31 replies to this topic

[bschenker]

I was 1967 in Alf Francis Workshop for sometimes, on the return from Siracusa I.

I want find the place of this workshop ad Modena.

I found in a flyer from the Scuderia Centro Sud driver’s school these images, its lucks lick I remember the place.



Some wear can help?

.

[Bjorn Kjer]

Sorry , I dont want to be impertinent , but how many Alf Francis is there ?

[Allen Brown]

Just the one, but his name wasn't Alf Francis.

[bschenker]

Just the one, but his name wasn't Alf Francis.

Sorry, how was his name?

[Rob Ryder]

His real name was Alphons Kovaleski IIRC
Rob

[Bjorn Kjer]

Wasnt that Oscar from US ?

Here is a list to help :

Alf Francis by Woolf , Alf Francis by Dennis David ,Alf Francis`s Cooper T75 F2 cars by Richard Neale,
The Derrington-Francis ATS by Ian Senior , Cooper T77-who,when,where by Teegaflee,Cooper T77-ATS
byHerbert , Francis,Boor & Co. by Wolf , all on this TNF.

[anjakub]

Alphons Kovaleski is English spelling. His first and original Polish name - Alfons Kowaleski.

[David McKinney]

Did he ever change it legally to Alf Francis?

[willy.henderickx]

Oscar Kovaleski was a Sports Car racer in US whereas Alf Francis was a mechanical genius working in UK.

Willy

[Doug Nye]

Right on the first count, wrong on the second. Oscar Kovaleski is not being confused with Alfons Kowaleski here - and 'Alf Francis' did indeed end up moving first from England to Italy and later from Italy to the USA. Nor was he really 'a mechanical genius' I am afraid.

Stirling and Rob Walker both had inordinate faith in him and he was certainly a great practical mechanic...but that's a world away from being 'a mechanical genius'. Several excellent judges within the contemporary Formula 1 scene regarded his work as being "pretty agricultural" and more blamed him for several failures on the cars that Moss drove. He had his fans and his detractors, but even his greatest contemporary fans didn't give him the status of 'a genius'.

DCN

[willy.henderickx]

Well Doug,

If you say so it must be so. You were very close to the British Racing world. I, always read your books with interests as they are well documented.

Willy

[Allen Brown]

If you've seen the F1 Serenissima that is running in historic racing this year and is almost certainly Alf's work, you'll have to agree with Doug's assessment of "argricultural".

[ex Rhodie racer]

This might be of interest



March 3rd, 2004

Classic Motorbooks

Alf Francis--Racing Mechanic****

G.T. Foulis & Co., LTD. London, 1957
Hardbound, 330 pages
Found at LMGAuto




A question our readers may have is, why are we reviewing a book which, on the surface, is about an "English" racing mechanic (Francis was born in Poland, emigated to Great Britain; his real last name was Kovaleski), who gained fame for maintaining Altas and H.W.M.s, (both British cars)?

First, on its own, the book is a treasure. Motor racing books, in fact automotive books in general, are not usually referred to as a "good read", much less a page turner. This one is. The combination of the outspoken and often stubborn Francis and the efforts of Peter Lewis, who at the time was the Motor Racing Correspondent of "The Observer", creates a vivid, hilarious, and evocative look at racing on the continent in the early 1950s. It is full of not only human stories, but of mechanical woes, and written so well it is almost impossible to put it down.

Second, the British car content, though significant, is by far overshadowed by the descriptions of racing in Italy and France. And in addition to being the chief mech for John Heath, Francis maintained the Whitehead Ferrari F1 car for the 1952 season, and in 1954, was working with the Maserati factory to ensure that the Moss "Green Maserati" was up to the usual Moss/Francis expectations. The tales of the 1954-5 season alone are worth the price of the book.

Alf Francis began his career as a motor racing mechanic, when in 1948, he answered an newspaper ad and applied as a mechanic to John Heath. Despite never having worked on a race car, he was hired, as his resume offered a real plus. Francis was fluent in several different languages, and Heath wanted to go racing on the continent. Francis would be not only the chief mechanic but a team manager who would make all the arrangements necessary for getting a team of racecars through France, Italy, and Germany.

Initially drafted to work on Geoffrey Taylor’s GP Alta, Francis soon became involved in the creation of the H.W.M. Alta, then, by 1950, a complete run of cars to compete in the new Formula 2. During the winter a team of four people worked to construct the cars, working 16 hour days seven days a week. The amount of work was all-encompassing. "We never thought or talked of anything else, not even on those rare occasions when there was time to sit down and have a quiet cup of tea." The conditions at best were primitive, and the base of knowledge of engineering or suspension was so small, at first Francis didn’t even comprehend the essentials of power to weight ratios.

Once completed, Francis hauled the cars through France, and over the Alps (no tunnels then) in a flathead Ford powered truck, prepared them, managed the team and repaired the inevitable damage. Enroute to the 1950 Rome Grand Prix, Francis drove through the Mt. Cenis Pass, got totally lost in Turin, getting help from the Police to find their way out. In Genoa they got lost again, only two have the transporter die on a tramway track. Along came a tram, and all the passengers got out and helped push the truck several hundred yards to safety. "As one Italian explained to me: 'We like to help you because you have racing cars. And anyway we want to get home!'" Francis had more adventures on the road than the drivers did on the track and describes them with both joy and cynicism. Like many, Francis fell in love with the Italians, though he would never have said it that way.

H.W.M. had employed a young man named Stirling Moss, who in turn recognized Alf’s abilities, and when the Moss family purchased a new Maserati 250F (serial number 2508) in early 1954, Francis went to work as the Moss Equipe chief mechanic. "I did not know that I should cover over fifteen thousand miles in the Commer van during that memorable 1954 season, cross the Channel nine times, negotiate the mountain passes of the Alps fifteen times, and cros more than thirty international frontiers in order to deliver the Maserati safely to fifteen major meetings in seven European countries". Arriving at Maserati to coordinate the preparation of the Moss Maserati (seat position, pedals, paint, tires, were all different on the Moss car) Francis met and established lifelong relationships with both Guerino Bertocchi and Fantuzzi. Although the Moss Maserati was an independent, Maserati supported the equipe as if a factory car, for they knew that Moss was by far the best Maserati driver, yet still too inexperienced in F1 to drive for the factory.

Francis had some interesting insights as to the fate of the 250F effort after Moss rather unexpectedly bolted to Mercedes Benz in 1955. "In my opinion, what Stirling did had far-reaching consequences. Had he stayed with Maserati during 1955 I am convinced there would have been a very different approach to the sport that season by Signor Orsi. He might have even produced the V8, but naturally an organization like Maserati is not going to spend a lot of money on development of such a power unit unless there is someone ..(as good as Moss).. to drive the car."

Francis went on to develop the Rob Walker F2/F1 Cooper Climax, which in turn led to him working again with Moss. But the book stops in at the end of 1957 season. Francis would also be involved in the ATS GT, but Alf Francis--Racing Mechanic, would be, unfortunately, the only book by that unique and colorful Pole.

[llmaurice]

Alf might not have been what the enthusaists of motor racing call "a genius" but he helped hold a good team together in the difficult late '50s and could stay up and work all night as did many others (Willie Griffiths ,Stan Ellworth ,Brit Pearse ,Tony Robinson et al ).
He'd then look after the interests of his men ,and long after the hooray Henrys and anoraks had all gone off to their various post race pursuits , load up cars / wreckage , have a good drink with team and opposition ,then off ot the next venue .
Nobody needed to be a genius for that but there weren't many in the smaller and less cosseted teams that could stand the pace for long.
Bloody good bloke for me and a pity that his decline was so steep once his sort was considered as no longer necessary.

[ReWind]

Originally posted by willy.henderickx
Oscar Kovaleski was a Sports Car racer in US

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Oscar Kovaleski is not being confused with Alfons Kowaleski here

[Nitpicking mode ON] Correct spelling is Oscar Koveleski. [Nitpicking mode OFF]

I think his real first name is Anthony. If "Oscar" is in fact a nick-name maybe someone knows how he earned it.

[ex Rhodie racer]

Originally posted by llmaurice
Alf might not have been what the enthusaists of motor racing call "a genius" but he helped hold a good team together in the difficult late '50s and could stay up and work all night as did many others (Willie Griffiths ,Stan Ellworth ,Brit Pearse ,Tony Robinson et al ).
He'd then look after the interests of his men ,and long after the hooray Henrys and anoraks had all gone off to their various post race pursuits , load up cars / wreckage , have a good drink with team and opposition ,then off ot the next venue .
Nobody needed to be a genius for that but there weren't many in the smaller and less cosseted teams that could stand the pace for long.
Bloody good bloke for me and a pity that his decline was so steep once his sort was considered as no longer necessary.

Well said that man.

[Doug Nye]

Originally posted by llmaurice
Alf might not have been what the enthusaists of motor racing call "a genius" but he helped hold a good team together in the difficult late '50s and could stay up and work all night as did many others (Willie Griffiths ,Stan Ellworth ,Brit Pearse ,Tony Robinson et al ).
He'd then look after the interests of his men ,and long after the hooray Henrys and anoraks had all gone off to their various post race pursuits , load up cars / wreckage , have a good drink with team and opposition ,then off ot the next venue .
Nobody needed to be a genius for that but there weren't many in the smaller and less cosseted teams that could stand the pace for long.
Bloody good bloke for me and a pity that his decline was so steep once his sort was considered as no longer necessary.

Absolutely - and his wonderful book is the finest motor racing work ever by a non-driver (with help from Peter Lewis) - while the street wisdom he learned during his escape from Poland at the start of the war provided an academy for several generations of mechanics who worked with or under him into the early 1960s.

Trouble is, of course, that the likes of Ron Dennis today could hardly condone his chief mechanic breaking off work on a car for a quick hour in the whorehouse before resuming work, completely refreshed and apparently totally tireless (testimony the late Rob Walker, Brit Pearce, plus several others, still living )...

DCN

[David Birchall]

"Alf Francis, Racing Mechanic' is probably my all time favourite automotive book. I read it while I was campaigning a front engined Elva FJ and the fantasies that arose as a result of that book!.....

[llmaurice]

Quite Doug , but Alf of course would never be working for one of the current big teams would he ?
He (like many of us) belonged to an era where the privateer could race Formula one and even take on the might of Ferrari and Maserati . BRM and Vanwall , although large outfits had problems enough necessitating bringing in the likes of Chunky to help sort them out .
What we all got up to was acceptable as long as the cars appeared on the grid (in some cases long enough to grab start money and get us home ) and hopefully gave a reasonable account against the giants of the day . Ciffs 4th at Spa in '58 will always be in my memory. "Corporate " clothing was usually a mixture of old Dunlops overalls or Lotus special whites (read grey or black into that depending on how long they had been on ones back )
Try to compare say Mike Costin with Ross Braun for instance . Both did an excellent job but could one imagine Mike Costin working for Briatorre ?

[Doug Nye]

- lovely thought, lovely thought. I think Briatore might have to consult the idiomatic English phrase book to translate some of the truths Mike would deem necessary to point out!

On a slightly different track - do tell us your recollection of Cliff Allison's score at Spa???? Perhaps this ought to be a separate thread somewhere for the racing mechanics - past and present - amongst us to recall how things really happened....?

DCN

[Bjorn Kjer]

Hi all , I have found that nearly all threads gives more (mostly) or less info to a subject ! So too this one on Alf Francis ;I again learned news ! But I still dont get it , that there has to be so many short threads (many times) on the same theme , so my question as to how many AFs there was, was meant to be ironic ! Also a habit often seems to be ,that the infos does not relate to the title of the thread , like here! I am aware of our Search BB , and find it amusing at times going through a lot of threads searching , but in this case like many other all AF threads are not together , but spread over many pages ! I believe it would have been really nice with just 1 thread , so much info is not here anyway !

Kowaleski I did not know , and my q on Oscar was meant to be funny , but again I find that I might just be better off without trying to be ironic or funny in another language !

[bschenker]

I have sea many treads, but al speaks about cars and for one or other reason also from Alf Francis, but I cant find any indication about the place from his workshop.

For sometime this workshop was also for Serenissima. In that’s time hi worked on the tubular “De Dion” rear axle presented to the press together with the Serenissima project.

No wear have a road name, may by with number or the full address?

.

[Tim Murray]

Eight years on, and we have an answer to Beat's question above about the Modena address. Here's the fascinating letter from Alf to Mal Simpson that Pallas1970 has posted in the Mal Simpson thread - I hope he won't mind me quoting it here:
 

Letter from his old colleague Alf Francis, I would have been tempted to take the job offer ...

I wonder what the letters 'M K D' in the Ecurie Alf Francis logo stood for - K for Kovaleski, perhaps?

[bschenker]

I asked  also Italian people, like Dallara, without results.

 

Many thanks

 

Beat

[pallas1970]

I asked  also Italian people, like Dallara, without results.

 

Many thanks

 

Beat

 

Perhaps 'M' is for motorsport, 'K' for Kowalewski and 'D' for Danzig (Gdansk) where he was born? 

[Parkesi]

Eight years on, and we have an answer to Beat's question above about the Modena address. Here's the fascinating letter from Alf to Mal Simpson that Pallas1970 has posted in the Mal Simpson thread - I hope he won't mind me quoting it here:
 

I wonder what the letters 'M K D' in the Ecurie Alf Francis logo stood for - K for Kovaleski, perhaps?

Mike Parkes wrote a letter to David McKay (1st February 1966) covering several topics and he mentioned Alf Francis: "He is shortly giving up his flat in Modena and returning to England after abortive racing projects with ATS, a F.3 team and difficult times with Colotti. I am sorry about this, but Alf has an unhappy knack of exerting his energies in the wrong direction".

[D28]

"Mechanical genius"may be loosely bandied about,still some motor racing peers of the era probably fit the description.

 

Would Gulio Alfieri, Jack Brabham, John Cooper, Keith Duckworth qualify? Anyone care to suggest a candidate?

[bschenker]

I think this was his last workplace!

Returning from the Siracusa (I) Race, on 21. May 1967 with the Cooper ATS, Alf Francis was still on this place. He was working on the Serenissima Cars, F1 and Group C.

[proviz]

I think this was his last workplace!

Returning from the Siracusa (I) Race, on 21. May 1967 with the Cooper ATS, Alf Francis was still on this place. He was working on the Serenissima Cars, F1 and Group C.

 

Not working on Group C, of course, but Serenissima's Group 6 cars, which were seen 1968-70.

[pallas1970]

[pallas1970]

[pallas1970]