Richmond Trophy

Goodwood, 10 Apr 1950

All cars are 1.5-litre s/c F1 or 4.5-litre F1^† unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1596] (Reg Parnell): Maserati records list this as Reg Parnell's car dated 14 Sep 1948. Raced by Parnell from 1949 to 1951, under the Scuderia Ambrosiana banner in 1950 and 1951, also by Hampshire in 1951. Sold or leased to Bobby Baird mid-1951 and then sometime after 1952 sold to Count Johnny Lurani. Lurani sold it in 1955 to Pat Hoare in New Zealand where it raced until the mid-1960s and then spent many years in the Queenstown Motor Museum. It was sold in 1982 and returned to Europe in 1989. Sold at auction a number of times in the late 1980s and 1990s. Owned by Max Lustenberger (Switzerland) from 1999. Retained 2004.
2. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1601] (Emmanuel de Graffenried): To Enrico Platé for 1949 (dated 7 Mar 1949 in Maserati records) and driven by Emmanuel de Graffenried. Continued as de Graffenried's well-used car through 1950 and 1951. Probably one of two cars extensively rebuilt as Plate-Maseratis for 1952. Probably raced by Ottorino Volonterio in F2 in 1953. Sold with the sister car (probably 1598) by de Graffenried to 20th Century Fox for film work then sold again via Tom Carstens (Tacoma, WA). Subsequent history unknown.
3. ERA B Type [R9B] (Brian Shawe-Taylor): A customer car for Denis Scribbans and then Bob Ansell up to 1949. Guest drivers included Brian Shawe-Taylor, who then bought the car and raced it 1950-51. Then via Irish and UK owners, entering historic racing in 1955. Raced by the Mann brothers from 1976 to 1993, then to Switzerland for four years, back to Peter Mann and then to Rainer Ott (Germany) in 2005. Retained 2007.
4. ERA C Type [R8C] (Cuth Harrison): Built in 1938 using mechanical parts from R8B and raced by Earl Howe 1938 and until a crash in the 1939 International Trophy. Then to Reg Parnell for 1946, Cuth Harrison from 1947 to 1951, Brian Shawe-Taylor 1951 and 1952; then a chain of other owners until acquired in 1977 by Bruce Spollon. Rebuilt to correct C-type specs and raced from 1981 to 2003.
5. ERA B Type [R10B] (Graham Whitehead): Peter Whitehead's regular B Type from 1936 to 1952 (also driven by Peter Walker and Graham Whitehead). Then via other UK and US owners to Nick Mason who raced and demonstrated it for more than 20 years from 1980. With Paddins Dowling by 2006. Retained 2007.
6. HWM 50 ['2'] (George Abecassis): The number '2' is used for convenience denoting that it was the first 'production' car to appear; the actually chassis number is unclear. Its 1950 career can be tracked by photographs as it has distinctive bonnet louvres. The only 1950 F2 HWM to be sold into private hands, this car was sold to Alastair Anthony 'Buster' Baring after being used by Abecassis in April 1950. Then sold to John Brown (Edinburgh) in 1951 and subsequently to Ray Fielding who fitted an Aston Martin engine and a Connaught sports car body to the car while fitting the HWM's body on to an Alta F1 chassis with a Jaguar XK engine. Doug Nye does not quote a chassis number for this in Powered By Jaguar but the F1 Register record it as chassis FB103.
7. Maserati 6CM [1542] (Colin Murray): Delivered to Franco Cortese on 5 Apr 1937. Then to Scuderia Torino and to Ecurie Auto-Sport for de Graffenried and Balsa after the war. Sold in the UK to Sam Gilbey in 1947. Then to Colin Murray in 1949. Murray took the car to Australia in 1951 and sold it there to Eldred Norman (Adelaide). It passed through a number of other Australian owners before being purchased by Alf Blight in 1966 and restored over many years until it raced at Mallala in 1982. Shortly afterwards, it was sold to the US then via UK, Dutch and French owners until sold at auction to Bernie Ecclestone in 1997. Retained 2007.
8. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1607] ("B Bira"): To Enrico Platé for 1949 (dated 14 Nov 1949 in Maserati records) and raced by Bira up to Geneva 1950. Car fitted with a 4450cc OSCA V12 engine for Bira for the 1951 season. The OSCA was taken to Australia in 1955 by Bira as a spare car to his 250F and sold there to Alf Harvey who raced it from 1955 to 1959. The car then went to the UK for historic racing and was bought by Tom Wheatcroft in 1971. Subsequently in the Donington Museum.
9. Maserati 6CM [1551] (Philip Fotheringham-Parker): Delivered on 25 Oct 1937 to Earl Howe, probably acting as agent for a South African purchaser. Immediately shipped to South Africa for the 1937/38 winter season to be raced by Bill Everitt, before passing to local driver Buller Meyer. Imported to UK in 1947 UK by George Abecassis who raced it briefly before selling it to Duncan Hamilton and Philip Fotheringham-Parker who campaigned it extensively in 1948, 49 and 1950. To Brian Finglass in early 1950s, before passing to Fred Zambucka in New Zealand, then via various New Zealand owners to the Geer brothers (U.K.) about 1980. Believed to be retained 2007.
10. Alta IFS [69IS] (Gordon Watson): Alta chassis 69IS was a single-seat Alta with independent suspension all round built for Lady Mary Grosvenor in 1939. It was not completed before the outbreak of war and was later built up post war and raced by Gordon Watson and Robert Cowell. It was rebodied with post-war bodywork and, according to Denis Jenkinson writing in 1987, then disappeared. Ted Walker has identified 69IS as the car driven by The Noble Louis Count Manduca, a member of the Maltese nobility, in 1952 and 1953 but suggestions that it was the car that went to Gib Barrett in Australia do not appear to be correct. In 2006, it was said to be owned by Paul Jaye.
11. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1593] (David Hampshire): Shown in Maserati records as Alberto Ascari's early 1948 car. To Reg Parnell 1949 for Fred Ashmore then raced in 1950 by David Hampshire and others as part of Scuderia Ambrosiana. Then David Murray's car for 1951. Crashed in practice at the Nürburgring for the 1951 German GP and not seen again.
12. Ferrari 125 [10C] (Peter Whitehead): Peter Whitehead bought 10C new for 1949 and used it through 1949 and 1950 before buying a newer ex-works 125. This car was raced by Dobson in 1951 and later sold to David Murray. Whitehead later bought a 1949/50 LWB Tipo 125 renumbered 0114; it is this latter car that spent many years in the Donington Collection.
13. ERA E Type [GP1] (Peter Walker): The prototype E-Type, run by the works in 1939 for Mays (in practice only) and Dobson. To Peter Whitehead for 1946 and 1947 then to Reg Parnell's team then to Whitehead again, now with Peter Walker as driver 1949-50. Later fitted with Jaguar engine and equipped as sportscar and through a chain of owners to Duncan Ricketts, who completed the restoration and has raced it regularly since 1998.
14. Delage 15S8 [WMG102] (Tony Rolt): Numbered '5' by Alan Burnard in his histories as a continuation of the works numbering but also logically 'WMG 102'. The second 1937 White Mouse Garages ifs car, using parts from ex-works 1926/27 GP 2,3 and 4 on a new chassis. Possibly not completed until acquired by Reg Parnell during the war. Driven in 1946 sprints by his nephew Roy Parnell, then by Dick Habershon in club events 1947-49 and Rob Walker (driver Tony Rolt) 1949. Fitted with E-Type ERA engine and campaigned by Walker as the ERA-Delage 1951-53, usual driver Rolt but also Peter Walker, Eric Thompson, Roy Salvadori and, in occasional sprints, Rob Walker himself. Alan Burnand in sprints 1954-56 then in historic racing with Joe Goodhew, Ray Potter, Patrick Lindsay, Anthony Mayman and, since 1993, Bruce Spollon.

Formula 1 events 1948-1953

The results published here were compiled by David McKinney and Adam Ferrington from a range of sources including Autocourse, Motor Sport and Autosport, as well as the F1 Register's A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing Volume 5 covering 1950 and 1951. Individual car identities were then meticulously checked against their enormous libraries of books and photographs, notably Talbot-Lago de Course by Pierre Abeillon, Les Gordini by Robert Jarraud, Gordini – Un Sorcier, Une Equipe by Christian Huet and The History of English Racing Automobiles by David Weguelin.

David has also contributed extensively from his notes on car identities compiled over 40 years of research, Michael Müller has contributed immaculately researched histories of all the 1948-1950 Ferrari 125s, and Doug Nye, both through his books and his personal assistance on HWM, has also been of great help.

Please note that since David's sad death in 2014, Adam and Allen have agreed that these pages will remain unaltered from now on, as a lasting testimony to David's expertise.