1948 Alta

I photographed this car on a visit to the Donington Park Museum in May 1989. The museum sadly closed in November 2018, cars on loan going back to the owners and as far as I'm aware the rest were put up for auction.

It's a 1948 Alta which was raced by George Abecassis in 1948 and 1949. I've recently come across the book that I bought at the museum on one of my visits there, and this is what it has to say about the Alta:

'The Alta

Geoffrey Taylor's 'Special'

Geoffrey Taylor was an arch motoring enthusiast. He built his first Alta car in a small workshop behind his home in Kingstone-upon-Thames between 1928 and 30, painstakingly fashioning vital engine parts out of the solid. This was followed by a line of sports and independently-suspended racing cars until he outbreak of the war.

He outlined a design for a 1½ litre supercharged Grand Prix car towards the end of the war, and announced his plans with a flourish in November 1945. But post-war shortages delayed the car's debut until 1948, when 'GP No. 1' appeared in the British Empire Trophy race in Douglas, Isle of Man.

The new Alta used an updated version of Taylor's well-proven twin overhead-camshaft four-cylinder engine, supercharged by a Roots-Alta blower driven from the crankshaft nose. He used a special four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox of his own construction with a low drive-line, allowing the driver's seat to be very low-mounted within a rakish and sleek bodyshell, reminiscent of the pre-war Mercedes also copied by ERA in their unsuccessful E-Type.

George Abecassis raced the car throughout 1948 and 1949, while his HW Motors partner John Heath also drove on occasions. Its best performance was in the 1949 British GP, when Abecassis ran fifth before a broken float chamber forced him to stop. He then fought his way back through the field to finish seventh.

For 1950 this duo concentrated on their own Alta-engined HWMs, while the same engine became standard in 2½ litre form in Connaught cars. Tony Brooks won the 1955 Syracuse Grand Prix in one of these Connaughts to score the first all-British Continental GP victory since 1924!

Three of the rubber-block suspended GP Altas were built; the others went to Geoffrey Crossle and Joe Kelly, and the Collection's car includes parts from all three.

Engine:4-Cyls IL; 2VPC; 2OHC; 78mm x 78mm. 1490cc; 230bhp/7000rpm; (S).

Chassis: Round tube ladder frame

Suspension: IRS/IFS by wishbones and rubber blocks.

Brakes: Drums, hydraulically-operated.'