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Connaught Engineering

Formula One and sports car constructor from the United Kingdom

Mike Oliver UK Stirling Moss Thailand Prince Bira UK Kenneth McAlpine

Connaught Engineering, often referred to simply as Connaught, was a Formula One, Formula Two and other sports car divisions constructor from the United Kingdom. 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 said to derive from abbreviating Continental Autos, the garage in Send, Surrey, where the cars were built and which specialised in sales and repair of European sports cars such as Bugatti, but given the spelling may reference the Irish province of Connaught.

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.

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.

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.

Image:Connaught Type B Donington 2007.jpg|An ex-Rob Walker Racing Team Connaught Type B Formula One car Image:Beaulieu National Motor Museum Connaught Type B (1955) 15-10-2011 13-10-02.png|Connaught Type B, 1955, at the National Motor Museum Image:Connaught Type D GT Syracuse - Flickr - edvvc (1).jpg|A Connaught Type D Syracuse

Complete Drivers' World Championship results

(key)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Driver	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	8
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
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
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
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
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
ARG	MON	500	FRA	GBR	GER	PSC	ITA
Connaught Type B	Alta Straight-4	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Connaught Engineering		4
Ivor Bueb		Ret
ARG	MON	NED	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	MOR
Connaught Type B	Alta Straight-4	Ivor Bueb	Bernie Ecclestone							Ret
Bruce Kessler		DNQ
Paul Emery		DNQ
Jack Fairman							Ret
Bernie Ecclestone		DNQ					DNP
MON	500	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	USA
Connaught Type C	Alta Straight-4	Bob Said	Connaught Cars / Paul Emery								Ret

*Constructors points not awarded until

± = Indicates a shared drive

References

"History – Connaught Motor Company".
"Team Connaught: Remembrance of Things Fast".
Wasef, Basem. (2009-10-09). "Legendary Race Cars". Motorbooks.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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