Grand Prix de Paris

Montlhéry, 30 Apr 1950

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

Notes on the cars:

1. Talbot T26C [110 006] (Georges Grignard): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 006' was raced by Georges Grignard in 1948, by Giraud-Cabantous in 1949, Pozzi and Levegh in 1950 and by Jean Blanc in one 1951 hillclimb. Then to Ecurie Belgique in 1951 and retained to 1952. Reappeared in US ownership in 1964 and then via two further US owners to Dean Butler in 1998. Retained 2003. This car was on display at the 2006 Brussels Retro Festival honouring Ecurie Francorchamps.
2. Delage D6-3LS [880001] (Louis Gérard): Probably the car raced by Louis Gérard under the Ecurie Watney banner at Dijon in 1946. Entered by Ecurie Gersac at Pau in 1947, driven by Etancelin and Grignard. Then Gérard's private car, used mainly for sportscar races (but 2nd in 1950 GP de Paris). Owned in the later 1950s by François Jolly, passing subsequently to Jean-Pierre Bernard and then to Aldo Eminente, who fitted Figoni bodywork.
3. Delage D6-3LS [880005] (Marc Versini): Appeared as an Ecurie Gersac entry for Varet at Montlhéry June 1947. Then to Marc Versini, mainly for sportscar races, 1948-51, but also in GP du Salon 1948 and 1949, GP de Paris 1949 and 1950. This car, which wore registration 9779-RP2, was later dismantled after Versini had legal problems.
4. Talbot T26C [110 009] (Raymond Sommer): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 009' was Raymond Sommer's 1949 car and then passed to Yves Giraud-Cabantous for 1950. Driven by Giraud-Cabantous and Pierre Meyrat 1951 and next seen with Louis Girardot 1953-56 and then possibly via Serge Pozzoli to Fritz Schlumpf 1957. In Musée de l'Automobile in Mulhouse 2001, possibly numbered 110002.
5. HWM 50 ['1'] (Stirling Moss): 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.
6. Talbot T26C [110 005] (Pierre Bouillin ("Levegh")): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 005' was raced by 'Levegh' from 1948 to 1951 and by Grignard once in 1951. Retained by the works until it was sold to Otto Zipper in the US in 1957. Then to the Briggs Cunningham museum via two other US owners to Tony Wang 1988.
7. Maserati 4CL [1566] (Jean Judet): Delivered 18 Apr 1939 for Giovanni Rocco. Passed during the war via Testi to Robert Mazaud, who raced it during 1946 before being killed in it at Nantes. Then via Marcel Balsa (who did not race it) to Jean Judet who appeared in French races between 1946 and 1950. Via Italian and German owners to the late Rodney Smith 2004. Retained by Smith's heirs 2007.
8. Talbot T26C [110 001] (Louis Rosier): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 001' was raced by Louis Rosier from 1948 to 1950 and then under the Ecurie Rosier banner by Pozzi in 1950; by Henri Louveau and Louis Chiron in 1951; and by Giraud-Cabantous, Chaboud and Mairesse in 1952. It was acquired by the Musée Henri Malatre at Rochetaillé, France, in 1956 and was still on display in 1990.
9. 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.
10. Talbot T26C [110 002] (Guy Mairesse): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 002' was raced by 'Raph' and Eugene Chaboud in 1948 and Paul Vallee and Guy Mairesse in 1950. Owned by Mairesse 1950-51; also raced by Giraud-Cabantous 1950; by Jean Blanc and Levegh 1952; and by Etancelin in 1953. In late 1953, Vallee sold the car to Doug Whiteford in Australia to replace his existing chassis '110 007'. Whiteford was surprised to discover that he'd bought an earlier model and it was 1955 before the car raced in Australia. It was sold to Ralph Snodgrass in 1956 but crashed badly at Mt Druitt in 1957. Snodgrass retained the car until 1980 when it was sold to Reg Hunt who restored it for historic events. Retained by Hunt until sold to Ron Towney in 2006.
11. Delage D6-3LS [880003] (Auguste Veuillet): Appeared as an Ecurie Watney entry at Montlhéry February 1947 then passed to Ecurie Gersac for the Pau GP (Pierre Levegh). Then Auguste Veuillet in 1948-50 sportscar races (and 1950 GP de Paris). To Charles Pozzi in 1951 and apparently retained by him until the mid-1980s when sold to an owner who retained 1997.
12. Talbot T26C [110 011] (Johnny Claes): Talbot-Lago T26C chassis '110 011' was Johnny Claes car in 1948-50 and then sold to Duncan Hamilton (and Fotheringham-Parker) and raced 1951-53. Stored in France until 1955 when Hamilton sold it to Allan Freeman in New Zealand who raced it through to 1961. It was bought by Joe Hepworth in 1963 and returned to England; then via other UK and French owners until sold to Bernie Ecclestone 1996. Retained 2002.

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.