Brief History of the Vanwall - Part 2
by Don Capps
In 1952, Vandervell was now seriously engaged in the production of a racing engine and the fundamentals of a racing car. He had started a program that saw both Norton and Rolls Royce join with him to produce an engine, plus Goodyear was now in the midst of a program to develop disc brakes - using the Thinwall Special as a testbed - for the new car.
The team remained very quiet about its engine effort during the 1952 and 1953 seasons. It deflected questions by stating that Vandervell made bearings not engines. However, it was an open secret that Norton was leading the effort to produce a Formula 1 engine. It was, however, slow going and even with the assistance of Rolls Royce, a bit more difficult than expected. Part of this was due to the problems that the Norton firm was experiencing at the time. With its attention focused primarily on racing, the Norton production facilities and the customer bikes were now outdated. The firm was eventually bought out and although Vandervell continued to use their engine expertise, the Vandervell family was no longer financially involved in the company for the first time in decades.
While the effort on the engine was going on, there was also the minor problem of a chassis in which to place the engine. The Cooper was the weapon of choice in the very popular Formula 3 class.
In 1952, the company had produced a very popular and relatively successful car for Formula 2, the Bristol-powered Cooper Type 20. At one point it was hoped to produce a 2-litre version of the Vandervell engine for Formula 2 racing and to that end, Cooper designer Owen Maddock had done the drawings for the car as early as the beginning of 1953. With some modifications, this would form the basis of the car when it finally emerged in the Spring of 1954.
The Type 30, as the Vandervell car was known (albeit retrospectively) to the Cooper company, was a one-off and delivered to Vandervell in early 1954. The engine had finally come together and was running. It is a simplification to call it a bottom end based on a Rolls Royce design married to a top end that was essentially a series of four water-cooled Norton motorcycle engines, but that is close to reality. The Vandervell staff managed to marry the two together and make the design work, although not without some problems. The chassis was designed from the start to incorporate disc brakes which were now in a high state of development thanks to the work carried out using the Thinwall Special. The suspension of the new car was also developed from the Thinwall Special.
In early 1954, the Vandervell car gained a name: it was now the "Vanwall Special". At the 1954 International Trophy held at Silverstone on 15 May, "Vanwall Special No. 1" made its first appearance with Alan Brown at the wheel.
Brown had gotten the nod because all the leading lights were under contract and John Cooper had suggested Brown as a capable, reliable driver, especially with a new car. The car was entered with a 2-litre version of the new engine in a 2-litre category the organizers had laid on to allow those with cars from the 2-litre F2 to continue to fill up the grids. On the second day of practice in wet conditions, Brown headed the time sheet. In a wet race meeting, Brown was sixth in the first heat and first of the 2-litre cars home. In the final, Brown was in fifth place when the oil pressure dropped due to a broken oil pipe and that was that. The car used a rather interesting cooling system, which featured an exposed radiator and ducting system.
In July, Vandervell entered the Vanwall Special with Peter Collins as the driver for the British Grand Prix. This time it was entered using a 2.3-litre version of the engine. Although the car retired from the race, Collins had qualified on the third row of the grid and had been in the midst of some very competitive cars when the engine failed. By Monza in September, three engines had been built. The first, the 2.0-litre engine, had been destroyed when it destroyed itself during testing. The second was the 2.3-ltre engine, and a third was now almost ready, being a full 2.5-litre engine.
For the Italian Grand Prix, the 2.3-litre engine was used as well as a standard radiator system. The 2.5-litre engine did some ghastly things to itself when it failed during tests prior to the race. The Vanwall Special proved competitive and finished seventh after pitting when a gauge failed and Collins played it safe and came in to see about the engine.
At Barcelona during the first practice for the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix, Collins comprehensively bashed the chassis when he overdid it on a corner and collected a tree. The car was now fitted with the 2.5-litre engine. Collins escaped without injury, but the same could not be said for the car or the tree. When it became obvious that the car could not be repaired and readied for the race, the team packed its gear and departed from the paddock. The winner of the race was Mike Hawthorn. That very same driver will play a role in what follows.
After returning to its base at Acton, the car was stripped down and found to be beyond repair. The frame was severely bent and would have to be scrapped. In addition, the de Dion tube assembly was ruined by the impact with the tree - Collins hit it tail-first. Three of the alloy rim Borrani wire wheels were destroyed as well. The bodywork, naturally, was a mess and merely scrap. One of the side-mounted fuel tanks was destroyed as was the rear fuel tank, which took most of the impact. The rear suspension was merely junk. All in all, Collins well and truly wrote off the car. However, the Pearl Assurance Company had insured the car and presented a check for £1,473 8s 6d to the team for the damages after one of its inspectors looked the car over.
Meanwhile, there were now enough parts available by November for the team to build up two chassis in its own shop. And there would be soon spares enough that could assemble a third chassis if necessary. Tony Vandervell, "The Guv", and one of his technical directors visited Count Orsi in Modena and discussed terms for the purchase of some machine tools for the Vandervell racing operation. It has to be kept in mind that at this time outside of the United States, the place for purchasing machine tools was Italy, with Maserati being among those in the first rank. After some discussion, the Guv managed to get Count Orsi to part company with two milling machines, a vertical milling machine, and a universal milling machine for a mere £10,000. In addition, Vandervell also purchased a rolling chassis from Maserati so his racing staff could examine a state-of-the-art Italian racing machine and transfer information to the Vandervell machines. The chassis, chassis 2513, was to be delivered without an engine or any bodywork. All Vandervell was interested in was the suspension and chassis components. There was no need for an engine or bodywork since there was never any intent to race the machine in competition. Besides, the Vandervell team was very familiar with the engine in the 250F having assisted Maserati with the bottom end design, especially the bearings. Vandervell picked up 2513 for a bargain-basement price of only £2,346.
A quick note on the nomenclature of the Vanwall project. The design office assigned "254" to the engine program. The engines were given serials starting with "V" and technically were V1/254, V2/254, and so on, but usually are referred to only by the "V" serial. The chassis were given serials starting with "VW" such as VW1. The Cooper car was never given a "VW" serial by the way.
In late 1954, Vandervell was looking for a driver and there was a driver looking for a ride in his native land. The team intended to run two cars for the 1955 racing season and wanted to line up two drivers for the upcoming season, hopefully both British. Although there were some minor problems, it was assumed by all concerned that Peter Collins was one of them. The other was where the victor of the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix entered the picture.
At the end of the 1954 season, Scuderia Ferrari was in disarray despite two victories that season. However, they were acknowledged to be lucky wins, even within the team. The usual chaos and confusion at Scuderia Ferrari was even worse than ever, if that was possible. There was a near complete lack of focus in the team and the strain was huge on all concerned. At this juncture, Hawthorn began to weigh the advantages of being in England and driving for a British team as opposed to remaining on the Continent and driving for Ferrari. Having a pint at the
local pub and tending to the family business at the Tourist Trophy Garage in Farnham was looking better and better, especially in light of his father's recent death and the fact that his mother was running things on a daily basis. Hawthorn and Vandervell started negotiations in late 1954 and soon were in agreement on the terms. Vandervell, ever the one to have an eye on the money that the Inland Revenue would appropriate as its share, suggested to Hawthorn that he incorporate to avoid the surcharge that would be siphoned off to the Revenue people if he engaged in the contract as an individual. Hence, the contract was with the "TT Garage Ltd., of East Street, Farnham, Surrey," the "company" for the services of "John Michael Hawthorn, the driver."
The contract was for the services of Hawthorn from 1 April 1955 to 31 October 1955, with a provision for his services beyond the latter date if there were any races from 1 November onward that Vandervell wished to enter. This was done since the sporting calendar did seem to be in pencil at times with events being added and dropped almost at whim. There were roughly eight races planned during this period. The retainer was for £3,000 plus Hawthorn was to receive 50% of all starting and prize monies as well as 50% of any bonus money from suppliers. The contract was announced and signed on 5 January 1955. Hawthorn was now a driver on the Vandervell team.
Meanwhile, getting Peter Collins under contract was another story. As it would turn out, the team would not get Collins for the season. After a litany of excuses and problems, it was apparent that Collins would not be a driver for Vandervell in 1955 when it was revealed from the Esso representative, Reg Tanner, that Collins had signed a contract with Esso for the 1955 season. Since Vandervell had signed on with Shell Mex and BP for the use of their products, that was the end of that. The entire scene played out for many months past when it should have been resolved, but Vandervell merely shrugged it off such being the charisma of said Collins as both a driver and an individual. It was also revealed later that Collins was under contract to Castrol for 1955 as well!
While all this was going on, the team was working on converting the engine to fuel injection. This was facilitated once the pumps ordered from Bosch finally arrived in early 1955. In addition, the team now had a manager. With the team now poised to begin playing in the major leagues, it was necessary to get things organized and operating in a matter to ensure success. David Yorke, the team manager for Peter Whitehead was given the opportunity to accept the position and did so with the full support of Whitehead. With David Yorke on board, the elements for success were starting to fall into place.
The problems of getting the fuel injection system running meant the team had to pass on the Pau, Napoli, and the Easter Goodwood races. With the situation with Collins finally resolved, Ken Wharton was signed to be the number two driver to Mike Hawthorn. The first race for the 1955 season was the International Trophy at Silverstone on 7 May. The cars were eagerly awaited by the organizers as well as the public. They were rolled out of the paddock into the pits looking very smart in their green livery. Given race numbers 1 and 2, many also noticed a small, but significant change on the bonnets of the cars: where the white lettering on the bonnet once spelled out "Vanwall Special", it now simply read "Vanwall". Both cars were plagued by problems throughout the meeting. It was not a good outing for the team and made worse by the fact that Ken Wharton crashed heavily when forced off his line by a back-marker. Wharton suffered injuries which put him on the sidelines for a while and the Pearl Assurance Company had to fork over a check for £4,472 17s 4d to the Vandervell team. Needless to say, they were not amused since the total premiums from the team were nowhere near this amount. Worse yet was that Peter Collins won the race in the Owen Organisation Maserati 250F!
Although discouraged, the team pressed on since it needed to get ready for Monaco. Hawthorn in particular was very unhappy and had dark frowns on his usually cheery face. The potential seemed to be there, but it was just an endless list of little things that seemed to go wrong. With Wharton injured and all the problems that the team was experiencing, it was decided to only enter one car for the race at Monte Carlo.
With the season at full song, the team stepped into the middle of the major league battle being contested by Mercedes, Lancia, Maserati, and Ferrari. The team did well to qualify in the middle of the grid despite some setup problems. The engine seemed to run well and the fuel injection didn't seem to be too far off the mark, even if it became apparent the horsepower was further off the mark than they had anticipated. On the slow Monte Carlo circuit it was not as bad as it would be on some circuits, but the next few races after Monaco were best not thought about since it was now obvious the Vanwall was giving some serious horsepower. In the race, Hawthorn only completed 23 laps when a ball joint on the fuel injection pump shattered. This put Hawthorn on the sidelines and allowed him to watch Maurice Trintignant win the race when the Mercedes and Lancia teams dropped out. That he could have been at the wheel of the Ferrari and taking the checkered flag surely crossed his mind since he was in a very dark mood after the race. The cause of the failure was never determined and one never failed in a similar fashion again. Even the Guv was in a darker mood than usual. He was never one to take defeat well in the first place, and this was not much to show for a great deal of effort. Although his displeasure was not pointed at any particular person, rather at things in general, this did not make life any easier for the team as it prepared for the next race on the schedule, the Belgian race at Spa-Francorchamps.
Once again the team entered only a single car, VW1, for the race since Wharton was still on the sidelines due to his injuries from Silverstone. As was the norm in those days, the team would find space in a garage or auto agency somewhere in the area of the circuit in a village or town since there were really no facilities at the circuit for any extensive work on the cars. This meant the cars were usually driven by the mechanics from where the team was staying to the paddock or the pit area. This served to both give the mechanics an opportunity to check out the car and to give the race some free publicity. For the first practice session, Vandervell decided to drive the car to the circuit.
It being his money and his car, no one objected - or at least within his earshot. The Guv eased himself into the cockpit and the mechanics push-started the car. After a lap around the square, Vandervell headed for the pit area. Normally, these jaunts were uneventful and rarely saw any problems occur. Besides the cars usually could get there quickly since few interfered with them on their way to the circuit. Needless to say this was not to be. With a group of mechanics in the Vandervell Bentley following him, the Guv was batting down the road and despite some initial problems with the uphill sections, doing okay. Then he started to get mixed up with the spectator traffic. As he neared the pits the traffic got worse. Vandervell was subjecting the clutch to more and more abuse as he slipped the clutch more and more since he was on an uphill section. By the time he reached the pits, the clutch was in pretty poor shape. Vandervell hopped out and walked off. The mechanics immediately set to work and hoped for the best. Hawthorn set off to lap the circuit and he barely cleared the pits when the clutch completely packed up. It must be said that Hawthorn was notorious for abusing clutches, but for once he was not at fault. Hawthorn was furious. He stormed back to the pits on foot and left the circuit. That evening, as he stayed with friends in Spa, he was expressed his displeasure with the way the team was performing.
In the race, he was forced to retire when the gearbox began to leak oil and then packed up. Later that evening when drinking at the Pierre le Grand restaurant, Hawthorn was drinking with friends when David Yorke came over and tried to make conversation. Hawthorn erupted, yelled at Yorke exactly what and where Vandervell could do with the car and his team, and then stormed out, jumped into his Jaguar and sped off into the night at a very rapid rate of speed.
It was now clearly obvious to even the untrained eye that Hawthorn and the Vanwall team had parted ways. Vandervell considered the rift permanent and made no further efforts to entice Hawthorn to return as had been after Monaco and Silverstone. Vandervell also figured that with the retainer covering eight races, Hawthorn owed him back five races worth or £1,875 at £375 per race, with the haggling over the starting monies to be deferred until later. Messages were sent to the TT Garage and to Hawthorn via the Jaguar team since the next race on the Hawthorn calendar was Le Mans. Mrs. Hawthorn was very distressed to open the letter and see its contents. Knowing nothing of what had transpired, she was naturally distraught and called Vandervell for explanation. Hawthorn in the meanwhile received the message while at Le Mans and quickly cabled back his acceptance of the terms. On the Monday after Le Mans, Hawthorn sent a check for £1,875 to Vandervell to settle the account of the retainer.
After being frustrated by the antics of both Collins and Hawthorn - and with Wharton in the hospital - Vandervell gave up on the idea of an all-British driving line-up and started looking for any Continental drivers that might help the cause. Although the number of drivers offering their services was considerable,
Vandervell was looking at Maurice Trintignant and Harry Schell, the latter joining for the remainder of the 1955 season. Wharton returned after his injuries mended and Desmond Titterington got a one-off at Oulton Park.
At Crystal Palace in July, Schell gave the Vanwall its first victory. Needless to say, the "Guv" was delighted and shelved his plan to drop one of his engines into the Maserati chassis he had obtained. Although it was not actually carried out, the plans were developed and needed only the nod from Vandervell to be done. It is one of those interesting "what if" situations since the results could have been pretty dynamic. The engine was coming on song, but it was evident that the chassis left much to be desired.
At the end of the 1955 season, Mercedes retired from the scene to focus its efforts on its production cars. That left one Stirling Crauford Moss, Racer Extraordinaire, shopping for a ride for the 1956 season. Vandervell had planned to field a three-car team if he could find the right drivers and Moss definitely fit the category of a "right" driver. In late November 1955, Moss tried the Connaught, the BRM, and the Vanwall (chassis VW1). He was quickest in the Vanwall and then left for Nassau to ponder his choices. Moss ended up going to Maserati. Vandervell made an effort to sign Fangio, but Fangio had decided to hold his nose and drive for Scuderia Ferrari. It was scarcely a marriage made in heaven, but Fangio had been impressed by the Lancia when Ascari had driven it and knew a winner when he saw one.
Harry Schell was re-signed and Maurice Trintignant finally brought on board. However, Ken Wharton was released, something that Vandervell regretted, but without a front-line driver such as Moss or Fangio he was prepared to field only two cars for the 1956 season.
In the meanwhile, the problem of the chassis was being dealt with over the winter of 1955/1956. Team manager David Yorke was conducting what was essentially a hit-or-miss program with improving the 1955 chassis when a team member suggested that a school chum of his might be of some help. The name of the classmate was Colin Chapman.
Chapman used bits of the basic design used during 1955, but doing a fundamental overhaul of the car. There were significant changes in the chassis arrangement - now a spaceframe layout, with Chapman using what he had evolved in his own cars as far as the suspension and drivetrain were concerned. He also had Frank Costin design new bodywork for the car, which was far more efficient than the old bodywork and very striking to look at besides. In addition to the chassis and bodywork, the transmission, fuel system, transmission - a five-speed synchromesh gearbox built by Porsche, and other components were all incorporated into the new car. All in all, the work transformed the Vanwall. It was now a completely different machine. The new machines were given chassis serials starting with VW1/56 in honor of this complete overhaul. The "56" would be dropped from the serial after the 1956 season, although all subsequent cars for the following two seasons were to this design.
Needless to say, when Schell and Trintignant saw the new car they were amazed at the transformation. Schell thought the car looked "fantastic", and Trintignant - never one for conversation, actually commented, "Ça alors, c'est une bombe," as he looked at the car for the first time, his eyebrows raised significantly in appreciation of what he saw.
Now only did the team redo the chassis, Harry Weslake was retained to look at the engine and coax some more horsepower and flexibility from it. Weslake was to continue to work on the engines up until the very end. With Vandervell always looking for "more," Weslake was rarely not at work on finding that little edge here and there to make a good engine better.
