1959 Stanguellini FJ

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

It's a Stanguellini Formula Junior car from the late 1950s. Formula Junior was conceived in 1958 as a class of racing which would form a relatively inexpensive entry level class for drivers to take their first steps to a racing career. The engine, transmission and brakes of the car had to be sourced from production cars with a 1,000cc limit on cars weighing 360kg and 1,100cc for 400kg cars. Italian cars mostly using the Fiat 1,100cc engine were the most successful in the first two years as the British manufacturers still concentrated on the 500cc Formula 3 series. Cooper, Lotus and others soon started to produce mid-engined Formula Junior cars though, and by 1960 British cars were picking up most of the victories. This car was sold by the Museum in 1994 and in 2004 it was offered in auction by Bonhams who gave this information about the car.

Formula Junior

I photographed these cars at Redgate corner on the first lap of the Formula Junior race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

On the left the yellow car, number 20, is the 1960 Elva 100 of Geoff O'Nion which is being followed by the number 99 1960 Elva 100 of Peter Lavender. On the right the red 1960 OSCA (21) of Peter Mullen is alongside the 1960 Elva 100 (23) of David Watts and behind him is another 1960 Elva 100, the number 226 of Roger Dexter. I can't identify the car behind the OSCA, but the blue car behind that group is the 1958 Stanguellini (116) of Gordon Wright. The three cars bringing up the rear on the left are Bill Grimshaw in his 1959 Moorland Mk1 (29) Stephen Bulling in the red 1959 Sadler (118) and the blue 1959 Volpini (10) of Antony Childe-Freeman. All the cars bar one have 1.1 litre engines, the exception being the Sadler's which is only 1 litre.

Stanguellini FJ

I took this photograph at the HGPCA's International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

The car didn't compete in any of the races at the meeting - there were none for which it was eligible - but it's a Stanguellini Formula Junior car from the late 1950s. Formula Junior was conceived in 1958 as a class of racing which would form a relatively inexpensive entry level class for drivers to take their first steps to a racing career. The engine, transmission and brakes of the car had to be sourced from production cars with a 1,000cc limit on cars weighing 360kg and 1,100cc for 400kg cars. Italian cars mostly using the Fiat 1,100cc engine were the most successful in the first two years as the British manufacturers still concentrated on the 500cc Formula 3 series. Cooper, Lotus and others soon started to produce mid-engined Formula Junior cars though, and by 1960 British cars were picking up most of the victories.

Formula Junior

These three cars participated in the Formula Junior Class in the Hawthorn Spanish and Hawthorn Memorial Trophies race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008.

William Grimshaw's 1959 Moorland Mk1, the winner of Britain's first ever Formula Junior race, at Brands Hatch in August 1959 in the hands of Ian Raby.

This is the 1959 Stanguellini of Gordon Wright. Powered by the Fiat 1100cc engine, the Stanguellini was the car to beat in Formula Junior racing until the British teams started to develop their mid-engined cars.

Geoff O'Nion's 1959 Elva 100, another Formula Junior car that had some early successes before the advent of the mid-engined cars.

Italian Formula Junior Cars

I showed some photographs on 31 October 2015 of several British Formula Junior cars at an HSCC meeting at Oulton Park in 1986. Here are a couple of photographs of Italian Formula Junior cars at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

The red car is Tony Pickering's 1959 OSCA FJ and the blue car is Antony Childe-Freeman's 1959 Volpini FJ.

This is Gordon Wright's 1958 Stanguellini FJ.