Daily Express Formule Libre Trophy

Silverstone, 19 Jul 1952

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

Notes on the cars:

1. ERA D Type [R4D] (Ron Flockhart): The sole D-Type, built in 1938 using mechanical parts from R4C and raced by factory drivers Mays and Dobson 1938-39. Sold to Mays when he left the team and raced by him until 1950. Then via Ron Flockhart, Ken Wharton and a chain of other owners into historic racing in 1966. Via further UK and Indian owners to Mac Hulbert in 2001.
2. ERA A Type [R4A] (Bob Gerard): Pat Fairfield's customer A Type then via Norman Wilson to reg Parnell in 1942 and Bob Gerard as a hillclimb car in 1945 to Rhodesian owners in the 1950s. Returned to the UK in the mid-1960s and raced in historic events with 2-litre engine by Peter Brewer 1954-65 and Sir John Venables-Llewellyn 1967-93. Via another UK owner to Jöst Wildbolz (Switzerland) in 1999. Retained 2007.
3. ERA C Type [R8C] (Graham Whitehead): 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.
4. 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.
5. Delage 15S8 [WMG102] (Eric Thompson): 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.
6. Maserati 4CLT-48 ['P1'] (John James): In November 1950 Reg Parnell advertised a 4CLT as "virtually an English production of the 4CLT Maserati". Given the way Parnell and Maserati operated at this time, it would seem likely that the car was built from factory-supplied components but assembled in the UK for tax reasons. Roy Blomfield and John James bought this car and raced it; then it went to George Weaver in US together with Leslie Brooke's 1595. From Weaver's estate to Tom Wheatcroft by 1974 and now in the Donington Museum.
7. BRM V16 Mk I 'P15' [No 2] (Ken Wharton): Raced by Peter Walker 1950-51, Ken Wharton 1952-54, Gonzalez 1952-53, Moss and Reg Parnell 1952 and by Ron Flockhart once in 1954. Damaged during Wharton's win at Glover Trophy, Goodwood Apr 1954, stripped and scrapped.
8. BRM V16 Mk I 'P15' [No 2] (José Froilán Gonzalez): Raced by Peter Walker 1950-51, Ken Wharton 1952-54, Gonzalez 1952-53, Moss and Reg Parnell 1952 and by Ron Flockhart once in 1954. Damaged during Wharton's win at Glover Trophy, Goodwood Apr 1954, stripped and scrapped.
9. Alta GP [No 3] (Joe Kelly): The third GP Alta, 'GP3', was built for Joe Kelly and raced until 1951. Then extensively modified by Kelly as his 'IRA' special. This car was later acquired by Ray Fielding and fitted with a Jaguar engine. (Sources: Directory of Historic Racing Cars, Jenkinson; Powered by Jaguar 2nd Ed 2005, Nye)
10. BRM V16 Mk I 'P15' [No 1] (José Froilán Gonzalez): Raced by Ray Sommer 1950, Reg Parnell 1950-53, Fangio 1952-53 and Gonzalez 1952. Retired after the 1953 season but retained by Owen Organisation as an exhibition car. Bought by Dan Marguiles for a Greek consortium at Christie's Motorfair auction in October 1981. Subsquently sold to the National Motor Museum Trust. Retained 2007.
11. RRA (Geoff Richardson): Built by Geoff Richardson using mechanical parts of an ex-works Riley raced before the war by Percy Maclure, in a new Richardson-built frame. Raced initially with the engine from the White Riley, and sometimes therefore called the ERA-Riley. Richardson continued to race the car, mainly in small English events, until 1955, replacing the engine with a 2.5 Riley in 1954 and a 2.0 Alta in 1955. The car was then dismantled but reassembled by Keith Knight, still with Alta engine, in 1965. Retained by Knight into this century.
12. Alta IFS [69IS] (Basil de Mattos): 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.
13. Ferrari 125 [10C] (Bill Dobson): 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.
14. ERA B Type [R12B] (Jimmy Somervail): Built by White Mouse Stable in 1939 on a new factory B-Type chassis and using the mechanical parts from R12C. Raced by Bira 1946-47 as 'Hanuman II' then to David Hampshire and David Murray for 1949 and 1950. Through a chain of mainly Scottish owners and then to Sam Tingle in Rhodesia in 1957. Then via Allan Gillespie back to Britain for Bill Morris in 1962. Campaigned by Morris up to 1998 then to David Wenman in 1999. Retained 2007.
15. HWM 50 [1] (Oscar Moore): The number '1' is used here purely for convenience; the actually chassis number of this car is unknown. Distinctive features of this car's windscreen and tail allow it to be tracked through 1950 be photographs. This was the prototype of the 1950 works F2 cars and after use by the works team in 1950 was sold to Oscar Moore for 1951, registered XMC 34 and converted in 1952 to fit a 3.4-litre Jaguar XK engine. It went to Gerry Scali in 1955 then to Terry Grainger who retained it until 2005. Doug Nye does not quote a chassis number for this car in Powered By Jaguar but the F1 Register record it as chassis FB104.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.