Company:Connaught Engineering
Template:Needs more sources Template:Former F1 team Connaught Engineering, often referred to simply as Connaught, was a Formula One, Formula Two and other sports car divisions constructor from the United Kingdom .[1] Their cars participated in 18 Grands Prix, entering a total of 52 races with their A, B, and C Type Formula 2 and Formula 1 Grand Prix Cars. They achieved 1 podium and scored 17 championship points. The name Connaught is a pun on Continental Autos, the garage in Send, Surrey, which specialised in sales and repair of European sports cars such as Bugatti, and where the cars were built.[2]
History
In 1950, the first single-seaters, the Formula 2 "A" types, used an engine that was developed by Connaught from the Lea-Francis engine used in their "L" type sports cars. The engine was extensively re-engineered and therefore is truly a Connaught engine. The cars were of conventional construction for the time with drive through a preselector gearbox to a de Dion rear axle. In 1952 and 1953, the Grand Prix races counting towards the World Championship were to Formula 2 rules so drivers of these cars could take part in those events as the table below shows.[3]
Connaught designed a new car for the 2½ litre Formula 1 of 1954 which was to have a rear-mounted Coventry Climax V8 engine (the "Godiva"), but when the engine was not proceeded with, a conventionally arranged "B" type was designed using an Alta engine developed into 2½ litre form. The first cars were built with all-enveloping aerodynamic bodywork but later rebodied conventionally (as the photos below show). In 1955, driving a Connaught in this form, Tony Brooks scored the first win in a Grand Prix by a British driver in a British car since 1923, in a non World Championship race at Syracuse. Thereafter the "B" type has been known as the "Syracuse" Connaught and the name was used for the car presented in the 2004 revival.[3]
In 1962, Jack Fairman attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in a Connaught race car, but failed to find the necessary speed to make the field.
Sports cars
Prior to the single-seat racing cars they built a small number of road going sports cars developed on the Lea-Francis Sports Chassis, which achieved considerable competition success. These were of types L2 and L3, and three examples of the stark Cycle Winged L3/SR Sports Racer. Two sports cars, based on the A Type Formula 2 cars, the ALSRs were also built for competition work.
In 2004, the Connaught name was revived by Connaught Motor Company for their Type D Syracuse and Type D-H hybrid sports cars.
Complete Drivers' World Championship results
(key)
Year | Chassis | Engine | Driver | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | WCC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1952 | SUI | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | NED | ITA | -* | -* | |||||||
Connaught Type A | Lea-Francis Straight-4 | Ken Downing | Ken Downing | Ret | |||||||||||||
Connaught Engineering | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
Eric Thompson | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
Kenneth McAlpine | 16 | Ret | |||||||||||||||
Stirling Moss | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
Dennis Poore | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
Connaught Racing Syndicate | 12 | ||||||||||||||||
1953 | ARG | 500 | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | SUI | ITA | -* | -* | ||||||
Connaught Type A | Lea-Francis Straight-4 | Kenneth McAlpine | Connaught Engineering | Ret | Ret | 13 | NC | ||||||||||
Stirling Moss | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
Roy Salvadori | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | ||||||||||||
Prince Bira | Ret | 7 | Ret | ||||||||||||||
Jack Fairman | NC | ||||||||||||||||
Johnny Claes | Ecurie Belge | Ret | 12 | Ret | Ret | ||||||||||||
André Pilette | NC | ||||||||||||||||
Ian Stewart | Ecurie Ecosse | Ret | |||||||||||||||
Tony Rolt | Rob Walker Racing Team | Ret | |||||||||||||||
1954 | ARG | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | SUI | ITA | ESP | -* | -* | ||||||
Connaught Type A | Lea-Francis Straight-4 | Leslie Marr | 13 | ||||||||||||||
Bill Whitehouse | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
Don Beauman | Sir Jeremy Boles | 11 | |||||||||||||||
Leslie Thorne | Ecurie Ecosse | 14 | |||||||||||||||
John Riseley-Prichard | Rob Walker Racing Team | Ret | |||||||||||||||
1955 | ARG | MON | 500 | BEL | NED | GBR | ITA | -* | -* | ||||||||
Connaught Type B | Alta Straight-4 | Kenneth McAlpine | Connaught Engineering | Ret | |||||||||||||
Jack Fairman | DNS | ||||||||||||||||
Tony Rolt | Ret± | ||||||||||||||||
Peter Walker | Ret± | ||||||||||||||||
Leslie Marr | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
1956 | ARG | MON | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | ITA | -* | -* | |||||||
Connaught Type B | Alta Straight-4 | Archie Scott Brown | Connaught Engineering | Ret | |||||||||||||
Desmond Titterington | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
Jack Fairman | 4 | 5 | |||||||||||||||
Ron Flockhart | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
Les Leston | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
Piero Scotti | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
1957 | ARG | MON | 500 | FRA | GBR | GER | PSC | ITA | -* | -* | |||||||
Connaught Type B | Alta Straight-4 | Stuart Lewis-Evans | Connaught Engineering | 4 | |||||||||||||
Ivor Bueb | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
1958 | ARG | MON | NED | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | POR | ITA | MOR | NC | 0 | ||||
Connaught Type B | Alta Straight-4 | Ivor Bueb | Bernie Ecclestone | Ret | |||||||||||||
Bruce Kessler | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
Paul Emery | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
Jack Fairman | Ret | ||||||||||||||||
Bernie Ecclestone | DNQ | DNP | |||||||||||||||
1959 | MON | 500 | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | POR | ITA | USA | NC | 0 | ||||||
Connaught Type C | Alta Straight-4 | Bob Said | Connaught Cars / Paul Emery | Ret |
*Constructors points not awarded until 1958
± = Indicates a shared drive
See also
- List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom
References
- ↑ "History – Connaught Motor Company" (in en-US). https://connaughtmotorcompany.com/history.
- ↑ "Connaught Engineering" (in en). https://www.gphistory.co.uk/connaught-engineering.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wasef, Basem (2009-10-09) (in en). Legendary Race Cars. Motorbooks. pp. 147–149. ISBN 978-0-7603-3548-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=F4mnIiNxJigC&dq=connaught+engineering&pg=PA147.
External links
![]() | Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connaught Engineering.
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