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From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Article discussing the outlook and prospects for 1½-litre motor racing in 1939.

Identifier  ExFiles\Box 160\4\  scan0065
Date  18th April 1939
  
April 18, 1939. 441 The Motor

“dred” Prospects

The Outlook for 1½-litre Racing This Year Promises Exceedingly Well If — !

By R. {Sir Henry Royce} L. de B. Walkerley

July 30 is the Coppa Ciano at Leghorn, which has a 1,500 c.c. race attached to it, followed a fortnight later by the Coppa Ciano at Pescara, which also has a good 1½-litre race. The week after that the boys trek back to Switzerland for the Prix de Berne voiturette race on the same day as the Grand Prix, and that about concludes the major events for 1½-litre cars. There are a few others, notably the street races in Italy.

The chief excitement of the year will be, of course, the performance of the 1939 re-designed E.R.A.s which were illustrated in The Motor last week and which look extremely modernistic, not to say German. The works have been badly held up for supplies of material owing to preoccupation of factories with rearmament, but it now seems certain that at least one car will make its bow in the J.C.C. International Trophy on May 6. This is not properly a 1,500 c.c. race, but a handicap open to cars of all sizes. On the other hand, 1½-litre and 2-litre cars have had it all their own way since 1936.

The new cars bear little resemblance to the 1938 variety, and have new chassis and bodies as well as a much improved engine. There is no doubt these units give off more power than any other 1,500 c.c. engine we know of (we don't know of the Mercedes) and it is thought the 1938 supercharger troubles are no more.

It is notable that the new chassis is tubular with De Dion rear springing, hydraulic brakes, torsion-bar independent front suspension, and the whole car is much lower and more squat than last year's.

The E.R.A. situation is a bit complicated this season, to put it mildly, by the possibility that Mr. Humphrey Cook, who has financed the concern ever since it started in 1934, may have to withdraw from the scene. Now as E.R.A., Ltd., has never been a money-making concern and indeed, has not built cars for sale for a long time, the position is that without financial support the works cannot operate at all. Mind you, Mr. Cook may continue his backing for some time yet, but on the other hand he may find it necessary to stop after this season.

To help him to carry on the burden, as you know, a big subscription fund has been opened under the title of the British Motor Racing Fund, the aim of which is to raise £8,000 per year in contributions from those enthusiasts who feel that the E.R.A. must not vanish from the earth at a time when foreign challenges are stronger than ever.

The Other British Challenger

There is another British 1,500 c.c. racing car, built to customer's order only, in the Alta, which is fabricated down on the Kingston By-pass by that clever designer Mr. Geoffrey Taylor. Handicapped by the fact that financial reserves are limited for the amount he can ask for his cars, the results he has obtained are truly remarkable, for he has put on the market at a reasonable figure a very modern type of small racing car which has shown in the hands of George Abecassis, for one, a marked tendency to meet E.R.A.s on their own terms. Taylor inclines to the independent-suspension-for-all-wheels theory, and stands by a twin overhead camshaft supercharged four-cylinder engine. This engine certainly gives plenty of power, and the car is really a fine production. It has not, hitherto, competed in the European field, as the fast specimens of Altas have been owned by amateurs who have enjoyed British racing. However, Abecassis this year has entered for the A.C.F. Cup race at Rheims.

The Mercedes is wrapped in mystery at the moment and guessing is a bit fruitless. It may be an entirely new engine, but as the cars have been produced in a few months it may be they have based their ideas on known quantities and use a scaled-down edition of the 1937 5½-litre straight-eight. Just as likely is it that they are using one bank of the present V12 block from the 3-litre Grand Prix car.

The Alfas have straight-eight engines which look like scaled-down “monoposto” engines, but with a single blower. The Maseratis have returned to four cylinders, with four valves per head and one or two blowers at choice. In both cases the chassis are independently sprung.

The stage is set, and all we want is a clear sky with no wars, and no political vetoes, and then we shall see the finest season of 1,500 c.c. racing for many a long year.

ALFA-ROMEO Type 308. Eight cylinders in line, twin overhead camshafts, one supercharger, independently sprung front and back. This model was introduced last year, about mid-season. Emilio Villoresi is Number One driver

MASERATI. Four-cylinder, twin overhead camshafts, one or two superchargers to choice, box-section frame independently sprung in front, quarter elliptic rear suspension. Drivers will be Count Trossi, Luigi Villoresi and Franco Cortese

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