Historic Grand Prix Racing at Silverstone

This is a photograph that I took at Luffield Corner during the Chopard Grand Prix Cars Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

The blurred car at the front is the 1958 Maserati 250F of Lindsay Owen Jones, and he is followed by the 1958 Vanwall of Vijay Mallya driven by John Harper and David Duffy's 1955 Connaught B-Type which was driven by Martin Stretton.

1958 Maserati 250F

I took this photograph at Luffield corner during the Corporate Jets Historic Grand Prix Car race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

Leading is Lindsay Owen-Jones in his 1958 Maserati 250F #2534 followed by Martin Stretton in David Duffy's 1955 Connaught B-Type and what looks like Nigel Corner's 1957 Maserati 250F. In the background is Robin Lodge in the ex-Gilby Engineering Company's 1954 Maserati 250F.

1955 Connaught B-Type

This is a photograph that I took at the Donington Park Museum in October 1989.

It's a 1955 Connaught B-Type, chassis B7, and the book 'Great Racing Car of the Donington Collection' says this about it:

The non-Championship Syracuse Grand Prix, held in Sicily late in 1955, forms an historic landmark in racing history. The amateur driver C.A.S. 'Tony' Brooks took on the might of the works Maserati team in his unrated 2½ litre Alta-engined Connaught, and beat them on their home soil!  It was the first time that a Continental 'Grand Prix' had been won by a British car and driver since Henry Seagrave had won the San Sebastian in a Sunbeam in 1924. Rodney Clarke and Kenneth McAlpine (of the famous building family) had founded Connaught Engineering in 1947, to build a sports car for McAlpine to race. In a small works at Send in Surrey, they built a prototype powered by a modified 1767cc Lea-Francis engine, and its results prompted a production batch of the cars, financed by McAlpine.

Engineer Mike Oliver drove one of the cars successfully, and in 1950 he assisted in building a prototype Formula 2 Connaught, using the existing engine in a modified form. For 1951 nine F2 cars were built with Connaught 1864cc engines - still 'Leaf'-based but now developed almost beyond recognition as such. Between 1952 and 1953 the Connaughts never achieved major success; they lacked power although their road-holding and handling were as good as any.

The B-Type Connaught was prepared for 1954 Formula 1 racing with a special 2½ litre  four-cylinder Alta engine and initially all-enveloping streamlined central-seat bodywork. This was replaced for practical rather than technical reasons by a more normal 'slipper' body and it was one of these cars which made history in 1955.

During 1956 Connaught were a force in Grand Prix racing, but success - and real power - still eluded them. A C-Type car of advanced design was laid down for 1957, but McAlpine decided that the financial strain was too much to be borne alone and, when outside sponsorship was not forthcoming, he withdrew, and Connaught tragically collapsed.

1955 Connaught B-Type

This car competed in the Allcomers Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1972.

It's the 1955 Connaught B Type of Alan McKechnie and was driven in the race by Tony Mitchell. The Connaught B Type was made famous by Tony Brooks' win in the 1955 Syracuse Grand Prix where the main opposition were the five cars of the Maserati works team, since when the B Type has been known as the Connaught Syracuse. It has a 4-cylinder inline 2,470cc Alta engine and seven of the cars were produced, Alan McKechnie's car, chassis B7 was owned by Bernie Ecclestone after the Connaught team folded and was raced in 1958 by Roy Salvadori, Archie Scott Brown and Jack Fairman. In later years it was on long-term display in the Donington Park Museum.

Silverstone 1994

I took this photograph at Luffield corner during the Chopard HGPCA 100 Mile Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

Leading is Jeffrey Pattinson in his 1954 Maserati 250F, chassis #2508, originally owned and raced by Stirling Moss. The car behind him is the 1949 Maserati 4CLT of Dan Margulies, which was being driven by Peter Hannen, followed by the 1955 Connaught B-Type of Paul Burdell, chassis B4, originally raced by the Rob Walker team.

Friday's Ferrari

These cars are coming through the Craner Curves towards the Old Hairpin during the Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

Just going out of the picture is the 1957 Connaught C-Type of Michael Steele and he is being followed by the 1952 Ferrari 625A of Alexander Boswell. The Ferrari, chassis #0482, also competed in two rounds of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge Series at this meeting. It was originally a 2-litre Formula 2 Ferrari 500 and competed in World Championship races in the 1952 and 1953 seasons when they were run to Formula 2 regulations. When the 2½ litre Formula 1 regulations came into effect in 1954 a four cylinder inline 2,498cc engine was fitted to the lengthened Ferrari 500 chassis and the car was redesignated a Ferrari 625. Later in 1954 a 2,942cc 4-cylinder inline engine from a Ferrari 735 sports car was installed and the car was raced in Australia by Peter Whitehead. Immediately behind the Ferrari is the 1954 Connaught B-Type of Nick Wigley, chassis #B4, and then the 1952 Cooper Bristol Mk1, later known as the T20, of Neil Davies.