Single Seaters at the Coupes de Printemps - Montlhéry 2015

There were not many single seaters at the Coupes de Printemps 2015 but three if them particularly caught my eye.

Formula Junior races were held at Montlhéry from 1959 until 1963.   Some of these races were for the Coupes de Printemps that is nowadays a "Rencontre Automobiles" and track day.  Some of these cars from the late fifties and early sixties were represented on the track at this year's event at Montlhéry last Saturday.   Here were some of my favourites:

1. Stanguellini-Fiat

Stanguellini were one of the first manufacturers to produce a Formula Junior car in about 1959.

 Formula Junior was an Italian inspired low cost single seater formula designed to replace the 500cc F3.   They truly look like mini-GP cars of the late fifties and were quite successful in the formula from 1959 to 1960 but then became uncompetitive with the rear engined cars.   They had 1.1 litre 4 cylinder Fiat engines with twin choke Weber carburettors and used a number of modified Fiat components.  When you get close to them you realise that the cars are quite asymmetrical due to the transmission that is on the right hand side of the car rather than the middle.  More than 100 of these cars were built and quite a number survive to today.

At Montlhéry in the Coupe de Printemp meeting their best result was third in the 1960 driven by Pierre Houdusse.  However, the same year at Montlhéry a Stanguellini won the Prix de Paris Formula Junior race driven by the Portuguese driver Manuel Kelecom de Soussa Eusebio.   Elsewhere they were also winners driven by the likes of Lorenzo Bandini, Taffy Von Trips and Walt Hansgen. They apparently had a top speed of about 110 mph.

I couldn't recall seeing one of these beautiful cars before so I took rather a lot of pictures!

Is it a Ferrari, is it a Maserati?  No its a Stanguellini!

A Stanguellini won at Montlhéry in 1960 and was here again winning our hearts in 2015!

Not a symmetrical car at all!

You take the high road and I'll take the low road!

Stanguellini into the Chicane at Montlhéry....

.....and out again

My companion of the day, Gareth Rees, also taking a photo of the Stanguellini

2. Envoy-Cosworth

This car from about 1959/1960 was a Formula Junior car designed by Ken Cooper and built in Chelmsford.  At Montlhéry we saw a Mk1 of the type raced by Ian Raby amongst others.  It had a Cosworth modified Ford 105E engine.  Only about nine of these cars were built so nice to see one today.

Envoy-Cosworth Mk1 FJ on the Montlhéry banking

Cosworth modified 105E engine and cockpit of the Formula Junior Envoy

3.  Porsche Formula Vee

Formula Vee started just as Formula junior was fading, in 1963, although it didn't become big in Europe until 1966/67.  I remember seeing F.Vee in the sixties with great drivers such as Gerry Birrell.  World Champions Jochen Rindt, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg also drove in Formula Vee.

It was nice to see this F.Vee car at Montlhéry with its nod to James Dean's Porsche 550 and its "Little Bastard" nickname.

Porsche "Little Bastard" Formula Vee car at Montlhéry

Being air-cooled there is no need for a radiator

I was impressed about how high on the banking this driver went!

Diving in between two Porsche 356s

The photographer, John Etherton, asserts his copyright to the photos in this blog.  However, you may publish them elsewhere on the web as long as you accredit the photographer and this blog site and provide a link to this web page.