vibe (John Ross)
Brooks at Spa in 1958- alloy wheels front and rear this weekend- he won in VW5 (MotorSport)
Another fast circuit followed- Reims on 6 July. Mike Hawthorn led the race from pole with Moss second from Q6- he was slowed by a misfire between 6400-6800rpm and was down about 10mph to the Italian car in top speed. Brooks retired with valve problems from Q5 after 16 laps and Lewis-Evans was out after 35 laps- a broken inlet valve, he started from grid 10.
In France the Vanwalls were in trouble with warping cylinder heads given the impact of Avgas, two engines dropped valves resulting in pre-race rebuilds. TV had a major standoff with his valve supplier, Motor Components Ltd, given ongoing breakages especially of the sodium-filled inlet valves, that Vandervell Products struck out on their own importing equipment from the US to become self-sufficient by the seasons end.
The Ferraris mid-season renaissance continued at Silverstone where Peter Collins won from Mike Hawthorn. Stirling started from pole, but another broken valve ended his run after 25 laps, Stuart was fourth (Q7) and Brooks seventh (Q9) despite his car having a trip back to Acton to have the head lifted and valves re-ground, with neither ever really in the hunt.
Experiments were ongoing at Maidenhead to try and solve the valve problem with different materials with some spectacular failures taking a toll on the stock of heads, causing a shortage of engines, as a consequence only two cars were entered at the Nürburgring, Stuart was a spectator for the weekend.
Vanwall were much more competitive in Germany in early August than in 1957 when they paid for their absence in 1956, Tony Brooks qualified second and Stirling Moss third. Moss led comfortably from the start going easy on the revs- 7000-7100 when the usually reliable magneto shorted after 3 laps, Brooks took up the chase of Collins and Hawthorn, gaining on the back part of the daunting circuit, passing one after the other under brakes for a rather well- timed win.
Oil coolers were fitted to the front of all three Vanwalls- they were back to full strength at Oporto on August 24 with Moss winning from pole- he and Hawthorn battled for the lead until lap 8 when Mike’s drum brakes began to fade allowing Stirling to pull away. Stuart was third from grid three but Tony spun and was unable to restart from Q5 having completed 37 laps.
At Monza in a marvellous weekend Tony Brooks won the race and with it secured the Manufacturers Championship with one round at Morocco still to run.
Vanwall had transported the cars direct from Portugal to Italy before removing the engines to be rebuilt back in the UK. The oil coolers were still fitted and Stirling tried a Perspex canopy over the cockpit in practice but it only gave 50rpm more on the straight so he elected not to run it- he muffed a shift requiring an engine change too. He battled for the lead with Hawthorn, Mike’s car fitted with disc brakes for the first time but Stirling retired with a seized bush on the gearbox mainshaft. Then Brooks (Q2) pitted because of an oil leak from a burst driveshaft gaiter but nothing could be done so he had to nurse his tyres to the finish, which he did- and took a well judged win despite Hawthorn coming out of the pits in front of him, but his Ferrari was suffering from a slipping clutch. Lewis-Evans retired with overheating caused by a leaking head joint.
The final race of 1958 in Morocco is where we came in…
As stated earlier, whilst Moss missed out on the drivers title to Hawthorn by one point, Vanwall won the inaugural Constructors Championship.
End of The Beginning of Dominance of The Green Cars…
Moss and Vandervell share the spoils of victory, Pescara GP, Italy 1957 (Unattributed)
For Vandervell it was ‘mission accomplished’ and whilst Vanwall raced on they did so without the full campaign of previous years.
Vandervell took the death of Lewis-Evans very hard and his own health was failing given the huge pressure of running his various enterprises. He announced the teams withdrawal from full-time competition on 12 January 1959, they raced four times in the final three years, its swansong was the rear engined Intercontinental Formula car competing in May 1961 at Silverstone.
It wasn’t quite that simple though, many of the key team members were retained, the four cylinder engines still ran on the Maidenhead test benches doing engine research, an advance after the cars last raced were cylinder barrels which screwed into the head solving fire-joint sealing.
Vandervell offered Brooks a retainer to stay with the team in case he decided to change his decision but Tony unsurprisingly raced on with Ferrari but he did race VW5 at the 1959 British GP when a strike at Ferrari meant they did not race at Aintree. He raced a modified version of VW5 to the same general specs of 1958 except that the engine, prop shaft, seating position and bodywork had been lowered and some weight removed- in addition more torque had been extracted throughout the rev range but the car was ‘not a shadow of the racing car he had driven in 1958. Even a team as professional as Vanwall could not gear up and suddenly be competitive’ Bill Ben wrote.
Brooks put the car on the third row of the grid but was outpaced in the race with a misfire- he retired, Jack Brabham’s works Cooper T51 Climax FPF took the win- times had moved on.
He also raced the car in the 1960 Glover Trophy at Goodwood for seventh with Brooks advising they were wasting their time on a 1958 design and that they should concentrate on a mid-engined car. To that end a Lotus 18, chassis ‘901’ was bought, the Vanwall engine was mated to the Lotus gearbox, Brooks tested it at Snetterton but work on the front- engine cars continued.
Vanwall engine installation- very neat and cohesive, in Lotus 18 chassis ‘901’ (GP Library)
Tony Brooks in VW11 at Reims, 1960 French GP (Unattributed)
Naked Vanwall VW11 in the Reims paddock 1960 (Unattributed)
Valerio Colotti was hired to design a 5 speed gearbox and independent rear suspension for a new front engined car and to help design a mid-engine machine, Valerio worked in Acton to expedite the process.
Post Goodwood VW5 was modified by fitment of the new IRS- that famous machine, sadly, was then broken up to donate bits for Colotti’s new front-engined machine which was given the VW11 chassis number. This ‘Lowline’ was lighter and lower than the cars which went before and had considerably less frontal area as the gearbox was aft of the driver, he was not sitting atop it as before. The engine was tweaked to give almost 280bhp- no details have been released as to how this was achieved.
Tony Brooks then raced Vanwall VW11 in the 1960 French GP at Reims on 3 July with a less powerful engine fitted.
He qualified the new but still outdated car thirteenth, 6.5 seconds adrift of pole, retiring on lap 7 with a vibration from the rear having been hit up the chuff by another car at the start. That year Brooks drove most of the season in British Racing Partnership year old Cooper T51 Climaxes and was prodigiously fast amongst newer Cooper T53s.
In terms of progress on the mid-engined front, whilst the team proceeded with Vanwall’s own design, Brooks raced the Lotus 18 Vanwall in the September 1960 Lombank Trophy race at Snetterton with the car showing good pace until valve trouble intervened causing a non-start- 280bhp was claimed for this 2.5 litre F1 engine.
(Hall & Hall)
The Vanwall VW14, built for the 1961 Intercontinental Formula, was finally competed in 1961 and finished to the usual standards of Vanwall build quality and presentation.
It was fitted with 2.6 litre Vanwall engine variant and a 5 speed Colotti Type 24 transaxle fitted with VP internals.
John Surtees was entered in the new car to contest the Silverstone International Trophy Intercontinental Formula meeting on the 6 May 1961 weekend.
After driving the car Surtees expressed the view that the Vanwall engine was potentially better than the all-conquering Coventry Climax FPF but found the fuel injection tricky to set up to avoid flat-spots. He ran second in the race before spinning in the tricky conditions and then had to pit to have debris removed from the radiator- he finished fifth, in this, the final race appearance of a Vanwall ‘in period’.
Stirling Moss won from Jack Brabham and Roy Salvadori, all three aboard Cooper T53 Climax’.
Surtees, VW14, Silverstone May 1961 (Getty)
Vanwall VW14, the very last car. John Surtees at the Silverstone International Trophy in May 1961. He qualified the 2.6 litre engined ‘Intercontinental Formula’ car 6th, ran second, spun and finished 5th in Vanwalls’ last race as a factory team (Unattributed)
VW14 was entered in the British Empire Trophy race at Silverstone on 8 July with Jack Brabham at the wheel when Surtees’ team, Yeoman Credit, refuse to release him for the race- Jack did good times in practice but declined to race the car as he didn’t like its handling. What a shame Vanwall did not get the benefit of some chassis development sessions overseen by Brabham! With no other top-liners available Vandervell withdrew the entry, and that, sadly, was that.
A final note in terms of the chassis count in the concluding years of the race program, again using information from Don Capps’ 8W Forix piece.
At the end of the 1958 championship winning season three chassis were retained and the balance broken up- VW5 was rebuilt as we have just covered, VW9 was kept as a show car by VP and VW10 was used for testing purposes but rebuilt in 1960 to 1958 specifications for demonstration purposes.
VW11 was a new car built from VW5 components as a ‘Lowline’ and after being raced by Brooks was dismantled and retained by the team. VW12 was the Lotus 18 chassis ‘901’ which was sold as a rolling chassis, and VW14 was the mid-engined Intercontinental Formula car raced by John Surtees, then rebuilt as a Mk2 variant but never raced in that form and ultimately restored as raced by Surtees at Silverstone.
Vanwall VW14 Mk2 Intercontinental as shown in a contemporary press shot- the car was unraced in this form (Vandervell Products)
Etcetera and somewhat at random- Thin Wall and Vanwall…
(goodwood.com)
GA Vandervell with Giuseppe Farina during the 1952 Goodwood Trophy weekend on 27 September 1952. Ferrari 375 Thinwall Spl – DNS the feature race but did finish second in the ‘Woodcote Cup’ 5 lapper behind Froilan Gonzalez’ BRM V16 who also won the feature race from Reg Parnell’s BRM.
(John Ross)
Journalist/author Graham Gauld points the direction of Aintree travel to Stuart Lewis-Evans during the 1957 British GP. Bucket, spade and pile of dirt to deal with fires and errant pools of lubricant/coolant. Interesting shot, i like it.
(MotorSport)
Tony Brooks, second place at Monaco in 1957, beautiful shot Quayside- Vanwall VW57, Fangio won in a Maserati 250F.
(Unattributed)
Moss on the hop using all the Aintree road and a little bit more during the wonderful 20 July 1957 British GP in which he shared VW4 to win the race together with Tony Brooks- the first championship GP win for Vanwall.
(Unattributed)
Moss and Lewis Evans after the finish at Aintree in 1957- must be a parade lap as Stuart’s race ended after completing 82 laps and Tony Brooks below in VW4 before handing it over to Moss.
(MotorSport)
Nino Farina winning the Formula Libre support race during the 18 July 1953 British GP meeting at Silverstone- Ferrari 375 Thinwall 4.5 V12.
Farina won from the two BRM Mk1 P15 V16s of JM Fangio and Ron Flockhart- the Italian finished twelve seconds in front of Fangio in the 17 lap half hour race. Vandervell’s Thin Wall plan plan was in part to give BRM a competitive car to race against when he acquired the first Ferrari, over the ensuing years he certainly achieved that aim!
Note the disc brake on the left-front, it would be a while before the factory cars went down this path…
(Doug Nye ‘History of The Grand Prix Car’
Vanwall VW10 ‘stripped’.
Chapman spaceframe chassis, four cylinder DOHC engine, tail and cockpit fuel tanks, under-seat transaxle, this 1957 car has Chapman struts at the rear- further technical details as per the text.
James Allington period cutaway drawing of the car as raced in 1957 and published in ‘Automobile Year 5’
(Doug Nye “History of The Grand Prix Car’
Vanwall VW10.
Ferrari derived transaxle, cockpit layout, rear and twin side fuel tanks and radius rods to locate rear suspension fore/aft all visible, again, further technical details as per text.
(MotorSport)
Mano e mano- first lap of the 1957 Monaco GP with Fangio’s Maserati 250F from pole in front of the Moss Vanwall on the outside and Peter Collins’ big Ferrari 801 menacing from the inside- first, DNF accident times two the outcome.
(MotorSport)
Harry Schell dives into La Source at Spa in 1956, Vanwall VW56- he was fourth in the race won by Peter Collins Lancia Ferrari D50 from local boy, Paul Frere’s similar car.
(Automobile Year)
The Reims ‘Streamliner’, chassis VW6, was tried in practice only during the French GP weekend in 1957. I wonder what, precisely, the difference in lap times was? Attractive up front, not so much so at the other end where the design does not look so fully resolved. Ferrari 801 in the background.
(Unattributed)
Cockpit by the standards of the day is comfortable, swivelling face level vents to keep the driver alive in the carefully faired space, the gearbox notoriously difficult to use. The car was very fast but not as forgiving to Moss as a 250F. Car needed the best to get the best from it. This is chassis VW9 in modern times.
(Unattributed)
John Surtees in VW14 during the rather damp Intercontinental Formula Silverstone International Trophy in May 1961- second place, a spin in the wet, finished fifth in the race won by Stirling Moss’ Rob Walker Cooper T53P Climax.
(Getty-Keystone)
Alberto Ascari races the Ferrari 125 V12 s/c Thinwall during the 26 August 1950 Silverstone International Trophy meeting. Alberto did not start the final after an accident in heat 2- Giuseppe Farina won it in an Alfa Romeo 158.
(Unattributed)
The Vanwall Team in the Monza paddock 1957- Moss won the Italian GP in ‘VW5’.
I’ve done the cutaway drawings to death in this article! But here is another variation on the theme, artist unknown- inclusion of the brackets does emphasise just how many attachment points there are!
(Unattributed)
Stirling Moss hooks his Vanwall into a fast left-hander on the Adriatic Coast course out of Pescara during his victorious 1957 Grand Prix drive.
(John Ross)
Stuart Lewis-Evans, with perhaps a tad more understeer than he may want, from Harry Schell, BRM P25 during the 1958 British GP at Silverstone- fourth and fifth place battle, Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn were up front in Ferrari 801s.
I wonder what Harry thought of the merits of the two four cylinder British GP cars of the later 2.5 litre F1 period- ‘his’ Vanwall and BRMs?
(The Cahier Archive)
This shot shows the relative height of the Vanwall, which was very tall, the driver sitting atop the drive-shaft.
Fangio is alongside and in his last grand prix in a works-Maserati 250F ‘Piccolo’ and finished fourth. Moss in VW 10 was second in the race won by Hawthorn’s Ferrari Dino 246- French GP, Reims 1958.
(Unattributed)
Aerodynamic testing of during 1958- I wonder which wind-tunnel was used for the purpose? Note the wire/alloy wheel combination being tested.
(Unattributed)
A spot of tea at what appears to be a Silverstone test session, circa 1957, Moss up.
(goodwood.com)
Peter Collins bustles his Ferrari 375 Thinwall into Madgwick at Goodwood in 1953- he set lap records in the car in the June and September meetings that year at 1:32.6- 93.30mph and 1:32.2- 93.71mph.
(J Saltinstall)
Oporto, Portugal 1958- Moss, Hawthorn, Ferrari Dino 246 and Jean Behra, BRM P25. First, second and fourth in the Portuguese Grand Prix.
Etcetera: Moroccan GP 1958…
(Unattributed)
Too many great photos, so lets not let them go to waste. Mike Hawthorn, Ferrari Dino 246.
(Unattributed)
Graham Hill finished sixteenth and last in the Lotus 16 Climax, whilst his teammate Cliff Allison was tenth in the earlier Lotus 12 Climax.
The Lotus 16 was also designed by Colin Chapman and immediatley branded the ‘Mini Vanwall’, the same concepts were applied by Chapman and Frank Costin who did the aerodynamics.
The car was much lower than Vanwall, the engine was ‘canted’ in an offset way to allow the driveshaft to be located beside the driver rather than him sit atop it. But the Coopers had arrived, the Lotus 16 was an ‘also ran’ in 1959, whilst the Lotus 18, when Chapman applied himself to the mid-engined approach then vaulted the marque forward.
(Unattributed)
Masten Gregory was a great sixth in the by then ageing Maserati 250F .
(Unattributed)
Stuart Lewis-Evans in Vanwall VW4 on that sad day at Morocco 1958.
Photo Credits…
The Cahier Archive, Stirling Moss Archive, The GP Library, Walter Wright Illustrations, Louis Klemantaski, The Autocar, James Allington cutaway drawing, Jesse Alexander, Automobile Year 5, Stephen Dalton Collection, Vic Berris, Hall & Hall, Getty Images, JARROTTS.com, Motor Cycling September 1951, MotorSport, John Ross Motor Racing Archive, goodwood.com, John Saltinstall Collection, GP Library
Bibliography…
‘8W Forix’ Vanwall articles by Ron Rex and Don Capps which are linked early in this piece, ‘The History of The Grand Prix Car’ Doug Nye
Tailpieces…
(MotorSport)
Tail shot for the tailpiece…
Tony Brooks’ Vanwall chasing Ron Flockharts’ BRM P25 during the 1957 Monaco classic, not a lot of time to take in the quite stunning view I guess. Tony was second behind Fangio’s 250F whilst Ron’s engine cried enough after completing 60 laps.
How is your beaujolais cherie? Moss victorious in his Maserati 250F , chassis ‘2522’ from Peter Collins and Juan Fangio in a shared Lancia Ferrari D50, Jean Behra was third in another 250F ‘2521’…
In fact Fangio finished equal second sharing Peter Collins D50…and equal fourth in ‘his’ D50 sharing it with Eugenio Castellotti. He also won his fourth World Championship that year. His final was won in 1957 in a 250F, giving the marque the success it well deserved, and in the nick of time too, the 250F, long lived and carefully developed as it was had peaked, the mid engined Coopers showing the future path.
Customer Grand Prix Cars for All…
Moss started his post HWM/Connaught grand prix aspirations with the family purchase of a 250F in 1954. He was scooped up by Mercedes Benz as a result of his performances in the car to drive their W196 and SLR Grand Prix and Sports Cars alongside Fangio in 1954/5, returning to the Maserati in 1956.
The fact that Maserati made available the 250F to all comers with ‘the readies’ made a big difference to grids in the mid ’50’ as competitive cars were available for the first time in relatively large numbers. The growth of Non-Championship Grands’ Prix on the Continent was in part due to the availability of the Maser and therefore grids of depth and quality.
Many drivers cut their Grand Prix teeth in the cars, the last 250F graduate grand prix driver retiree was Chris Amon, who departed F1 in 1976!
Mid 1950’s State of The Art…
Amons 500BHP Ford Cosworth powered, winged ,’slicked’, monocoque Ensign N176 was somewhat different to the front engined, tube-framed, skinny tyred, 240 BHP Maserati in which he started his GP career in New Zealand.
The 250F was the ‘state of the art’ in the mid ’50’s. Not as avant garde as its contemporaries the Mercedes W196 and Lancia D50, but state of the art all the same.
Clothed in bodywork worthy of the finest Italian courtiers, to me it is the best looking front engined grand prix car of all. It epitomises everything that was, and is great about Italian design, engineering, styling and construction.
The cars performance matched its looks, it made its debut in the 1954 Argentinian Grand Prix winning the race in Fangio’s hands. The 250F won eight Championship Grands’ Prix in total and countless Non-Championship events in the hands of dozens of drivers through to 1960.
Twenty-six cars were built but of course many more than that exist today…
Design and Build…
The car was designed by Gioacchino Colombo, formerly Ferrari’s Chief Designer, and Valerio Colotti and evolved from Maserati’s A6GCM 2 Litre F1 car.
The 250F featured a multi-tubular space-frame chassis of small diameter chrome molybdenum tubing. De Dion rear suspension was used, the De Dion tube was mounted in front of the transaxle to move weight forward within the wheelbase, lowering the cars ‘polar moment of inertia’ or in simple terms its ability to change direction. The gearbox was transversely mounted in unit with the ZF ‘slippery’ differential, and was initially 4 speed, but later became a 5 speed from 1955.
Conventional double wishbone front suspension was used. Brakes were 13.6 inch finned alloy drums, the fuel tank mounted at the rear contained 200 litres.
The engine was a superb, torquey straight-six, DOHC 2 valve per cylinder, twin plug unit displacing 2494cc. It was fed by 3 twin choke Weber DCO3 carburettors, twin Marelli magnetos providing the spark. The engine initially developed 240BHP, later circa 275BHP @ 8000RPM in 1957. Maserati produced a 2.5 litre V12 for the 250F in 1957, the car was tested extensively and raced once by Behra, 9 years later it won Grands’ Prix in Cooper chassis with a capacity of 3 litres.
The car weighed 650Kg, distributed 48/52% front to rear. It was 4050 mm in length, had a wheelbase of 2280mm, and a width of 1980mm.
Wheels were Borrani aluminium alloy, wire spoked with centre-lock hubs, sizes were 15×4.5 inches circumference/width front, and rear- 16/5.5. Pirelli tyres were used by the works cars.
Its All About Balance…
The 250F may not have been the fastest or most powerful car of its day but it was the best balanced, allowing the driver to fully exploit its potential.
Stirling Moss observed that ‘It steered beautifully and inclined towards stable oversteer which one could exploit by balancing it against power and steering in long, sustained drifts through corners. It rode well on the normal type of relatively smooth surfaced course, although its small coil spring and leaf spring rear end would use up available suspension movement over the bumps at the ‘Ring’.
Historic Context…
Even though the car was not the fastest for most of this period it was still competitive every year, and raced in large numbers, it sort of ‘underachieved’ really. But a lot changed from 1954 to 1957, lets call those the 250F ‘sweet-spot’ years and those circumstances had a lot to do with its results.
In 1954 the Mercedes Benz W196 appeared and re-wrote the record book. The fuel injected, desmodromic valve actuated straight-eight, space frame chassis and ‘tool-room’ quality of its design and construction put everything else into perspective. Mind you, its advantage in 1954 was maybe more to do with Fangio’s driving than the car itself.
Maserati had Fangio for the first few Grands Prix, he won with the 250F in Argentina. When Fangio went off to Benz Maserati did not have a ‘number one’ of sufficient calibre. My contention is that had Fangio driven the 250F in 1954 Maserati would have won the title. Fangio was ‘the depth’ in Mercedes team that year.
Into 1955 the Benz hit its straps, Vittorio Jano’s fabulous Lancia D50 finally appeared in Spain. It was in many ways the equal of the W196, bristling with innovation as well- V8 engine, with the motor a stressed member, very light, pannier tanks to centralise the fuel load equally throughout the race, and of superb build quality.
Moss had finished 1954 as a quasi-works Maserati driver, they needed him in 1955 but he joined Mercedes.
Ascari, Lancia’s star was killed at Monza testing Musso’s Ferrari. Shortly thereafter the sensational ‘shot-gun’ marriage of convenience was consumnated between Ferrari and Lancia when the cash-strapped Lancia, unable to fund its race program, gave its Lancia D50 cars, spares and designer Jano to Ferrari, bereft of a competitive car having stuck with its 4 cylinder F2 derived cars for way too long, and being short of cash to fund a new car in any event.
Maser had Jean Behra as their lead driver in 1955, but they needed somone quicker. In 1955 Maserati was not going to beat the Benzes, even if Moss had stayed with them.
Further change occurred when Mercedes Benz withdrew from racing as a consequence of the 1955 Le Mans disaster when one of their 300SLR sports cars driven by Pierre Levegh collided with Lance Macklin’s Austin Healey. The war was not long ago over, 80 people had been killed, Benz had achieved their short-term aims so it seemed prudent to withdraw.
Moss and Behra led Maserati in 1956, had Moss a car which was more reliable maybe he would have won the title. Mind you, ’tis said he was hard on cars. The Lancia-Ferrari D50 was progressively bastardised by Ferrari who had a strong team of Fangio, Collins, Musso, and Castelotti. Fangio got the best out of the car, and aided by some generous sportsmanship by Peter Collins at Monza, allowing the maestro to use his car, won the title for the fourth time. Maserati were competitive throughout, the title with more luck could have been won by Moss.
In 1957 Fangio won Maserati the title they deserved despite stiff opposition from Moss in the Vanwall, now reliable and with a Colin Chapman designed chassis and Frank Costin body- very fast.
By 1958 the 250F was finally passe as a competitive mount.
As has always been the case teams need to have the best drivers, Maserati’s budget was perhaps the obstacle to achieving that.
My thesis is that they should have won the title in 1954 with the right driver, in 1956 with more luck/reliability and in 1957 finally won it, Fangio doing for Maserati what he had done for Mercedes in 1954/5 and Ferrari in 1956- bringing that little bit of magic, speed, intelligence and mechanical sympathy which separates the gods from the mere mortals.
Superb Michael Turner painting of Moss, Monaco 1956
Finito…
Moss won the opening, Argentinian round of the 1958 season in Rob Walker’s Cooper Climax, the mid-engined revolution had begun. Mike Hawthorn’s Ferrari Dino 246 was the last front engined car to win a World Championship that year, Fangio had retired, and Maserati, drowning with cash-flow difficulties, were placed into ‘Controlled Administration’ by the Italian Government.
It was all over, other than privateers achieving success in Non-Championship events, the car, for a while longer serving the same purpose to privateers as it had back in 1954…
Fangio’s 250F Virtuosity, Modena Circuit, 1957…
Etcetera…
Superb 1956 Bernard Cahier shot of Moss on the Monaco Quayside, late series 250F lines shown to good effect the ‘Piccolo’ of ’57 even prettier
Monaco GP start ’56. Front row L to R : Fangio, Moss, Eugenio Castellotti. Lancia D50, Maser 250F, Lancia D50. # 30 is Jean Behra 250F, # 16 Harry Schell Vanwall VW55, # 24 Luigi Musso D50. # 32 is Cesare Perdisa 250F, # 14 Maurice Trintignant Vanwall, the blue cars are Gordini’s
Maserati team prior to the start of the 1956 race: # 32 Cesare Perdisa, seventh, and # 30 Jean Behra, third. Moss’ car is surrounded by mechanics (The Cahier Archive)
Sources and Photos…
The Cahier Archive, David Kimble cutaway drawing, Michael Turner painting, blueprints T Caroli
‘The History of The Grand Prix Car’ Doug Nye, ‘The History of The World Championship’ Alan Henry, H. Donald Capps and Trevor Lister
Tailpiece: 250F’s in build, January 1956…
Technical specifications as per text- what a wonderful and rare photograph by Bernard Cahier of three cars in build taken on his visit to the factory in January 1956- which cars I wonder?
I am guessing, and its no more than that aided by a staggering, so far unpublished work by H. Donald Capps and Trevor Lister titled ‘Identity and the Maserati 250F’ that the cars may be works chassis ‘2516’ fitted with engine ‘2516’- later sold to Australian Reg Hunt, Luigi Piotti’s chassis ‘2519’ fitted with engine ‘2511’ and works car ‘2520’ fitted with engine ‘2520’ later sold to Stan Jones. I say that as all these cars were raced early in 1956, so a January production run makes sense.
In terms of other 1956 build cars, the works ‘2521’ didn’t appear till May, Jean Behra drove it to third in the Monaco race featured above, whilst Moss’s Monaco winner ‘2522’ didn’t run until the April ‘Glover Trophy’ Goodwood meeting. The Godia-Sales ‘2524’ first raced at Spa later in the year too- he didn’t have a good day in the Ardennes with an accident on lap 1 in the wet conditions.
‘Cahier’s three cars are not the 1956 ‘canted engine’ chassis machines ‘2525’ or ‘2526’ which were first raced by Moss and Behra at Monza either, Stirling won on that hot September day in ‘2525’ by the way, so lets stick with the ‘likelies’ as ‘2516’, ‘2519’ and ‘2520’!
Despite its sculptured Scaglietti flanks, never has an 860 Monza looked quite so good…actress Linda Christian adorns Fon de Portago’s Ferrari
The Marquis Alfonso De Portago, Spanish nobleman and journey-man driver was accompanied by Linda Christian at the 1957 Cuban Grand Prix sports car event.
Fidel Castro’s insurgents were on the move in the countryside but for the Batista’s’ life went on. Keen to attract wealthy American tourists to the country to pump much needed funds into their moribund economy, an annual motor race was part of a plan to raise Cuba’s profile and provide an event to attract the punters.
Out of focus and slightly surreal as a result…Fangio in his Maserati 300S, Malecon Boulevard, Havana, 1957 (Hy Peskin Collection)Wonderful panorama of Havanas Malecon circuit. 14 is the Phil Hill Ferrari 857S, De Portago’s Monza behind it with Linda Christian alighting. #16 also a Ferrari, driver unknown (Pinterest)
Ferrari 860 Monza…
‘Fon De Portago Ferrari 860 Monza, unprotected nature of the circuit clear, seven spectators were killed in the 1958 event (Pinterest)
The 860 Monza was Ferrari’s front line sports car weapon, together with the V12 290MM in 1956.
It was part of the family of sports cars built over much of the ’50’s based on the Lampredi designed DOHC, two valve, Weber carbed four cylinder engine which first found success in the Tipo 500 F2/F1 cars. Ascari won the World Drivers Championship in 1952 and 1953 in the Tipo 500.
The engine gave circa 310bhp from its 3431cc, gearbox was four speed. The usual Ferrari ladder frame of the period was used, drum brakes all round stopped the relatively light car which tipped the scales at 860kg. The cars curvaceous body was built by Scaglietti.
Independent front suspension by wishbones and coil springs was new for the 860, and effective. A De Dion rear axle was at the rear, sprung by a transverse leaf spring.
Three cars were built, the model’s most notable victories were at the ’56 Sebring 12 Hours and the Rouen GP.
The field before lining up pre grid on Malecon Avenue, Havana
The Race and Aftermath…
On the front row, De Portago Ferrari Monza, Phil Hill Fazz 857S Monza and Schell in the yellow Maser 300S, all the fun of the fair, over 100,000 spectators (Pinterest)
De Portago fought a race long battle with Fangio’s 300S and Carroll Shelby’s Ferrari 410, finishing third on the Havana waterfront street circuit.
The public relations opportunities for Batista evaporated when the Presidential motorcade, enroute to his palace, was confronted by a relatively small group of ‘natives’ seeking favours from the President. Armed escorts beat them with unbelievable ferocity and brutality. This fueled the flames of the resistance movement further .
Start of the race, Moss Maserati 300S, D Type Jag #24 of local driver Alfonso Gomez-Mena (Pinterest)Fangio #2 passes De Portago who is slowing a bit on lap 69 in Parque Mart. Maserati 300S and Ferrari Monza (Pinterest)
Jumping forward a year Fangio was kidnapped at gunpoint from his hotel the evening before the race by the rebels. He was returned to the Argentinian Embassy after the abortive event in which 40 spectators were injured and seven died after local driver Armando Cifuentes lost control of his Ferrari and ploughed into the unprotected crowd.
The race lasted 15 minutes or six laps, Stirling Moss was declared the winner in his Maserati 300S.
Fangio was later to say he was never concerned for his safety, he was held in a comfortably appointed apartment, was fed well, given a radio to listen to the race, and was personally apologised to by Castro’s second in command.
Joe Sheppard races to victory at Ala-Mar in 1959 aboard Porsche 550RS #550A-0144 (J Shea Collection)
In 1959 a four hour race held around a 2.8-mile course at Ala-Mar, a Havana suburb, was won by ‘The Tampa Hotshoe’, Joe Sheppard and Fritz Schiedel in a Porsche 550RS. It was Sheppard’s first race in his new car – very familiar though he was with 550s – so it was quite a debut! Schiedel was Sheppard’s mechanic.
With Castro’s revolution in its final stages, in 1960 he had power, anxious to create a sense of normality, the race proceeded, albeit on a circuit at army Camp Freedom, Moss was the winner in a Maserati Birdcage.
Such grubby bourgeois activities as motor racing ceased and Camp Freedom was used to house the sort of people who attended such events…
The beauty of the city and enthusiasm of the crowd, and its size come thru in all these shots! De Portago, Ferrari Monza 860 (Pinterest)
Linda Christian and De Portago…
Linda Christian was a successful Mexican/ American actor who starred in the first TV adaptation of the Bond novel Casino Royale and in Tarzan, amongst many others. She was with De Portago during that fateful Mille Miglia weekend later in 1957.
De Portago kissed Christian, jumped into his Ferrari 335S, and 70km before Brescia the car blew a tyre, ploughed into the crowd killing Portago, co-driver Ed Nelson, nine spectators and the Mille Miglia.
De Portago and Phil Hill before the race, Havana 1957 (Pinterest)
Etcetera…
Hill/O’Shea Ferrari 857S Monza, Malecon Circuit pits, Cuba 1957 (Pinterest)The Castellotti Ferrari 290MM, V12 engined compared with the Monza four cylinder engine, both were Ferrari works 1956 Sports Car Championship entries. Castellotti in yellow polo shirt (Pinterest)‘Chicken-plucker’ Carroll Shelby in trademark farmers overalls in the third place Ferrari 410, 1957 would be a great year for him (Pinterest)Military very much to the fore. Fangio Maserati 300S #2 and Castellotti Ferrari 290MM #10 (Pinterest)Juan Manuel Fangio beside his Maserati 300S in Cuba at the start of his final full season of racing in 1957. He drove for Maserati in both Sports and Grand Prix events, winning his fifth F1 World Title in the fabulous, and by that time evergreen Maserati 250F; that car finally getting the title it long deserved (Pinterest)Moss Maserati 300S beside the John Edgar owned #78 Ferrari 4.9 driven by Carini (Pinterest)Hill/O’Shea Ferrari 857S Monza, Cuba 1957. Paul O’Shea checking out the engine (Pinterest)Fangio after the 1958 Cuban Grand Prix and release by his Castro captors…(Pinterest)It is not recorded if Che and Fidel attended one of Cuba’s Grands Prix…Entry list for the 1960 event at Camp Freedom (J Shea Collection)
Photo and Other Credits…
Pinterest, Havana May Blogspot, Hy Peskin Collection, John Shea
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