Tag Archives: Seaman

GP Winning Record Breaker – Delage 15 S8

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In 1925 the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR), an international association of motor clubs founded in 1904, organised the first World Manufacturers’ Championship with four qualifying events, the Indianapolis 500, Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, French Grand Prix at Montlhéry and Italian Grand Prix run at Monza.

For the 1925 season Delage were running 2LCV V12 2 litre / 122 cui powered cars designed by Charles Planchon who after the cars initial failure in 1923 was replaced by Albert Lory who added twin superchargers and developed sufficiently for Robert Benoist and Louis Wagner to finish first and second in the 1925 French Grand Prix.

Delage 15 S8, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

The inaugural World Manufacturers’ Championship was claimed by Alfa Romeo with wins for Antonio Ascari and Gastone Brilli-Peri in Belgium and Italy respectively, both driving Alfa Romeo P2’s.

For 1926 the rules for the second World Manufacturers’ Championship mandated a down size to 1500 cc / 91.5 cui engine’s for which Albert Lory designed the 170hp twin supercharged 15 S8 with a straight 8 engine and five speed gearbox.

Delage 15 S8, Brooklands Double Twelve

Bugatti won the 1926 championship, Jules Goux winning the French Grand Prix and Spanish Grand Prix with Louis Charavel also driving a Type 39A to victory in Italy.

A Delage 15 S8 driven by Robert Sénéchal shared with Louis Chiron won the first Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix run at Brooklands in 1926.

Delage 15 S8, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

For 1927 Delage entered their 15 S8 models modified to run with a single super charger in all four European rounds of the World Manufacturers’ Championship.

Delage won all four races to secure what turned out to be the last World Manufacturers’ Championship to be awarded by the AIACR.

Delage 15 S8, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Remarkably Robert Benoist was at the wheel of the winning car in France, Spain, Italy and finally at Brooklands, where he drove today’s featured chassis No.2 to victory lane.

By the end of 1927 Delage was virtually bankrupt and the company had to re focus it’s attention on building road cars and abandon racing in a works capacity.

Delage 15 S8, Brooklands Double Twelve

In 1936 a young Richard Seaman made a name for himslef driving a carefully rebuilt 10 year old 15 D8 to numerous victories over new models from ERA and Maserati.

Chassis No.2 seen here was bought by Malcolm Campbell in 1929 who sold it on to W B ‘Bummer’ Scott who set Class F 24 Hour World Record and 200 Mile World Records respectively at Montlhéry in 1931 and Brooklands in 1933.

Delage 15 S8, Goodwood Festival of Speed,

Prince Chula of Siam, cousin and entrant of “B Bira” was the next owner of the car from 1936 to 1939, hoping to emulate the fortunes of Richard Seaman the White Mouse Racing attempted an ultimately unsuccessful modernisation.

Alan V Burnard acquired No.2 in 1964 and was responsible for restoring it to it’s current condition having temporarily fitted an ERA engine and ENV pre selector gearbox.

After sourcing and rebuilding a correct type 15 S8 the ERA engine was replaced but the ENV gearbox remained, Alan Burnard generously bequeathed No.2 to the Brooklands Museum, where the car is seen in the 2nd and 5th photographs, upon his death in 2012.

Thanks for joining me on this “GP Winning Record Breaking” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ian’s Great Escape – Oulton Park Gold Cup

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At the weekend I took a break from attending the Gold Cup on Monday as in recent years and went on the Sunday, my decision was influenced by slightly larger grids for the races and slightly better weather, I was rewarded with a short lie in and a great day’s racing which kicked off when Tim Murray and I visited the press office where we were greeted with a warm welcome and great cup of coffee by friends made over several years on The Nostalgia Forum.

Morgan, Kivlochan, Ginetta, Ward Booth, Lotus, Barter, Ginetta Boland, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

After a quick visit of the pit area we made our way to Deer Leap for the 10 lap Oni Plc Historic Road Sports race which was led on the opening lap by front row starter Kevin Kivlochan in the #98 Morgan Plus 8 seen above already in second place on lap two. Pole starter Julian Barter driving the #51 Lotus Elan S4 completed the opening lap in 4th but recovered to relieve the races second leader Roger Waite in another Lotus Elan on lap 5, the red #32 Ginetta G4 driven by Patrick Ward Booth finished 3rd ahead of Kevin’s Morgan and the blue #27 Ginetta G4 driven by Dave Boland.

Lightening Envoyette, Peter Moreton, Lotus 22 Andy Hibberd, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

We moved to the inside of Lodge for the next couple of races. Above Peter Moreton had an electric opening lap in the first of the two Silverline Historic Formula Junior races leading the field from 4th on the grid in his #75 Lightening Envoyette, front row starter Andrew Hibberd in the #179 Lotus 22 completed the opening lap in third and is seen above lining up to relieve Peter of the lead for good at the end of lap 3, John Fyda driving a Brabham BT6 finished second ahead of Peter with less than 6 seconds covering the top three after 20 mins of close racing.

TVR Griffith, Gardner/Cox, Mike Whitaker, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

Mike Gardiner and Dave Cox qualified their #77 TVR Griffith on pole for the HSCC Guards Trophy supported by Dunlop Tyres GT Race but there was no stopping Mike Whitaker in the similar #46 TVR seen above about to take the lead at the end of the 2nd lap which he would hold onto until pitting on lap 11 handing over the lead to the similarly Ford 289 powered AC Cobra driven by Robert Bremner. After the pit stops had cycled through Mike Whitaker led until the end of the race ahead of the Gardiner / Cox TVR and Robert in the over steering (loose) AC.

Brabham BT21, March 703 Simon Armer, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

By the end of the 40 min GT race Tim and I had made our way over to the inside of Old Hall from whence we watched the start of the first of two The Cubicle Centre Historic Formula 3 races. Fourth place starter Steve Seaman in his #26 Brabham BT21 nipped through to lead the opening 4 laps of this race from pole man Simon Armer driving the #22 March 703 who is seen above about to pass Steve to claim the lead which he held onto to take the flag a gnats over 17 seconds ahead of Micheal Scott’s Brabham BT28. Steve came home forth behind clear championship leader Leif Bosson driving another Brabham BT28.

Chevron B37, Neil Glover, March 742, Mark Dwyer, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing Neil Glover driving the one off 5 litre / 302 cui 1976 Chevron, celebrating it’s fiftieth anniversary this year, B37 F5000 car which he qualified second for the first of the weekends Derek Bell Trophy races behind the 2 litre / 122 cui 1974 March 742 Formula 2 car driven by Mark Dwyer. Neil snatched the lead for the opening 3 laps of the race with Mark snapping at his heals in the nimble March who finally grabbed the lead on the third lap and pulled out a nearly six second advantage when a major incident between Denton’s and Cascades required the red flag to be shown on the 8th lap.

Ian Ashley, Derek Bell Trophy, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

5th place starter 67 year old former Grand Prix driver Ian Ashley driving the #188 Lola T300 Formula 5000 car came down the chute between Denton’s and Cascades for the 8th time in 4th place behind the Clubmans Mallock driven by Mike Charteris when he came across a hapless lapped Brian Cullen driving a 1970 1600 cc Formula 2 spec #18 Crosslé 19F. Just after the Denton’s right hand kink Ian clipped the left rear wheel of the Crosslé with his right front and went flying down the track until his rear end hit the retaining barriers which sent the car into a barrel roll before landing on it’s right side and then came to rest miraculously the right way up. Fortunately Ian was able to release himself from the remains of his Lola unaided and gave spectators a thumbs up to a good dose of applause, neither driver suffered any injury that I know of.

Jaguar E-type, Micheal Wilkinson, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

After the dramatic low’s and high’s of the incident the 40 min Jaguar Heritage race passed by in relative tranquility. The third place starting #50 E-type of Michael Wilkinson and John Bussel took over a commanding lead with 6 laps to go, when Martin O’Connel’s pole winning E-type retired 1 lap after his compulsory pit stop, to finish over a minuet and a half clear of Paul Castaldini who was just third placed pairing of Dave Coyne and Robert Gate who made it an all E-type podium as several of the cars struggled to the end with smoking brakes, exhausts and or transmissions.

Lenham P69 Waggitt/Needham, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

Normal service returned with the Guards Trophy supported by Dunlop Tyres Sports Racing cars race. On the opening lap 5th place starter Jon Waggitt was the man on the move with the #33 Lenham P69 seen here followed by the pole sitting and eventual winning #18 Elva Mk 7, driven by Maxim Bartel and Callum Grant, ready to pounce by the front row starting #6 Chevron B6 driven by Nick Thompson and Sean McClurg. Jon kept the lead for all of two laps before the #18 reasserted qualifying form and went on to win the 40 min race by over 8 seconds from the #33 Lenham that Jon shared with Peter Needham that finished a further 5 seconds ahead of the Chevron B8 driven by Charles Allison. In the back ground seventh place starter Marcus Mussa spins his #88 McLaren Elva M1B going into the Hislops chicane.

70's Road Sports, Gold Cup, Oulton Park

The 20 min 70’s Road Sports Bob Trotter Celebration Race may have been shorter than some, but provided the most closely contested victory as second place starter Jim Dean made the running over the first five laps in his little green #72 Lotus Europa, eventual winner, by just .089 of a second, was Charles Barter whose powerful blue #24 Datsun 240Z started 3rd but had to take to the escape road going into Hislops on the opening lap in order to avoid the spinning 5th place starting Lotus Elan driven by Iain Daniels. Jim finished 2nd just under 5 seconds ahead of the light green #1 TVR Tuscan driven by Peter Shaw.

March 703, Simon Armer, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

The starting grid for the second Cubicle Centre Historic Formula 3 race was exactly the same as the first, unusually the finishing order of the first race played no part in the starting order for the second, once again it was third place starter Steve Seaman in the Brabham BT21 who went into the lead on the opening lap, but this time he held onto it until lap 6 before a determined Simon Armer found away past for the final two laps of the race which he finished just over half a second ahead of Steve and nearly 8 seconds ahead of Michael Scott.

Historic Formula Junior, Gold Cup, Oulton Park,

The grid for the final race of the day, second Silverline Historic Formula Junior race was determined by the finishing order of Junior race one, but pole sitter Andrew Hibberd finished the opening lap in third as the electric Peter Moreton again led with John Fyda between them. Andrew is seen above having just taken the lead from Peter who was demoted to third as John followed Andrew to take second on lap 3. The order remained the same until the end of the race with the top three again finishing less than six seconds apart with plenty of entertaining battles through the field to keep the results uncertain until the very end of a great day’s racing.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ian’s Great Escape” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be visiting the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Dick’s Voiturette ERA – ERA R1B

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Today’s featured car ERA R1B was the first of the second batch of ‘B’ spec ERA’s built between 1935 and 1938.

R1B was purchased by up and coming 22 year old Richard Seaman for the 1935 season. Richards successes included winning the Coppa Acerbo, Swiss Grand Prix and Czech Grand Prix races for 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui voiturettes.

ERA R1B, Silverstone Classic,

ERA offered to do the race preparation for R1B, but when Richard found this unsatisfactory he returned to ex Alfa Romeo driver and mechanic Giulio Ramponi who had prepared Richards Swiss GP Voiturette winning MG in 1934.

Richard switched to a Delage with success in 1936 before becoming a hired Mercedes Benz driver for the remainder of his all to brief career in 1937.

ERA, RB1, Tim Cottam, BRM Day, Bourne

R1B was sold to G.F. Manby-Colgrave who had Jazz musician “Buddy” Featherstonhaugh share the driving duties in 1936.

From 1937 to 1947 dance band leader and later TV personality Bill Cotton took over ownership of R1B.

ERA, RB1, Tim Cottam, BRM Day, Bourne

R1B has always been fitted with a supercharged 1.5 litre motor and has been kept to B specification and appearance since the Marsh family took over ownership from 1964 to 1998.

Michael Gans is currently the owner of R1B seen top at a recent Silverstone Classic meeting and in the hands of Tim Cottam, son of A L Cottam who owned R1B from ’59 to ’64, at the BRM Day run on the streets of Bourne in 2012.

Thanks for joining me on this “Dick’s Voiturette ERA” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Maserati Monday. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ruote Indipendenti – Maserati V8RI #4501

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For 1935 Ernesto Maserati devised the V8RI challenger for the 750kg / 1653.47 lbs formula to take on Mercedes Benz, Auto Union and Alfa Romeo, the latter entries managed by Enzo Ferrari, for honours in the top echelon of motor sport known as the European Championship which comprised just five events.

The V8RI broke with Maserati tradition being the first car to run a motor in anything other than an inline configuration and further more it was the first Maserati motor not to feature twin overhead camshafts, Ernesto opting for a single overhead camshaft per bank of the 300 hp 4.78 litre / 292 cui supercharged V8.

Maserati V8RI, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The V8RI was also the first Maserati to feature, ruote indipendenti, independent suspension for all four wheels. The transmission and differential were designed as a single transaxle unit.

Being essentially funded by private entrants in particular Scuderia Subalpina it is perhaps not surprising that the first V8RI to appear, today’s featured chassis #4501 did not show up until midway through 1935 and then only at the non championship XI Grand Prix de la Marne where Phi Phi Etancelin placed second in Heat 1 and retired with a blown motor from the final.

Maserati V8RI, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The VR8I’s first European Championship appearance was at the penultimate round at Monza where Giuseppe Farina ‘won’ pole position which was drawn by lot, only to non start VR8I #4502 because of a recalcitrant motor. Phi phi completed 14 laps of the Italian Grand Prix in #4501 before crashing out and sustaining injuries which would keep him out of the cockpit for at least one race.

Farina made one further non championship start in a VR8I in 1935 at Circuito di Modena, but he retired after 7 laps with a fuel tank issue. Over the winter on 1935/36 Scuderia Subalpina became Scuderia Torino and Gino Rovere the teams patron took a controlling interest in Maserati.

Maserati V8RI, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

For 1936 both Phi phi Etancelin and “Raph” bought V8RI’s to run privately and Phi phi scored the V8RI’s most important European result by winning the 1936 Grand Prix de Pau against a field of Alfa Romeo’s and Bugatti’s which were not considered serious challengers to the absent front line contenders from Auto Union and Mercedes Benz.

From 6th further starts in his private V8RI Phi phi finished just once in the Vanderbuilt Cup race at Roosevelt Raceway where he finished 9th. Coincidentally from the results available to me this was the first and only time in 1936 where ‘Raph’ raced his private V8RI being disqualified for a push start on lap 9.

Maserati V8RI, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

The works / Torino V8RI’s are known to have appeared on five occasions in 1936 with an only finish of 7th place for Count Felice Trossi and Ernesto Bianco at the Italian Grand Prix. This result helped Trossi finish 7th equal in the 1936 European Championship with Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Brivio and Auto Union’s Ernst von Delius, Trossi’s other finish in a 4C Maserati came at the German Grand Prix where he shared 8th with Richard Seaman after the Englishman’s Torino V8RI retired with brake issues early in the race.

#4501 was modified in 1936 with attention given to the independent suspension and transaxle but from the results available to me it never appeared at any races with these modifications.

Maserati V8RI, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

In 1937 Maserati withdrew from the European Championship, which was dominated by German machines producing over 500 hp. Alfordo Mandirola drove his privately entered V8RI in at least two non championship events in Europe in 1937 scoring a best 7th place in the Grand Prix Valentino run in Turin.

Later in 1937 all four V8RI’s were entered in the Vanderbuilt cup race, #4501 to be driven by Deacon Litz however was the only V8RI not to show. Wilbur Shaw finished 9th in the race driving a V8RI while the other two V8RI’s retired.

Maserati V8RI, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

With a reduced engine capacity and the supercharger removed #4501 appeared at the 1939 Indianapolis 500 where both Deacon and rookie George Robson failed to qualify the car. Deacon however qualified another V8RI, which also featured a modified body, 31st and finished 33rd after a couple of dropped valves brought his race to a halt on lap 7.

Jim Brubaker, from Pennsylvania bought #4501 and between 1946 and 1949 it failed to qualify for the Indy 500 four more times.

Maserati V8RI, Goodwood Festival Of Speed

In October 1950 Phil Cade became the owner of #4501 and he competed with it on the East Coast in circuit races and hillclimbs from 1951. Somewhere between 1952 and ’53 Phil fitted a Chrysler Hemi V8 and continued competing with the car in this form until 1960, among Phil’s successes was winning the Watkins Glen Seneca Cup in 1958.

In 2003 Bob Valpey bought #4501 from Phil and reunited it with it’s Maserati V8 motor. #4501 currently belongs to Michael Gans who completed an eight year restoration of the car prior to the Goodwood Festival of Speed where it is seen in these photographs.

My thanks to historian Adam Ferrington, #4501’s owner Micheal Gans and the numerous Nostalgia Forum contributors who unwittingly contributed to this post on various threads of the forum.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ruote Indipendenti” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Old Number 5 – Lagonda V12 #14089

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Despite winning Le Mans in 1935 Lagonda looked to be going the same way as Bentley financially until it was rescued with an injection of cash by it’s new chairman 30 year old Alan Good.

Good hired two former Rolls Royce employees to design today’s featured car, none other than W.O. Bentley himself was responsible for the chassis while his colleague Stuart Tresilian was responsible for the 4.5 litre / 274 cui single overhead cam V12 motor.

Lagonda V12, Goodwood Festival of Speed

In late 1938 early 1939 Good announced that he would like to enter a Lagonda V12 into the 1939 Le Mans 24 Hours race.

W.O. Bentley who was to be prepare the car, originally designed as a production vehicle and never intended for racing, was adamant that this should only be done to see if the cars would last the distance in anticipation of a full onslaught in 1940 to which Good agreed.

Lagonda V12, Goodwood Festival of Speed

A short V12 chassis was lightened by drilling out as much dead weight as possible from the chassis members and independent front suspension arms. The V12 aluminium block motor was fitted with four carburetors and produced over 200 hp.

Good had hoped that Mercedes Benz star Richard “Dick” Seaman would drive chassis #14089 but Mercedes objected and so leading ERA runner Arthur Dobson was joined by Brooklands regular Charles Brackenbury at the wheel of the car which would become known as Old Number 5.

Lagonda V12, Goodwood Festival of Speed

During the preparations Lord Selsdon came into a substantial inheritance and persuaded Alan Good to enter a second car which he was to share with Lord William Waleran.

Observing strict instructions from W.O. the drivers of the two Lagonda’s lapped at a pre arranged speed and they completed 239 laps and 238 laps respectively, four more than the 235 laps completed by the winning Delahaye in 1938, but short of the 248 laps recorded Jean-Pierre Wimille and Pierre Veyron in their winning supercharged Bugatti type 57C.

Lagonda V12, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Lagondas finished third and forth behind the Ecurie Walter Watney Delage with Old Number 5 ahead of it’s sister to secure first and second in the over 5 litre / 302 cui class.

Dick Seaman tragically was killed at Spa after an accident in his Mercedes Benz the following week.

The beginning of hostilities in 1939 meant the 1940 Le Mans 24 hours would not take place and so the Lagonda V12’s never got the chance to prove their true potential although they did finish first and second in one of the last races run at Brooklands before war broke out.

Lord Selsdon would, briefly, share the winning 1949 Le Mans winning Ferrari 166MM with Luigi Chinetti.

While Old Number 5 seen here at last years Goodwood Festival of Speed would briefly end up in the hands of Fighter Pilot and Racing Driver Robert, later Roberta, Cowell.

After war Lagonda became part of David Brown’s portfolio which included Aston Martin and was merged to become Aston Martin Lagonda.

Thanks for joining me on this “Old Number 5” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Maserati Monday when I’ll be looking at the prototype Maserati Tipo 60. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Hydraulics & Pre Selectors – Maserati 8CM #3011

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Entering his third and final season of motor racing American born Whitney Willard Straight decided to pull out all the stops and create his own Grand Prix team with Reid Railton and the Earl of Brecknock for 1934 called Whitney Straight Ltd.

The team ordered no less than three Maserati 8CM’s of which chassis #3011 was the first, featuring a narrow 1933 specification 20″ inch wide chassis and a 3 litre / 183 cui straight 8 motor designed by Alfieri Maserati who died early in 1932 just before the first 8CM was completed.

Maserati 8CM, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

Unusually the 8CM was fitted with hydraulic brakes, a feature that had first been seen in the early 1920’s but an idea that had not been taken up by the likes of Bugatti on their Type 35’s for example.

Former Alfa Romeo mechanic Giulio Ramponi was employed to prepare the Straight cars and he was responsible for fitting a Wilson pre selector gearbox to #3011 and the remaining team cars.

Maserati 8CM, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

To the best of my knowledge Whitney drove the white and blue painted #3011 exclusively in 1934 and after recording a speed of 135.49 mph over a flying mile at Brooklands he won four events 2 at Brooklands one at Donington and another in East London, South Africa.

At the end of the year Whitney retired from the sport as he had promised his wife and #3011 passed onto Harry Rose who recorded a class win on the Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb in 1935.

Maserati 8CM, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

Richard Seaman, who had introduced Whitney Straight to motor racing while at Cambridge, drove #3011 to a victory at Donington Park in 1936 shortly before it was acquired by White Mouse Racing for the Siamese Prince Birabongse Bhanutej Bhjanubandh Bira.

Bira had the car painted blue and kept #3011 until 1947 winning events at Brooklands in 1937 and 1939 and following the end of hostilities recorded two second place finishes in the Brighton Speed Trials in 1946 and 1947.

Maserati 8CM, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

Kenneth McAlpine of the construction empire bearing the same name became the next owner of #3011 and raced the now black car through 1948 wining the Weston Super Mare sprint on what appears to have been his final drive in the car.

In 1951 Leslie W. Boyce drove #3011, painted red, for a final appearance at the Brighton Speed Trials where he finished with 8th fastest time.

Maserati 8CM, HGPCA Test Day, Silverstone

#3011 remained in the UK, spending some time on display in the Doune Motor Museum.

In the 1980’s #3011 went to San Francisco where it was reunited with it’s original motor that had been swapped out by Harry Rose in 1935.

Maserati 8CM, Robert Newall, Goodwood Revival

Today #3011 is one of the 10, from the original 17, 8CM’s built known to remain.

#3011 is owned by Christopher Jaques and is seen with Robert Newall at the wheel during the 2012 Goodwood Revival where it was demonstrated with the Silver Arrow’s some of which it was designed to, unequally, compete against in 1934.

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Goodwood Revival – #7 Silberpfile

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At the Berlin Motor Show in 1933 Adolf Hitler announced two new projects the (Kraft durch Freude – strength through joy) KdF- Wagen that would eventually become the Volkswagen Beetle and a state sponsored racing programme for Mercedes Benz. Below is a recreation of a 1936 Mercedes Benz racing department transporter based on a 70 hp petrol engine Mercedes Benz Lo 2570 truck complete with a Mercedes Benz W125 racing car on the back.

Mercedes-Benz LO 2750, Goodwood Revival

Once it became clear that Hans Stuck would not be joining Mercedes Benz he got together with Chairman of the newly amalgamated Auto Union Baron Klaus von Oertzen and free lance designer Ferdinand Porsche to make a bid to fund a rival for the Mercedes Benz team. Hitler agreed that two rivals would be better than one and so split the funding he had announced in Berlin for Mercedes Benz with Auto Union much to the disgust of the former. Below is a Büssing Typ 300 of the type used by Auto Union to carry their team.

Bussing Typ 300, Goodwood Revival

There are numerous stories about how the Mercedes Benz and Auto Union team cars came to be called collectively the Silver Arrows. Apparently the earliest use to the term was in a 1932 radio broadcast in connection with a streamlined Mercedes Benz SSKL driven by Manfred von Brauchitsch was called a Silver Arrow. When the Auto Unions were prepared in 1934 they were all painted silver and bitter rivals Mercedes Benz, who would probably be loath to admit it, appear to have followed suit.

Auto Union A-Type, Goodwood Revival

For 1934 Auto Union built the A-Type with, for the period, a wholly unconventional mid engine layout which featured a 291 hp super charged V16 motor there was no championship that year, Alfa Romeo won the first two of the seven major races before Hans Stuck won the German Grand Prix for Auto Union, René Dreyfus managed an unlikely win at the Belgian Grand Prix aboard his Bugatti and Mercedes swept the last two races of the season in Italy and Spain. Above is an A-Type of the type Stuck used to win the 1934 German Grand Prix.

Mercedes Benz W154 and W25, Goodwood Revival

From 1934 to 1937 Mercedes Benz used the W25 powered by a supercharged straight 8 motor that rose from 300 hp in 1934 to 490 hp by the time the W25 was replaced by the W125. In 1935 Rudolf Caracciola won the European Grand Prix Championship with three wins, Stuck one once for Auto Union and Tazio Nuvolari famously upset the Fuhrer by winning for ALFA Romeo in the 1935 German Grand Prix.

Karl Wendlinger had some problems selecting gears with the W25 seen on the left above and when he got a gear on this occasion the car snaked wildly as the narrow power band of his screaming engine kicked in forcing the 1938 W154 onto the grass.

Auto Union C-Type, Goodwood Revival

For 1936 Auto Union introduced the C-Type which produced over 500 hp from it’s supercharged V16. This tipped the scales in favour of Bernd Rosemeyer who won three of the four European Championship rounds to become European Champion in 1936. This left the previous years champion Caracciola with a consolation victory at the start of the 1936 season before the Mercedes Benz team withdrew mid season, after the Auto Unions superiority became obvious, to regroup for 1937.

Five time Le Mans winner Frank Biela is seen at the wheel of the C-type above.

Mercedes Benz W125, Goodwood Revival

For 1937 Mercedes Benz came back with a vengeance upgrading their supercharged straight eight motor with a swept volume 5,662.85 cc / 345.56 CUI which produced 595 hp and a new W125 chassis as seen being handled by Grand Prix and Le Mans winner Jochen Mass above. After a consolation win at the start of the 1937 season for Rudolf Hasse, Caracciola took three wins from the remaining four rounds of the championship to win the 1937 European Championship title for the second time. Only Manfred von Brauchitsch also aboard a W125 interrupted Caracciola’s progress at Monaco. It was not until the late sixties that circuit racers so powerful would hit the tracks again with the emergence of the unlimited Can Am Series in North America.

Auto Union D-Type, Goodwood Revival

For 1938 the organisers changed the rules to bring the speeds down by announcing a maximum swept volume of three litres / 183 cui. Auto Union developed the new D-type with “only” 12 cylinders in a Vee configuartaion that with 24 psi boost from the supercharger developed 478 hp and was still capable of over 200 mph ! The Nuvolari drove the D-Type, like the one seen here, to a single championship victory at the season finale at Monza.

Mercedes Benz W154, Goodwood Revival

Mercedes Benz built the W154 for the smaller capacity formula using an essentially unchanged chassis from the W125 but with a supercharged V12 giving up to 475 hp. von Brauchitsch and Great Britain’s Richard Seaman won the opening 2 races of the four race series. Caracciola won the third round which was enough to secure him a third European Championship title.

For 1939 there were only four rounds of the European Championship Mercedes again winning three of them Hermann Lang winning the first and last and Caracciola winning the 1939 German Grand Prix all for Mercedes. Herman Paul Müller interrupted the Mercedes domination with a win at the French Grand Prix. Two weeks after the final championship round in Switzerland von Brauchitsch drove the #6 seen here driven by Rob Hall to second place in the non championship Belgrade Grand Prix. That same day the Second World War got underway and the European Championship organisers who apparently had never agreed on the points system to be used for the 1939 championship failed to announce a championship winner. Lang or Mülller would have won depending on the scoring system to be used.

Mercedes Benz W165, Goodwood Revival

Finally Mercedes Benz built the 1.5 litre 91.5 cui supercharged V8 powered W165, as driven by Paul Stewart above, to compete in the more competitive, or at least varied since nearly everyone had abandoned hope of competing against Mercedes Benz and Auto Union, voiturette (small) class. Two cars were entered for Lang and Caracciola in the Tripoli Grand Prix and they finished first and second in that order. The cars were never to be raced again despite Caracciola being invited to compete at Indianapolis in 1946, he could not get the car out of Europe through Swiss customs.

Without doubt these are some of the most fascinating cars ever seen in motor racing, they dominated races that were often 10 hours long, but in the early years they were not invincible. However great the achievements of the teams and drivers these cars were built in an industrial context with the conscripted help of men and women who were not free to do as they liked, and I would venture to suggest these vehicles should be remembered as a testimony to those who endured unimaginable hardships and in the greater scheme of things some of the greatest inhumanities known to man.

Thanks for joining me on this “#7 Siberpfile” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again for some California Sunshine tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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