Grand Prix des Nations

Geneva, 30 Jul 1950

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

Notes on the cars:

1. Talbot T26C [110 002] (Yves Giraud-Cabantous): 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.
2. Simca-Gordini T15 [0014-GC] (Robert Manzon): Completed late 1949 and run by works for Manzon in 1950 and 1951, including in F1 events with supercharged engine. Rebuilt 1952 as sportscar 0019 and raced by Bordoni in Mille Miglia with 2.3-litre 6-cyl engine. In Musée Nationale 1983 but apparently not by 1993. More recent history unknown.
3. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1606] (Louis Chiron): Shown in Maserati records as going to Louis Chiron in Monte Carlo 21 Sep 1949. Raced by Chiron through 1950 then to Toni Branca for 1951 and then de Walckiers (who entered Steve Watson and Pilette) for 1952. Reappeared Italy 1960s then via chain of Italian, Belgian, Swiss, German and French owners to 1998. Owned by Bernie Ecclestone from 1998.
4. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1611] (Felice Bonetto): Listed in Maserati records as going to Officine A. Maserati 7 Mar 1950 and then Scuderia Milan. Used by Milan for second Milan (Speluzzi)-engined 4CLT and raced in 1950 (for Bonetto at Monza and Godia at Barcelona) and 1951 (Marimon at Reims and Landi at Albi). Subsequent history unknown but one of the Milan-Maseratis is owned by Doreen Fielding in Scotland.
5. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1604] (Franco Rol): Maserati records state that this car went to Franco Rol 8 Sep 1949. Raced by Rol through 1950 until Rol's crash at Pedralbes 29 Oct 1950. Then raced by Adolfo Macchieraldo 1952-54. To USA, where Marguerite Morgan entered 1957 Indianapolis 500 but driver Danny Kladis failed to qualify. Reappeared in the US in 1965 then via a chain of US, UK, Australian, South African and German owners up to 2002. Owned by Wolf-Dieter Baumann from 2002. Raced by Thomas Steinke 2007 Goodwood Revival but possibly still owned by Baumann.
6. Maserati 4CL [1582] (Toni Branca): Delivered 31 July 1946 to Guido Barbieri from Reggio Emilia, and raced in the 1946 Turin and Milan GPs. It is possible that the chassis was then used by Barbieri in his 1.5 litre Maserati 6C Sports Special, which first appeared in October 1946. The car reappeared in normal 4CL form in 1949 in the hands of Swiss Anton Branca, who raced it throughout 1949 and 1950. The car then passed through a variety of Swiss owners’ hands, at one stage fitted with a Ford V8 engine, before being campaigned in historic racing by Dan Margulies for more than 20 years, and being owned most recently by Klaus Edel and then Oliver Maierhofer. The car was for sale in early 2007.
7. Ferrari 275 (Luigi Villoresi): At the 1950 Grosser Preis der Schweiz, Villoresi was allocated a new experimental car featuring a Tipo 125 chassis but with the De Dion rear suspension of the 1950 Tipo 166 F2 car. This car has been referred to as either 125-C-03 or 125-C-04 but no definitive source is known. This may be the car that Villoresi drove - and crashed badly - at Geneva in July 1950, which had a 275 engine and De Dion rear suspension. At the end of 1950, Michael Muller's research indicates that this car was renumbered 0102 and used as an experimental Tipo 212 car.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1593] (David Murray): 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.
14. Milan ['1'] (Gianfranco Comotti): Built during 1950 by Scuderia Milan incorporating the modifications they had previously made to Maserati 4CLT chassis. A Gilco built tubular chassis frame housed a Speluzzi 4 cylinder engine ultimately in twin supercharged form. The car was notably unsuccessful, only appearing five times in 1950, after which it disappeared from view. Its ultimate fate is unknown. No Chassis number is known for this car.
15. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1601] (Harry Schell): 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.
16. Maserati 4CLT-48 [1600] (José Froilán Gonzalez): Built in 1949 for Automovil Club Argentina and raced by under the ACA's "Scuderia Achille Varzi" banner Malusardi and Benedicto Campos. Raced in 1950 by Jose Froilan Gonzalez and then 1950-52 by other ACA drivers in South America. Reportedly to Venezuela then via US, Japanese and further US owners to 1996. Owned by Jean-Louis Duret from 1996. Retained 2000.
17. 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.
18. 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.

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.