Connaught B Type

Established in Send, Surrey, in the late 1940s by Rodney Clarke and Mike Oliver, the company designed and built Formula 2 single-seaters using extensively re-engineered Lea-Francis engines. This was followed in 1954 by a front-engine, Alta-powered Formula 1 car of 2½ litres, the Connaught B.

A total of seven cars were manufactured between 1955 and 1958. It became the first British car since 1924 to win a Continental European motor race when Tony Brooks won the non-championship 1955 Syracuse Grand Prix. Against all expectations, Brooks won the race by 50 seconds from the works Maserati 250F of Luigi Musso. It was the first victory on a Continental European race track since Henry Segrave won the 1924 San Sebastián Grand Prix in a Sunbeam.

Despite being a small concern, Connaught were at the forefront of motorsport engineering and designed cars that had huge potential, even showing that a rear-engine car designed in 1953 would, if completed, have been racing in F1 years before any other team considered such an idea.

This stunning Connaught B-Type is built to the original 1955 car specification as raced in period and with full competition paperwork. It represents the perfect opportunity, at a very reasonable outlay, to join the ever-growing ranks in historic motorsport at such prestigious events as Goodwood Revival and Silverstone Classic.

This ‘B’ Type was built from a collection of original factory parts by renowned Connaught restorer Stephen Langton for David Sadler. The project was started in 1984 but was not completed and track-tested until April 2006. The car was finally commissioned after additional works, including an engine rebuild, by Jim Stokes Workshops, who have been involved with the car since that time. During JSW’s involvement, the car was fitted with a starter motor, making it considerably more user-friendly.

The car has been correctly stored for several years and, with recommissioning in prospect, will be ready to grace the circuits again. The car has new HTP papers and has recently been recommissioned and prepared for the track by racing car experts JSW Ltd. (Jim Stokes). It comes with a vast file of documents and history.