Alt-1956: Post-season auction is over!

[Gonzalez]

Connaught will put up 2 of their spare engines for auction:

Bentley 16VL-1 engine 6
Bentley 16VL-1 engine 8

[Nessafox]

Cooper's going to put Cooper T41 chassis 5 up for sale (so i'm not participating in the auction) for £17000 (in fixed condition) pr £12000 (in damaged condition). The damage costs aren't too high, and it's still a decent car, better than most things available in the auction, and better than building your own car of that value. It will remain for sale for a while, so you can wait until your season starter budget is clear.

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Asso di Fiori want to sell their ancient Jag-Astons, this okay?

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Asso di Fiori want to sell their ancient Jag-Astons, this okay?

Only if you buy the Loonmotor coffee table.

[pi314159]

OSCA won't enter parts for the auction. However, our garages have become a bit full, so many components will be sold to collectors or scrapped.

The following components will be sold to collectors:
O.S.C.A. F154 chassis 3
O.S.C.A. F154 chassis 5
O.S.C.A. F154 chassis 6
Bentley Speed 3 chassis 7
Bentley Speed 4 chassis 7 (damaged: £8 514) (will be repaired before sale)
Bentley Speed 4 chassis 9 (damaged: £2 204) (will be repaired before sale)
Bentley Speed 4 chassis 10 (damaged: £5 337) (will be repaired before sale)
Porsche 855 chassis 1 (damaged: £363) (will be repaired before sale)
Porsche 855 chassis 2 (damaged: £9 321) (will be repaired before sale)
Aston Martin AM-04 chassis 9 (damaged - £4 294) (will be repaired before sale)
O.S.C.A. 156s engine 1
O.S.C.A. 156s engine 4
O.S.C.A. 156s engine 7
Bentley 163-1 engine 5 (damaged: £1 641) (will be repaired before sale)
Bentley 16VL-1 engine 2
Bentley 16VL-1 engine 3
Bentley 16VL-1 engine 5
Alfa Romeo ARV8 engine 5 (damaged: £512) (will be repaired before sale)

The following components will be scrapped:
Vanwall VW56 chassis 1 (damaged: £14 182)
O.S.C.A. 156s engine 2 (damaged: £9 241)
Lancia DS50 engine 5 (damaged: £16 970)

[novitopoli]

Adriatica will bid £150 for each piece of auctioned Lancia equipment.

[Nuppiz]

Vanwall will bid £250 on all Vanwall-manufactured items in the auction.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

I should have made it clear earlier that IRC will not part with any of its equipment unless it receives bids amounting to at least half the original build cost.

[DemocalypseNow]

I should have made it clear earlier that IRC will not part with any of its equipment unless it receives bids amounting to at least half the original build cost.

The post-season auctions don't have reserves - you've done a number on yourself there!

[tommykl]

The auction will end on Friday November 25th 2016 at noon CET. Get your bids in quick!

[tommykl]

The auction is over. Gordini, Adriatica and Vanwall take home the lion's share of the machinery, while Asso di Fiori and Connaught found no buyers for their equipment.

I can also confirm that following Simtek's unfortunate departure from the forum, Irish Racing Cars are bankrupt and Scuderia Centro Sud needs a new owner. Gonzalez46 currently runs Scuderia Centro Sud, but will have to give them up due to limits of team ownership.

[Gonzalez]

The auction is over. Gordini, Adriatica and Vanwall take home the lion's share of the machinery, while Asso di Fiori and Connaught found no buyers for their equipment.

I can also confirm that following Simtek's unfortunate departure from the forum, Irish Racing Cars are bankrupt and Scuderia Centro Sud needs a new owner. Gonzalez46 currently runs Scuderia Centro Sud, but will have to give them up due to limits of team ownership.

Since it looks like Connaught will be attending next season no more than the rounds in the British Isles, i will be happy to alter my ownerships with the 2 teams in separate alternative races (Connaught for the British Isles and Centro Sud for the selected European Rounds) until someone is looking to take over.

[tommykl]

The total prize money pot is £2 001 605. Split evenly between contructors and entrants, this leaves £1 000 803 for each championship.

Constructors
O.S.C.A. - £186 936
Gordini - £178 605
B.C.M.A. - £132 502
Ferrari - £97 876
Vanwall - £52 715
Hernandez - £42 043
BRM - £40 274
Lotus - £34 697
Cooper - £30 289 (£10 096 for Cooper, £20 193 for Maserati)
AAC - £29 172 (Ferrari)
Climax - £27 146
GAZ - £23 332 (USSR)
Bentley - £15 734 (O.S.C.A.)
Maserati - £14 408
Jaguar - £12 676 (Climax)
Connaught - £12 414
DB - £11 273
JK - £11 025 (Kubinsky)
Aston Martin - £10 131 (Lotus)
Tatra - £9 625 (Kubinsky)
Guidobaldi - £7 328 (Loonmotor)
Loonmotor - £7 328
Kharkov - £5 933 (USSR)
Wartburg - £5 678 (Kubinsky)

Entrants
Alexander Racing Team - Gordini - £191 124
Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili - £160 859
British Commonwealth Motorsport Association - £111 096
Scuderia Ferrari - £92 070
Team Lotus - £70 307
Escuderia Hernandez - £39 545
British Racing Motors - £35 782
Asso di Fiori - £29 520
State Committee for Sports and Body Culture of USSR - £26 758
Scuderia Centro Sud - £26 234
Cooper Car Company - £25 472
Hampshire Racing Alliance - £22 685
Connaught Engineering - £21 709
Scuderia Adriatica - £21 637
Vandervell Products Ltd. - £20 399
Officine Alfieri Maserati - £19 661
MSG Köthen - £17 589
Ecurie Maghreb - £16 827
Julius Kubinsky - £15 280
Automobiles Deustch et Bonnet - £13 214
Coventry Climax - £12 692
Jonkheer Gijsbert van Loon - £10 343

Budgets will be updated in due time. It's late, and I have a quiz tournament tomorrow. I'm going to sleep.

[DemocalypseNow]

All AAC equipment currently in Ferrari's inventory will be sold to collectors.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

1956 Team-By-Team Season Review:

The seventh season of the World Drivers' Championship now draws to a close and, as ever, it has been one of action, suspense and drama. The Australian Jack Brabham has made a brave leap from Alfa Romeo to Gordini and has been duly rewarded with a second world championship title; he now joins the recently retired Nino Farina as the second Grand Prix driver to defend his crown. Despite the clear speed advantage the new Type 56 model Gordini has had over the opposition, Brabham had a difficult time maintaining a lead in the points table due to the questionable reliability of the blue car, with both Desmond Titterington and Stirling Moss rising to the occasion, but ultimately failing in their pursuit.

1956 also saw some lows and at no other time in recent history have the dangers of Grand Prix racing been more apparent, with four drivers losing their lives in accidents throughout the year; seven spectators also lost their lives. This has forced some, perhaps correctly, to ask 'is it all worth it?'. Unfortunately, we are not here to answer that question, but to give a team-by-team analysis of the seventh World Championship Grand Prix season, which can now be found, ordered by finishing position, below:

Alexander Racing Team-Gordini
Out of ten world championship rounds, Gordini won five, but this does not even begin to do justice to the supreme pace that the Type 56 was capable of. Probably the only thing stopping the team of Brabham, Sanesi, Castellotti and co. from taking every trophy was the fragile state of the car, itself a testament to how far the Parisian engineers behind it have been willing to push to make it the fastest of them all. Even with the constant breakdowns Gordini have been able to sweep all three championships this year. The opposition will have to dig deep if they want to break the status quo in 1957.

Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili
1956 was the breakthrough year for the Maserati brothers' new factory. O.S.C.A. ended their partnership with Bentley at the conclusion of 1955 to focus on entering their own self-sustained works stable for the first time since 1953. The Scuderia Anglo-Italia lineup of Moss, González and Whitehead has been kept, with Robert Manzon unexpectedly - and perhaps unwisely - jumping ship from Gordini to complete a four-car lineup. In a season marred by the injuries of Manzon and Whitehead O.S.C.A. were nevertheless consistently on the pace and Manzon's injury replacement Ottorino Volonterio turned out to be a front-running contender in his own right. And of course, after five years of trying, O.S.C.A. finally won their first race, Stirling Moss having that honour in the Scottish round on the streets of Edinburgh. If there is any team that can stop Gordini next year, O.S.C.A. is the one to watch.

British Commonwealth Motorsport Association
B.C.M.A,'s successor to the C-01 had a troubled history and did not see the light of day until the Grand Prix of East Germany. In a weekend where rumours ran wild, the trio of unknowns who drove the revolutionary successor to one of last year's best designs failed to achieve any result worthy of note. However, this is not the full story of B.C.M.A.'s campaign, for they raced nearly everywhere else with the well-proven C-01 and managed to avoid slipping back into the darkness. B.C.M.A. won two races in Ireland and Italy, the former taken by the late Tony Brooks, who was then killed in Edinburgh. His replacement Stuart Lewis-Evans has not been impressive, which shows that Brooks has left a big void to fill. The other win was taken by Mike Hawthorn, while the remaining driver, Peter Collins, has been extremely unlucky not to win after starting from the pole on no less than three occasions. In this difficult time for the Empire, B.C.M.A. represents a small ray of hope from the sun which never sets.

Irish Racing Cars
Formula One's most successful privateer came closer than ever to title glory this year with Northern Irish star Desmond Titterington winning the Monaco and East German Grands Prix. But, as with last year, the revolutionary Lancia D50 was too fragile to consistently challenge for wins. Sports car veteran Duncan Hamilton was Titterington's first full-time teammate, but was not usually on the same pace. With Titterington's shock retirement after the Italian Grand Prix, he leaves behind a big legacy in an all-too-brief career. Unfortunately, financial concerns have caught up and the I.R.C. stable joins Titterington in departing from the sport; the much-anticipated self-built chassis for 1957 will sadly go unraced.

Scuderia Ferrari
After a tumultuous 1955, Ferrari made their full-time return to the Grand Prix circus in 1956 with an ambitious five-car operation. But their team of experience varying from fresh-faced American Phil Hill to the enigmatic Fangio have failed to deliver on Il Commendatore's grand ambitions. Ferrari have also seen their share of the horrible tragedy that has struck on multiple occasions this year with the loss of "Chico" Godia in the Scottish Grand Prix. Have Ferrari overstretched themselves? A more focused operation next year may yield better results.

Team Lotus
Colin Chapman, using resources from the old Jaguar-Aston Martin alliance, has masterminded a solid design in the Lotus 10. While not a race winner, it is clear that, in the hands of Bira, Trintignant and the late van der Lof, as well as the various other drivers who have turned its wheel (including Chapman himself), it is a design that does some things right and can finish on the podium. Chapman has decided not to continue the team into 1957, but he will undoubtedly be keeping an eye on the efforts of Scottish privateer Rob Walker, who has obtained the fleet of cars Lotus have left behind.

Escuderia Hernandez
Federico Hernandez started the year with Carlos Menditeguy and an unusual Gordini-powered Cooper, operating from a far-flung base in Buenos Aires. With this setup, it is questionable whether it was a good idea to be racing in the European Grand Prix circus. However, the entrepreneurial Señor Hernandez was able to obtain facilities from Fiat in Turin and a Gordini car that he was able to develop into his own Hernandez Tipo 56. It does not appear to be any real improvement on the original design and seems to have inherited its propensity to break down, but the Tipo 56 was able to keep together for a second place finish in the controversial East German Grand Prix in the hands of Formula 3 ace Heinz Melkus. After this, Hernandez decided to take the existing Gordini powerplant and put it in an O.S.C.A. chassis and introduced a new driver in Belgian lady driver Gilberte Thirion, the fifth different person to race for the team this year. Results did not improve, and one wonders whether a little more stability would serve Hernandez better next year.

British Racing Motors
B.R.M. has returned, but this time Alfred Owen has withdrawn his backing. It seems to have been an inspired decision, as one might say that B.R.M. has betrayed its original patriotic goals by using ex-Ferrari machinery, not to mention the existence of a far more successful operation with backing from Her Majesty's Government. With the exception of a lucky podium for Paul Frère in East Germany, the season has been a complete disaster for B.R.M., with starts in only two races out of the nine in which they competed. It does appear, though, that they will soldier on into 1957, but there does not seem to be much cause for optimism.

Asso di Fiori
With a new car from O.S.C.A., points should have been a more regular goal for the small Italian outfit who missed the 1955 season, but a calendar mix-up saw them miss both the Irish and Scottish rounds and Onofre Marimón turned out not to be so great a prospect as he first appeared. All Asso di Fiori have to show for their 1956 racing season is a fourth place in a depleted field at Bangkok.

State Committee for Sports and Body Culture of U.S.S.R.
The Soviet Union has made a greater effort this year, with appearances in Scotland and Thailand outside of communist East Germany. Little can be said of what they have done with their Western doppelgänger machinery, with a fourth place for the apparently skilled Vasiliy Kuznetsov in the attritional East German Grand Prix being the only result worthy of note. If the world's largest country is to do itself justice in the cutthroat world of Grand Prix racing, it must throw more of its vast economic resources behind a properly engineered chassis, as opposed to making pale copies of what already exists.

Halford Auto Racing Team
English hotelier Bruce Halford had an ambitious plan for a Grand Prix racing team. One car driven by himself, with another driven by whatever local specialists he came across (though some, such as Ken Kavanagh, have been questionable choices under this definition) was that plan, but the costs inevitably began to mount and Halford often found himself relying on the goodwill of his pit lane neighbours to keep going. In spite of his financial situation, Halford persevered through the whole season (minus Monaco and France), even making the perhaps ill-advised choice of traveling to Thailand in defiance of the skyrocketing oil prices at home in England, which was rewarded by a fifth place drive from Ken Kavanagh. We can now only express the hope that Mr. Halford has the money to pay off his debtors.

Scuderia Centro Sud
The latest Italian privateer stable was set up by Roman Guglielmo Dei, who has achieved modest success this year with a factory O.S.C.A. They ran mainly in the midfield and only scored a single point - fittingly on home soil at Monza - thanks to the efforts of Luigi Musso. Dei also unearthed a good prospect for the future in Masten Gregory, who has since become a works Lotus driver.

Cooper Car Company
John and Charles Cooper are renowned and celebrated for their tremendously successful rear-engined Formula Three and Formula Two cars, but for Formula One their innovative technical approach has been undermined by inane business practices. The rear-engined T41 is a solid design that, with a properly focused development path, could be the template for a truly revolutionary Grand Prix machine. Much of 1956 was spent trying to find the right engine to push along the little Cooper, and they have spent a worrying amount of resources trying to keep one of their key engine partners, Maserati, out of the red financially.

Connaught Engineering
Connaught is, like Cooper, a very successful stable in the lower formulae, but their brief entry into Formula One has been an unmitigated disaster, with their resources being poured into two cars that have proven so far not to work. They have even aroused controversy after their driver, Stuart Lewis-Evans, was involved in a number of serious accidents in the Scottish Grand Prix. Their participation in the British and Irish tour of the championship has been stated as a testing ground for a full campaign next year. If so, great improvements will have to be made to the B-Type Connaught chassis if there is to be any hope for future success.

Ecurie Pinoy
Filipino driver Arsenio Laurel, son of wartime Japanese collaborator José Laurel, was one of a number of Southeast Asians who made the trip to Thailand for that nation's inaugural Grand Prix. With one of Gordini's cars he was able to finish what might look like a respectable seventh, were it not for the fact that he was in last place and had been lapped no less than twelve times by race winner Sanesi.

Hampshire Racing Alliance
David Hampshire soldiered on into 1956 with two brand new Vanwalls driven by himself and Roy Salvadori. An average year by the standards of many of the more professional teams, this was a year of improved fortunes for the man from Derbyshire, the team managing to qualify for the majority of Grands Prix this season.

Reatherson Racing Developments
Henry Reatherson's team finally closed up shop at the end of 1956 after five unsuccessful years in Grand Prix racing. The team's identity had been largely tarnished after a deal was struck to run Ferraris under the Italian marque's watchful eye and, despite slightly improved fortunes, this loss of control has been a factor in Reatherson's decision to put an end to his racing operation.

Officine Alfieri Maserati
Why they continue in Grand Prix racing is a total mystery. Their funding has been cut, forcing them to look abroad for finances, and they no longer even race cars bearing the famous trident. With the inexperienced Italo-Belgian Lucien Bianchi all "Maserati" - if it is even appropriate to call them that anymore - have to show is an eighth place on the Nürburgring. With the Maserati brothers themselves achieving much greater success and, ironically, giving greater exposure to the Maserati name with their O.S.C.A. operation, it would seem only appropriate for the Modena factory to pull out altogether, lest they suffer further embarrassment.

Vandervell Products Ltd.
Tony Vandervell's operation could boast more successful qualifying efforts, but no championship points to show for them. Vanwall spent the year struggling to find the right driver, and it would seem that that struggle will continue into next year, with Allison, Fairman, Leston and Russell not being quite up to the task, it seems. The team is well-funded though, and their new designer, Frank Costin, shows a spark of promise that could lead Vanwall to greater things in years to come.

Scuderia Adriatica
Among Italian privateers, if Asso di Fiori were to represent the north and Scuderia Centro Sud were to represent the centre, then Adriatica unquestionably represents southern Italy, but unlike their two northern rivals Adriatica have taken up the option of being one of Ferrari's satellite teams this year, although like Reatherson, success has been modest at best, the works cars rarely troubled by Gerini and Serafini.

Cesare Perdisa
Young Cesare Perdisa was in action at home on the Monza circuit with an ancient Ferrari and finished tenth, three laps off race winner Hawthorn. No more could have been expected by anyone driving the same car.

Cecil Vard
Monte Carlo Rally veteran Cecil Vard was one of a number of Irish drivers who took to the fearsome Wicklow Circuit for his home country's first Grand Prix since 1931. Driving an O.S.C.A., he finished twelfth and last but one.

Brits Under No European Legislation
The bafflingly named and controversial Belfast team known for only hiring female drivers and upsetting many conservative race organisers as a result of this has finally shut its doors after years of achieving little in the way of actual results. Maria Teresa de Filippis, a skilled driver in her own right, has had serious trouble keeping up financially as a privateer and decided that B.R.U.N.E.L. would be the best option for this year. The cars she drove did not agree with her and she struggled to escape qualifying on most occasions. Next year, Maria had best hope that her reputation as a capable driver is not tarnished by a 1956 she will surely want to forget.

MSG Köthen
With the so-called German Democratic Republic earning a race of International Grand Prix status this season Formula 2 racer Theo Fitzau campaigned an O.S.C.A. in several Western races in the months leading up to the event. He did little to embarrass himself but was unfortunate not to see the chequered flag on any of his four appearances.

Ecurie Maghreb
1956 was the year the Kingdom of Morocco ceased to be a French protectorate and their national Grand Prix team continues as a result. They switched their Lancia for a Ferrari, which turned out to be a grave mistake resulting in the team's condemnation to qualifying. Despite the best efforts of aging Monégasque legend Louis Chiron there was no hope whatsoever. A switch to an O.S.C.A. with the younger André Guelfi at the wheel brought slight improvement, but they had better hope to climb further up the order next year as Morocco opens the 1957 world championship season.

Ecurie Voeckler
Louis-Antoine Voeckler scaled back his efforts this season, only racing in the French and Belgian Grands Prix with André Simon in the extremely quick Gordini. Unfortunately, both of Simon's races were curtailed by errors of his own doing.

Owen Racing Organisation
Alfred Owen decided to start from scratch with Jack Fairman and an O.S.C.A. in Great Britain and Ireland. The engine was originally sourced from B.R.M., but, with Owen's departure from the latter organisation, their administration has been chaotic and, after an engine mixup in the leadup to the British Grand Prix, Owen switched his allegiances to Vanwall, though with a drop in performance as a result. Perhaps a reunion between Owen and B.R.M. is what both sides need?

Brown Racing Enterprises
One of the more mysterious entries into the East German Grand Prix was that of Donald Brown, whose small crew of three engineers and two drivers vanished from the Rostock paddock after the heat races. Not wanting to waste the equipment they had loaned out, Lotus took back the single car that successfully qualified, but its driver, Maurice Trintignant, ended up being one of the many victims of the ill-fated Grand Prix.

Julius Kubinsky
Czechoslovakian enthusiast Julius Kubinsky was back with not one but two JK Monos driven by Jaroslav Vlcek and Willy Lehmann in East Germany. Unfortunately, Lehmann did not progress beyond the heats and Vlcek suffered severe injuries. He is lucky to be alive, but it is doubtful he will race again.

Horace Gould
Horace Gould of Bristol obtained an O.S.C.A. for participation in the Scottish and British Grands Prix, but after a disappointing performance in the former he opted not to race any further.

F.A.O. Gaze
Tony Gaze, one of the many works Ferrari drivers seen in action this year, took one of the Scuderia's own cars for his private entry into the season-ending Bangkok round. He was running well inside the points before running out of fuel less than twenty miles from the finish.

Douglas Steane
Another new face in Thailand was former airman Douglas Steane of Hong Kong, winner of this year's Macao Grand Prix. He was another victim of the Type 56 Gordini's reliability, an oil leak sidelining him early on.

Juan Gálvez
A legend in his native Argentina, Juan Gálvez also made an entry into the Thai Grand Prix with Federico Hernandez's car. Unfortunately, Juan suffered a nasty accident in the race's early stages, injuring him.

Claus-Simmon Schlusser
"Spider" Webb, an American racer of little noteworthy accomplishment, approached this Bavarian motoring enthusiast with a view to entering the East German Grand Prix. Both Webb and Schlusser were among a number of disappearances from the Rostock paddock, prompting rampant speculation as to their true intentions.

Automobiles Deutsch et Bonnet
DB is a manufacturer known for producing excellent lightweight sports cars that regularly win the Performance Index Trophy at the world's great endurance races. Surely Deutsch and Bonnet knew that the World Drivers' Championship is not run in the same fashion? DB's entry into Formula One was with a car that would barely pass for Formula Three, so naturally they have been well off the pace wherever they raced this year. Perhaps it was an attempt to court the CSI into introducing a handicap system for future championships?

Ecurie Ecosse
David Murray's Le Mans-winning sports car team was back for the Grands Prix of Ireland, Scotland and England. Unfortunately, the spirited efforts of Sanderson, Bueb and Murray himself were not enough to qualify the Cooper-Climax car in any of the three races.

Coventry Climax
Coventry Climax's entry to Formula One was originally as an engine supplier to Colin Chapman's Team Lotus, but an ill-advised pouring of resources into what was only a modestly competitive engine sent Chapman running to B.C.M.A. for horsepower. Climax have since entered one of I.R.C.'s Lancias into the Monaco Grand Prix to test their new powerplant; it failed to make it through qualifying, while Desmond Titterington won the race with the Lancia engine. I.R.C. themselves experimented with the same Climax engine in France, but this was abandoned after a continuing lack of promise.

Equipo Castelldefels
This team from northern Spain was the first (and likely, only) customer of Gijsbert van Loon's insane Loonmotor operation. With two of the Dutchman's Guidobaldis, Castelldefels' sole qualifying effort at the French Grand Prix was an inevitable disaster, ending with the team's financial ruin and the flight of its drivers, Luigi Musso and Alfonso de Portago, to the Italian Centro Sud stable.

Élie Bayol
Élie Bayol raced in Italy with an old Gordini and, despite the handicap of age, was just one place away from earning a spot on the Monza grid.

Equipe Anglaise
Hem Glöckler, an amateur driver from Frankfurt, made the journey to Italy with a Cooper-Climax, but was slower than Bayol in practice.

Scuderia Arzani-Volpini
Italian constructor Arzani-Volpini made their entry into Formula One in Italy, not with a self-built car, but with an A.A.C. Ferrari. Luigi Piotti could not progress beyond qualifying with this car.

Scuderia Guastalla
Another Italian Grand Prix entry. Franco Cornacchia obtained not one but two ex-Ferraris from the manufacturer for Piero Scotti and Giorgio Becucci, but they were near the bottom of the timesheets that weekend.

Berardo Taraschi
Taking a slightly different approach, Taraschi mated an O.S.C.A. chassis with a Ferrari engine, but this did not help his qualifying chances.

Theodore Yip
The Hong Kong entrepreneur behind the Macao Grand Prix made his own entry into the Thai Grand Prix with former Macao winners Eddie Carvalho and Bob Ritchie. Neither successfully qualified the dated Jaguar-Aston Martin machinery.

Sir Jeremy Boles
This wealthy man who grew up near Silverstone made the bizarre decision to travel to Thailand and the even more bizarre decision to use a DB-engined Cooper despite better machinery on offer. Not surprisingly, John Riseley-Prichard had no hope of making the grid even with the relatively low number of entries.

Jonkheer Gijsbert van Loon
The Loonmotor was perhaps the most baffling entry of the field in 1955 and it was perhaps ill-advised for van Loon to persist with his strange design into 1956, yet there was Hans Tak in Monaco, 24 seconds off the pace of the frontrunners in pre-qualifying. It was the last anyone saw of either Tak or van Loon.

Ecurie Rosier
Louis Rosier made what turned out to be his final Grand Prix appearance at Rouen with an outdated Gordini. The 1950 Le Mans winner was not even close to making the grid. This would sadly be the last that would be seen of him, for he recently succumbed to injuries sustained on the Montlhéry autodrome in October.

Reject of the Year Podium

3rd: BRM - British Racing Motors' re-entry into F1 was marred by the departure of Alfred Owen. This was only the beginning. A deal with Ferrari to use their hopelessly outdated AAC machinery and frequent administrative errors leading to missing engines and botched engine deals see BRM in 3rd place here. Their only saving grace is a podium at Rostock. Thank attrition for that.

2nd: Ferrari - Admittedly, anything would have been an improvement on the chaos that was 1955, but overcompensating for the lack of running was not a good decision. Five cars were entered by the Scuderia at most races, with further entries by privateers under the Scuderia's influence. Not a single race was won. Clearly, crowding out the grid won't guarantee success.

1st: Cooper & Maserati - Listed together due to their unlikely yet ongoing partnership. So pathetic is Maserati's situation that their works team is being funded by a small racing team in England. Maserati no longer even builds its own car, thus calling the reasoning for the very existence of the works outfit into question. Cooper might have a decent amount of funding for a better chassis... if it wasn't wasting resources on the Maserati factory. Officine Alfieri Maserati has been dead for several years now, impaled on its own trident; Cooper will be better off without it altogether, either absorbing the assets of the lifeless Maserati operation or allowing it to come back under the control of the Maserati brothers themselves at OSCA.