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1950, F1 season - some doubts


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#1 brickyard

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Posted 16 December 2005 - 20:58

hi,

I was putting my databases in order (again, after my previous ones were stolen) and I have some little doubts about the 1950 F1 season.

a) at the Italian GP, the Alfa Romeos were 158 or 159 models? I always thought that the 159 debuted only in 1951, but I'm seeing more and more infos stating that at the 1950 Italian GP the cars were 159s. Any photo evidences that could be posted here? (I don't have FORIX access)

b) how's the real name of the Swiss driver Branca? Antonio, Anton or Antoine? And the nickname, Toni or Tony? I've steped on all those names in many places...

c) At the Swiss GP, Branca was entered by Scuderia Achille Varzi in a Maserati 4CLT/48, but in a photo I saw somewhere, he was in a Maserati 4CL one-colour car. As I know that he had such a car and Sc. A. Varzi don't, what really happened here? In the final results on many sourses, the car that appears is the 4CLT/48 (probably "1599" chassis)

d) About Scuderia Milano, on the badge is Scuderia Milan. So what's the real name?

that's all for now. More to come...

Thanks

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#2 alessandro silva

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Posted 16 December 2005 - 21:17

a) Farina and Fangio drove 159s at Monza 1950

b) Anton "Toni" Branca

c) Branca drove a Maserati 4CL c/n 1582 at Berne in 1950

d) the complete name was "Scuderia Automobilistica Milan S/A". Milan means Milano in the local dialect. Since Milan means Milano in English, many people thought it was fancier to translate it as Milano. S/A means joint-stock company.

#3 brickyard

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Posted 16 December 2005 - 21:21

:up:
thanks Alessandro.

BTW, should we change Branca's entry from "Scuderia Achille Varzi" to "Anton Branca"?

It seams that he used his own car.

#4 alessandro silva

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Posted 16 December 2005 - 21:34

Branca's car at Bern 1950 was entered by the driver.

The Maserati 4CL c/n 1582 had been delivered to Guido Barbieri in 1946. Barbieri raced it at Turin and Milan, then this car disappeared, only to reappear in Branca's hands in 1949.
I was told that Barbieri used the chassis for his A6 sports car which had originally a pontoon chassis. I have no proof for that. It can be conjuctered that the engine was used in other Maseratis, until when Barbieri quit racing and this car was reassembled and sold.
Branca purchased this Maserati with the financial help of friends from the Valais, like him.

#5 D-Type

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Posted 16 December 2005 - 22:34

Allesandro,

Totally OT, can you clarify the Milano/Milan question please?
I always thought that the Italian is "Milano" and the English for reasons of their own say "Milan". And I thought the same applied to Torino/Turin, Roma/Rome, Firenze/Florence, Sicilia/Sicily, Venezia/Venice.
Now you mention local dialects and I'm totally confused.

brickyard,
I would hold on before changing the 'Scuderia Achille Varzi' as entrant. Sometimes the organisers would accept an entry in the name of a team but not in the name of the driver, so it is quite likely that Branca's own car was entered under the Scuderia name. Often Maserati private owners like Jo Bonnier were entered in the name of the factory. Consider 1952 when Stirling Moss with his Cooper-Alta Special, which bore only passing reference to the Surbiton-made cars, was entered in the French, German and Italian GPs by the Cooper Car Company

#6 David McKinney

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Posted 16 December 2005 - 22:48

Originally posted by alessandro silva
the complete name was "Scuderia Automobilistica Milan S/A". Milan means Milano in the local dialect. Since Milan means Milano in English, many people thought it was fancier to translate it as Milano. S/A means joint-stock company.

Which leads to the question of what the later (Speluzzi-engined) cars should be called - ?

#7 Vitesse2

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Posted 17 December 2005 - 00:21

Duncan: I thought Alessandro's answer was crystal clear. But then I asked him the same thing a while ago ... :)

And I think the usually-derided "Maserati-Milan" is actually correct, David.

However, I thought it was Squadra Achille Varzi, rather than Scuderia?

#8 alessandro silva

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Posted 17 December 2005 - 10:54

From Auto Italiana 10/Febr/1946

Posted Image


@David
Re the Speluzzi-engined car. It was called Milan during 1950. I did not check later, but I suppose Milan is correct.

#9 David McKinney

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Posted 17 December 2005 - 11:11

Thanks, Richard and Alessandro

#10 GIGLEUX

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Posted 17 December 2005 - 18:00

1950 Swiss GP, from official program:

n°2: Equipo Argentino "Achille Varzi", Buenos Aires, Gonzalez José Froilan

n°34: Scuderia Milan, Milano, Bonetto Felice

n°40: Anton Branca, Sirre, Branca Anton

#11 GIGLEUX

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Posted 17 December 2005 - 18:01

Read Sierre and not Sirre!

#12 uechtel

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Posted 18 December 2005 - 18:55

Posted Image
(from Automobil Revue, 31.5.1950, preview to the Swiss GP)

#13 GIGLEUX

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Posted 18 December 2005 - 19:30

The same in the french edition of 01/06/1950.

Now The Motor June 7 1950:

Posted Image

But I prefer to refer to official program where it is Anton every year he entered a swiss race (Genève, Bern, Erlen).