British Empire Trophy

Douglas, 15 Jun 1950

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

Notes on the cars:

1. ERA B Type [R14B] (Bob Gerard): Johnny Wakefield 1938-39 and then Bob Gerard's main ERA from 1946 to 1953. Then via Jimmy Stuart to Donald Day in 1959. Apart from a short period, Day has owned it ever since. Recent drivers include Ted Rollason, Goff Tidball and Paul Richardson. Retained 2007.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
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. ERA B Type [R12B] (David Murray): 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.
12. Maserati 6CM [1547] (Joe Kelly): Delivered 24 Jun 1937 to Austin Dobson, who raced it during 1937, before passing to the young David Hampshire for 1939. Post-war continued to be campaigned by Hampshire in 1946 before passing via HW Motors to Alister Baring in 1947. Then successively to Joe Kelly and to Noel Hillis in Ireland. Via American and British owners to Steffan Schollwoeck who campaigned it with much success in historic racing until 2007, when it passed to Will Balz (Germany).
13. 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.
14. Delage 15S8 [WMG101] (John Rowley): Numbered '6' by Alan Burnard in his histories as a continuation of the works numbering but also bears the serial number 'WMG 101'. Built 1937 by White Mouse Garages on new chassis with ifs and components from ex-works 1926/27 GP cars 2,3 and 4. Raced by B Bira that year without success. To Reg Parnell during the War, rebuilt and fitted with the body from the ex-Seaman car ('4'). Driven for Parnell 1946 by Hampshire at Albi and Geneva and Leslie Johnson in the Ulster Trophy. Raced 1947-48 by Barry Woodall, 1950 by John Rowley and Peter Mould. Various later owners, including a stint in a US museum, then campaigned in UK historic events by Anthony Bamford (driver Willie Green) 1977-81. Later owners UK, USA, Germany and since 1996 Jean-Claude Miloe (France).
15. 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.
16. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1593] (Reg Parnell): 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.
17. Maserati 4CL [1569] (David Murray): Delivered on 29 May 1939 to Johnny Wakefield who campaigned it successfully up to the outbreak of war. After Wakefield's death in 1942, purchased by Reg Parnell. Raced by extensively Parnell between 1946 and 1948, after which it was raced by David Murray in 1948/49. Fitted by Parnell with twin-stage supercharged engine, then Ambrosiana team spare during 1950 before passing via John Green to Bobby Baird in 1951. To George Weaver in USA, then via British, Swiss and German owners to Georg Kaufmann (Switzerland). Retained 2005
18. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1601] ("B Bira"): 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.
19. HWM 50 ['2'] (Alister Baring): 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.

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.