By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. For many of our readers, Grand Prix racing in the 50s is beyond ancient history. Sure, the famous name are recognizable, Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz; and the drivers, too, Fangio, Moss and many others. But still, unless you're a student of the sport's formative years you would not know that the era left a rich and lasting legacy. One of the constructors names I did not mention is the subject of this column: the British Vanwall. In 1957, Vanwall became the first British-built car to win the British Grand Prix with a British driver, with Sir Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks sharing the honors. In 1958, the Vanwall motor racing team recorded six Grand Prix wins and became the first winner of the Formula One World Constructors Trophy. And to this day, Vanwall remains the first of only two Formula One teams ever to have recorded a maximum points score in a championship season. Vanwall clinched its memorable championship with a win in Morocco, on October 19, 1958.
The news? Sixty-two years to the day since Vanwall claimed the world’s first Formula One Constructors Championship Trophy, the Vanwall name is reborn. Vanwall Group, the successor to the legendary British Vanwall motor racing team of the 1950s, has announced the renaissance of the historic name with plans to build six new continuation cars to celebrate Vanwall’s six Formula One wins in 1958. Only five of the continuation cars will be offered for private sale, with the sixth car forming the core of a Vanwall Historic Racing Team. Each vehicle will be painstakingly built over thousands of hours by historic racing and vehicle restoration experts, Hall and Hall, in Lincolnshire, England. The faithful continuation cars will feature the powerful 2,489cc, 270BHP Vanwall engine, all meticulously engineered using original drawings and blueprints from the 1950s. Each hand-built continuation car will be sold for £1.65 million ex VAT.
In its day, Vanwall was known in the Grand Prix paddock for innovative engineering, with the Colin Chapman-designed chassis complementing the aerodynamics by Frank Costin. They pioneered, for example, the use of disc brakes rather than drum brakes in Formula One, thus retaining a small competitive advantage over the Ferraris.
Announcing the continuation cars, Managing Director of Vanwall Group, Iain Sanderson, said, “The Vanwall name is too important to consign to history. The Vanwall story is untold to many, but it is a great British tale of innovation and achievement and shows what happens when the right team come together and push themselves fearlessly to reach a clearly defined goal. On this anniversary, we think the time is right to celebrate this great British story of success. Faithfully recreating the iconic 1958 championship winning car with six 100% accurate and authentic continuation cars is a fitting tribute to their historic success. The DNA that made those cars so successful also serves as an inspiring foundation for the future of the Vanwall marque, which I look forward to sharing in due course.”
Andrew Garner, Chairman of Vanwall Group and a former Chairman of the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association, concluded, “I can still remember watching the Vanwalls at Aintree in ’57 when I was a boy and had the pleasure of sitting in one at Goodwood. I drove at all the major circuits in a Cooper T51 for many wonderful years but the Vanwall is the car I coveted. These cars will be fully race eligible and in the right hands will be unbeatable, repeating Tony Vandervell’s mission to beat the red cars!”
I concur. The Vanwall was a most striking design in its day, and I recall having a 1/43 scale model of one in my early toy car collection. Study the photos below; drooling is allowed.
Further information can be found at www.vanwallgroup.com
