Arturo Merzario

As a newbie on TNF, I have been surfing old threads (and having a wonderful time doing it...).

Some of them referred to the Kauhsen F1 cars of 1979, that Merzario took over and ran as Merzario A2, or was it A4? That is the question.

The only contemporary reports I have (Autosport) refer to it as the Merzario A2-04, except for the Dino Ferrari Trophy at Imola, where it is called an A4.

Sheldon calls it/them Kauhsen WK-004, as his practice is to never rename a chassis.

Steve Small "The Grand Prix Who's Who 2nd ed" calls it/them Merzario A2, as does David Hayhoe/David Holland "Grand Prix Data Book 2".
Racer.Demon and fines in a thread on the 1979 Gran Premio Dino Ferrari in November 2000 (http://www.atlasf1.c...&threadid=12475) calls it/them A2-04 and Kauhsen WK04, renamed Merzario A2-04, respectively.

To confuse matters Racer.Demon in a earlier thread on uncompetitive F1 cars in April 2000 (http://www.atlasf1.c...=&threadid=1177) talks about the Merzario A4 "which was largely based on the defunct Kauhsen tub."

Allen Brown at OldRacingCars.com calls it A4/1.

So what is it?

And what happened to A3??

Btw, does anyone have any pictures of the Kauhsen-Merzario???

Regards,
Conny

That A2/04 designation by me, mentioned above, was simply taken over from Felix Muelas's notes. Perhaps Felix and fines could tell us their original source(s), which I thought was Sheldon, but that doesn't appear to be true.

What I do know is that the Merzario A2 and the Kauhsen WK debuted simultaneously at the Spanish GP.

So unless this is another one of those messy things straight down to chassis numbers, I can't see the WK actually being the A2.

With this chassis-number mess I mean the following possibility, but all just conjecture of course: it might be that A2/01 and A2/02 were the original A2s, and for instance A2/03 and A2/04 the rechristened WK003 and WK004. (Compare Williams FW05, where FW05/1 was Hesketh 308C/1 while FW05/2 was ISO-Marlboro IR2/"Williams FW02", etc.).

If this is not the case, I think the A4 as a new designation for the WK is our safest bet. FORIX has a changeover to the A4 from the British GP on.

But then you never know at the back end of the grid... And yes, no A3 in sight anywhere.

That fits with Hodges, Mattijs. But where do you get an A2/02? Hodges says there was only one, construction of a second chassis being abandoned in favour of the A4 (formerly the WK).

As I said - only conjecture.

If the A2/04 designation were right, then you would need have A2/02 and A2/03 as well, wouldn't you?

So if you say that A2/1 was the only car ever made, then A2/04 doesn't make any sense at all. Further proof for A4/1, I'd say, if that wasn't clear already.

Incidentally, how many WKs did Art take over? AFAIK, there was more than one. WK001 was the spacey contraption tested by Neve, but I believe the car that was actually raced - well, practiced - by Brancatelli was not the actual prototype.

Originally posted by Racer.Demon
As I said - only conjecture.

If the A2/04 designation were right, then you would need have A2/02 and A2/03 as well, wouldn't you?

So if you say that A2/1 was the only car ever made, then A2/04 doesn't make any sense at all. Further proof for A4/1, I'd say, if that wasn't clear already.

Incidentally, how many WKs did Art take over? AFAIK, there was more than one. WK001 was the spacey contraption tested by Neve, but I believe the car that was actually raced - well, practiced - by Brancatelli was not the actual prototype.

This is what you get when you push the quote button instead of the edit button, and then the edit/delete button keeps on stalling and stalling...

(Have seen this happening before - something not good with the edit script?)

Originally posted by Racer.Demon

If the A2/04 designation were right, then you would need have A2/02 and A2/03 as well, wouldn't you?

I think that Merzario numbered his chassis the Ferrari way, i.e. not starting over when a new model arrived. I have 2 Merzario A1/A1B (no. 01 and 02). When the A2 was debuted at Long Beach, Autosport had it as A2-1, but at the next race, Spain, it is called A2-3. My thinking here is that as the A2 was new, Autosport gave it no 1 without checking, then got a look at the chassis plate in Spain, and changed it to 3 instead.
That would make it natural for the next Merzario chassis to be no 4, regardless of model of the chassis.
It just strikes me that this may be the reason for the confusion. If the chassis is numbered 4, and the A2 is number 3, if wouldn't be to great a stretch to imagine that most people thought that it must be an A2 : .

Originally posted by Racer.Demon

Incidentally, how many WKs did Art take over? AFAIK, there was more than one. WK001 was the spacey contraption tested by Neve, but I believe the car that was actually raced - well, practiced - by Brancatelli was not the actual prototype.

Quote from Nigel Roebuck's report in Autosport on the British GP July 19, 1979:
"Arturo Merzario, who has now (for reasons unclear to this writer) purchased the two appalling Kauhsen chassis from their former owner,..."
So, Merzario had two of these, probably the two chassis used by Brancatelli, 004 and 005. Sheldon has Merzario using the 004, so what he did with 005 is anyone's guess.

As I looked through my Autosports from 1979, trying to research my original post, I found this interesting little item, in the June 7 issue.
"Arturo Merzario has decided to field a new Formula 1 car bearing his name in 1980, plans to buy two current chassis having appearantly fallen through. Art is looking for a designer who will be required to live and work at his team's base near Como - we will pass on any applications."
I wonder, was that a reference to the Kauhsen cars, or to something else...

I don't know if my recollection is accurate, but I recall it like this:

There were two A1s, chassis 1 and 2.

Then there was one A2, chassis 3.

The next car would obviously be chassis 4 (numbered in sequence without regard to type number), but if it still was an A2 or now an A3, I can't say for sure, but it certainly wasn't an A4! I believe it was still called an A2.

conjohn just beat me to it. You can also think of Lotus 33 or 91 chassis numbers, which carried over from the 25 and 87 series, respectively.

Originally posted by Racer.Demon
(Compare Williams FW05, where FW05/1 was Hesketh 308C/1 while FW05/2 was ISO-Marlboro IR2/"Williams FW02", etc.).

Sorry, can't let it stay that way: FW05-01 was indeed 308C-01, but FW05-02 was a new car built on something that would have been 308C-02 if it had been completed!

Iso-Marlboro IR-02 was destroyed by Ganley at the Nürburgring, the replacement chassis (either also called IR-02, or IR-03 - sources differ) did become FW01 (or possibly FW02, again sources differ). FW03 was built completely new in '74, and never had an IR designation. FW04 followed in 1975, and FW04-02 later that year.

Originally posted by conjohn
I think that Merzario numbered his chassis the Ferrari way

[...]

It just strikes me that this may be the reason for the confusion. If the chassis is numbered 4, and the A2 is number 3, if wouldn't be to great a stretch to imagine that most people thought that it must be an A2 : .

Ah, that would go a long way into explaining it, I agree.

So is it a case of:

- A2/3 and A2/4, with the A2/4 actually being WK004 (the two 4s being a coincidence, of course), à la Williams FW05

or:

- A2/3 and A4/4, with A4 designating the fact that it is a different design (i.e. the WK) from the A2?

What do contemporary Autosports list for the British GP and beyond?

Originally posted by conjohn
Quote from Nigel Roebuck's report in Autosport on the British GP July 19, 1979:
"Arturo Merzario, who has now (for reasons unclear to this writer) purchased the two appalling Kauhsen chassis from their former owner,..."
So, Merzario had two of these, probably the two chassis used by Brancatelli, 004 and 005. Sheldon has Merzario using the 004, so what he did with 005 is anyone's guess.

Ah yes, so it was: 004 and 005. Which begs the question: what's with 001, 002 and 003?

And what happened between the white mid-wing WK tested in full splendour by Neve and the shabby black machine entered for Branca in Spain?

Originally posted by fines

Sorry, can't let it stay that way: FW05-01 was indeed 308C-01, but FW05-02 was a new car built on something that would have been 308C-02 if it had been completed!

Iso-Marlboro IR-02 was destroyed by Ganley at the Nürburgring, the replacement chassis (either also called IR-02, or IR-03 - sources differ) did become FW01 (or possibly FW02, again sources differ). FW03 was built completely new in '74, and never had an IR designation. FW04 followed in 1975, and FW04-02 later that year.

I was indeed referring to the replacement chassis, Michael, and was convinced that it had become one of the FW05s too. But I may of course be wrong...

Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember a thread where we tried to thrash out the details, but somehow we never succeeded in doing so, or did we? Maybe you could start a new thread posting your version of pre-WGPE chassis history for a start. I for one would like to learn...;)

The Kauhsen chassis numbers have had me baffled for years, and still have! I don't believe for a minute that there were five F1 cars, rather only two. Chances are, he did it the same way as Arturo: chassis numbers 1 to 3 for his ex-Elf F2 and ex-Kojima F1 cars. Or maybe even for the Alfa Romeo sports cars?

Originally posted by Racer.Demon
Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember a thread where we tried to thrash out the details, but somehow we never succeeded in doing so, or did we? Maybe you could start a new thread posting your version of pre-WGPE chassis history for a start. I for one would like to learn...;)

That's quite simple, I can do it from memory:

FX3 - 1972 Politoys FX3 chassis, renamed Iso-Marlboro FX3B in 1973
FX3-02 - 1973 Iso-Marlboro FX3B chassis
IR-01 - 1973 Iso-Marlboro IR chassis (debut: Spain), renamed Williams FW02 or FW01 in 1974
IR-02 - 1973 Iso-Marlboro IR chassis (debut: Spain)
IR-03 or IR-02 (B) - 1973 Iso-Marlboro IR chassis (debut: Austria), renamed Williams FW01 or FW02 in 1974
FW03 - 1974 Williams FW chassis (debut: Spain), possibly later rebuilt around new monocoque
FW04 - 1975 Williams FW04 chassis (debut: Spain?)
FW04-02 - 1975 Williams FW04 chassis (debut: Italy? USA?)
FW05-01 - 1975 Hesketh 308C chassis acquired in 1976, renamed Wolf-Williams FW05
FW05-02 - 1976 Williams FW05 chassis, built upon second 308C monocoque, renamed Wolf-Williams FW05
WR-01 - 1977 Wolf Mk 1 chassis
WR-02 - 1977 Wolf Mk 1 chassis
WR-03 - 1977 Wolf Mk 1 chassis
WR-04 - 1978 Wolf Mk 1 chassis, renamed Theodore-Wolf in 1979
WR-05 - 1978 Wolf Mk 2 chassis
WR-06 - 1978 Wolf Mk 2 chassis, renamed Theodore-Wolf in 1979
WR-07 - 1979 Wolf Mk 3 chassis, renamed Fittipaldi F7-02 (or F7-01?) in 1980
WR-08 - 1979 Wolf Mk 3 chassis
WR-09 - 1979 Wolf Mk 3 chassis, renamed Fittipaldi F7-01 (or F7-02?) in 1980

That's it!

Originally posted by Racer.Demon


What do contemporary Autosports list for the British GP and beyond?

Autosport calls it A2-4 at every Grand Prix; only at the non-champ race at Imola it is called A4 (without a chassis number).

Just for a split second I thought that Merzario was doing a Wolf, i.e. just calling his chassis Merzario A, and then tagging the chassis sequence number to it. That would explain how it could be called A4 (if it ever was). But that doesn't fit in with A2-3...

I am now inclined to agree with fines, that it probably, however improbably, was called A2-4..., so I'll have to revise my database again :

Originally posted by fines

That's quite simple, I can do it from memory

Thanks Michael, very nice

Are you sure that everyone will agree with it?;)

OT again, but I was thinking, wasn't there a FW05-3 of some sorts, that later went back to being a 308C in the Aurora championship?

Originally posted by Racer.Demon
OT again, but I was thinking, wasn't there a FW05-3 of some sorts, that later went back to being a 308C in the Aurora championship?

Indeed, I have John Cooper campaigning a Hesketh 308C-3 during the 1978 Aurora season. He also had chassis 308C-1 as a spare.
This would mean that he had the original 308C, that had been converted to a FW05, plus the second built FW05 (FW05-3) converted to a 308C... ...don't you just love this...

Originally posted by Racer.Demon


Thanks Michael, very nice

Are you sure that everyone will agree with it?;)

No.


Btw, I noticed I misnamed the 1974 car, it was still an Iso-Marlboro then.

I've just caught up with this one but Fines has, as usual, hit every nail on the head.

I do love the idea that old Art took time out to decide how he wanted his car numbering system to work.

Allen

Did'nt Brian McGuire die in his ex- Wolf-Williams renamed a McGuire?

Yes, one of the FW04s. He killed himself in it.

Allen

Did'nt Brian McGuire die in his ex- Wolf-Williams renamed a McGuire?

Yes he did, in a nasty accident on a murky day at Brands.

Having been involved (as I have mentioned before on other threads) as a part - time helper with the Token project, I think that time may have dulled the seriousness with which these under-funded F1 efforts were undertaken. At Token, there were the remains of the Rondel Motul F2 team, including Neil Trundle, one of the best hands-on engineers in the business.

In 1973, with the Ray Jessop designed Motul M1, they had brought F1 standards of presentation and preparation to the unloved world of F2. The build of the Token was taken with the utmost seriousness, and with a better manpower/time ratio would have achieved much more. Had the oil crisis not happened, then the derided (in some quarters) Token would have been the first step in Ron Dennis's F1 career, and would have been just the kind of no-nonsense, effective design to lay the foundation for the success he later achieved with the remnants of McLaren.

I am sure that Barry Boor would agree that a small budget was never used as an excuse for shoddiness or poor workmanship. The low budget F1 efforts of the mid-seventies brought a welcome element of diversity that is, sadly, in short supply these days.

Amen.

but not Amon

but not Amon

exactly - but you know what I mean !

One of the Merzario chassis has run on and off in demonstartion events in Italy fitted, I think, with some form of Alfa Montreal engine and a Kauhsen is in Belgium also.

Didnt the F2 Elf Jabouille car use the rear end from the Kauhsens for some reason or other ?

Originally posted by David Force
Didnt the F2 Elf Jabouille car use the rear end from the Kauhsens for some reason or other ?

ISTR Kauhsen took over the ex-Jabouille Elf cars and ran them as Kauhsen-Renaults in F2 in 1977.

There was a Merzario of some sort which took part in the demonstration parade at the "25 years of 3 litre F1" at Donington in 1991, IIRC it was one of the early ones painted dark red, I'll have a look in my albums tonight.

Originally posted by Macca
There was a Merzario of some sort which took part in the demonstration parade at the "25 years of 3 litre F1" at Donington in 1991, IIRC it was one of the early ones painted dark red, I'll have a look in my albums tonight.

Probably the March based thing, as his later ones backed by floor bath or whatever they were called were yellow. IIRC the Kaushen based A4 became his 1980 F2 non?

Donington '91. I was there. I remember it being yellow - A2/3?

Allen

From Grand Prix International Issue 4 (1979 Long Beach GP) :

MERZARIO: FINALLY A WING CAR

Brave little Arturo Merzario ran his new 03 at Long Beach for the first time. It is a ground effect car, but while the monocoque isn't the narrowest, it has large side pods. Its main disadvantage would appear to be its weight: 625 kilos against the 595 of the old 02. "I've built it completely of steel and aluminium" explained Arturo, "because titanium and magnesium are so expensive. I wanted to make sure I hadn't made any mistakes in the design, before using the more expensive materials on the second car". Merzario's budget is in the region of £250,000. Consequently he has to be careful with his expenses.

Thanks, dolomite

That would be A2-03. Do you have access to GPI for GB '79, and if so, what does it say about Arturo's 'new' car?

Originally posted by conjohn
Thanks, dolomite

That would be A2-03. Do you have access to GPI for GB '79, and if so, what does it say about Arturo's 'new' car?

I found a pile of them in the loft. I think that one may be in there somewhere, but I haven't had time to look properly yet. Watch this space.

Incidentally the Long Beach issue just lists the chassis numbers as 'Merzario-Ford 02' and 'Merzario-Ford 03', no mention of A2 or A3.

OK.

GPI Issue 6 (Belgian GP) :

MERZARIO

Merzario-Ford A2/03: Arturo Merzario (I)
Merzario-Ford A2/02: spare

Arturo does what he can, and he can still do quite a lot. Unfortunately the same can't be said of the car. "However," he said, "It's very good, well balanced, a good car. It holds the road well. But with the tyres they give me, I just have no grip. I can't put the power down and can't accelerate properly. I did 42 laps in the last session, really trying hard. Result? Zero." And Arturo didn't qualify.

KAUHSEN

Kauhsen-Ford WK 005: Gianfranco Brancatelli (I)

The farce continues: part of the clutch broke on Friday. It was repaired and reinforced for Saturday, but it caused another part to break. The spare car was in Aachen, at the factory, so Brancatelli had no car with which to practice.

GPI Issue 9 (British GP) :

TEAM MERZARIO

Merzario-Ford A4/01: Arturo Merzario (I)
Merzario-Ford A2/03: spare

How can you but admire his courage! His enthusiasm for motor racing has led Arturo to build (with Dall'ara) a brand new car. It's a real wing car, the A4, with a narrow monocoque, one central fuel tank, front and rear suspension operated by lever arms, brakes within the wheels and very much inclined radiators on either side of the cockpit. The A4 first turned a wheel at Silverstone and it wasn't without problems, in particular a fauly fuel system. During the first official session, poor Arturo did only nine laps and in the middle of the second his engine blew up. The second non-qualifier.

So no mention here of the Kauhsen connection then.
Odd how they kept going on about Merzario's 'bravery' and 'courage'. I suppose you'd have to be fairly brave, to repeatedly venture out onto the track in that thing....

Originally posted by dolomite
OK.

GPI Issue 6 (Belgian GP) :




GPI Issue 9 (British GP) :



So no mention here of the Kauhsen connection then.
Odd how they kept going on about Merzario's 'bravery' and 'courage'. I suppose you'd have to be fairly brave, to repeatedly venture out onto the track in that thing....

So It would seem that Dallara built an F2 car by default then, as he used the A4 as an F2 car after F1 didnt he?

Originally posted by ghinzani


So It would seem that Dallara built an F2 car by default then, as he used the A4 as an F2 car after F1 didnt he?

Wasn't that the Merzario M1, the one that was built to accomodate both a BMW F2 and a DFV F1?

Originally posted by dolomite
GPI Issue 6 (Belgian GP) :

MERZARIO

Merzario-Ford A2/03: Arturo Merzario (I)
Merzario-Ford A2/02: spare

Was there such a creature as an A2/02? A1B/02 I would say, unless it was updated to A2 spec.

Originally posted by dolomite
GPI Issue 9 (British GP) :

TEAM MERZARIO

Merzario-Ford A4/01: Arturo Merzario (I)
Merzario-Ford A2/03: spare

Interesting to see another source calling it an A4, and A4/01 at that.

Originally posted by dolomite
Incidentally the Long Beach issue just lists the chassis numbers as 'Merzario-Ford 02' and 'Merzario-Ford 03', no mention of A2 or A3.

Even more interesting... puts the Wolf numbering system back in play again, or rather the early Tyrrell... and the more I think about it, the more logical it looks... hmmmm

What does GPI say about the later races in 1979?

Thanks again, dolomite

In Germany, GPI has A4/01...

"That's it" exclaimed Arturo, "now my car is completely finished. In England it was still incomplete"

There was a Merzario of some sort which took part in the demonstration parade at the "25 years of 3 litre F1" at Donington in 1991, IIRC it was one of the early ones painted dark red, I'll have a look in my albums tonight.

And here it is:

Originally posted by roger_valentine

And here it is:

what shade of red is that?? seriously great pic, doesnt it look like the f2 car... hmmm!

Originally posted by conjohn

What does GPI say about the later races in 1979?

Unfortunately I don't have any further issues of GPI from 1979 apart from the German GP one (my copy of which is in French, for some reason).

That Merzario that took part in the Donington parade looks very very very similar to the 80 F2 car - it did have a DFV rather than a BMW 4 in the back I trust? Good Old Art and his recycling projects!

Originally posted by conjohn
What does GPI say about the later races in 1979?

These are the comments from the German language editions:
Austria/Netherlands: "A4/01: Arturo Merzario (I) A2/03: Reservewagen. Die Saison 79 wird für den couragierten Arturo zu einer einzigen Durststrecke. Der neue A4 konnte daran bisher auch nichts ändern. Meistens sind es Motorenprobleme, die dem armen Arturo den letzten Nerv rauben. In Österreich kosteten sie ihn viel Zeit. Genau genommen: Drei Viertel der gezeiteten Trainingsläufe. Der Rest reichte für Merzario natürlich nicht aus, um sich zu qualifizieren. Für Österreich hatte man die Karosserie des F6 (sic!) unter die Lupe genommen und vor allem an den Pontons gearbeitet, aber Arturo kehrte kurz entschlossen zu dem früheren A2-Modell zurück. Am Freitag Vormittag prügelte er seinen A2 geradezu um die Rennstrecke. Aber es half alles nicht. 12 Sekunden langsamer als Arnoux. Frustrierend! Wieder einmal fuhr Arturo völlig entnervt vor Beginn des Rennens nach Hause."

Italy: "A4/01: Arturo Merzario (I). Arturo war noch nie abergläubisch und sein neuer Sponsor kam ihm gerade recht. Auch wenn es bei ihm um so traurige Dinge geht wie Beerdigungen. Was Arturo das Herz schwer machte, waren ganz andere Dinge: Zum einen, dass der neue Sponsorvertrag auf Monza und Imola beschränkt ist, und zum anderen ärgerten ihn technischen Probleme am A4. Schneller als Rebaque, aber trotzdem noch zu langsam. 77/100 Sek. reichten da nicht aus."

Canada/USA: "A4/01: Arturo Merzario (I). Es war in Kanada und Amerika nicht anders als in der ganzen Saison. "Little Art" litt an der Unzuverlässigkeit und mangelnden Schnelligkeit seiner Eigenkonstruktion..."
From German language sources I have the following records for 1978

[U]Race  rallyeracing  Msa	Schwab   Prüller   sport auto[/U]  

ARG   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/001	1/01		   

BRA   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/001	n.a.			

SAF   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/001	AM1/01

USW   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/001	AM1/01

MON   A1/001		A1/01  n.a.	 n.a.	  n.a.

BEL   A1/001		A1/01  n.a.	 A1/001	n.a.

ESP   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/001	n.a.

SWE   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/01	 MA1

FRA   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01	A1B/001   n.a.

GBR   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01	A1B/001   A1B

GER   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01	A1B/001   n.a.

AUT   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01	A1B/001   n.a.

NED   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01	A1B/001   n.a.

ITA   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01

	  A2				   A1/02	A2		A1/2

USA   A2			A1/01  A1/02	A1/02	 A1

CAN   A2			A1/01  A1/02	A1/02	 A1B

and for 1979

[U]Race  rallyeracing  Msa	Schwab   Prüller   GPint.	  sport auto[/U] 

ARG   A1-02B		A/2	A1B/1	A1-02B	A/2B		A1B

BRA   A1-02B		A/2	A1B/1	A1-02B	A2/B		n.a.

SAF   A1-02B		A/2	A1B/1	A1-02B	A1B		 A1B

USW   A1-02B		A2	 A1B/1	A1-02B	02		  A1/02B

	  A3-01				A2/1	 A3-01	 03

ESP   A3-01		 A3	 A2/03	03-01	 03		  F1/04

BEL   A3-01		 A3	 A2/03	A3-01	 A2/03	   A3B

											  A2/02

MON   A3-01		 A2	 n.a.	 A3-01	 A2/03	   n.a.

FRA   A3-01		 A/2	A2/03	A3-01	 A2/03	   n.a.

GBR   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4-01	 A4/01	   A2

						   A2/03			  A2/0+

GER   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4-01	 A4/01	   n.a.

AUT   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4-01	 A4/01	   A2

											  A2/03

NED   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4-01	 A4/01	   n.a.

											  A2/03

ITA   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4-01	 A4/01	   n.a.

CAN   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4		A4/01	   n.a.

USA   A4			A2	 A2/04	A4		A4/01	   n.a.

Despite the obvious confusion I arrive at the conclusion that there were four or five different Merzario chassis.
A1/01 was the original car used from Argentina 1978 to Sweden 1978. A1/01B should be same chassis but updated to "B" specification since the French GP 1978.

A second chassis was introduced at the Italian GP 1978 and used until the end of the year. Question is: Was it A1/02, A1/02B, A1B/02 or in fact A2/01 resp. simply A2?

The chassis used from Argentina 1979 to Long Beach 1979 looked considerably different from the earlier 1978 car and resembled a wing car. Since I don't have any pictures of the afore-mentioned second car (introduced at Monza 1978) I am totally undecided whether these cars are one or the same or not. If they were not then the early 1979 car would have been the third chassis.

A third (or fourth, see above) car was used in practice at Long Beach 1979 for the first time and thereafter from Spain 1979 to the French GP 1979. This one was intended as a real wing car and should bear the designation A3. Obviously Merzario kept the option to build a second chassis of this type so the first chassis was named A3/01.

In fact he built another wing car to a different specification based on the Kauhsen chassis and called it A4/01. That car was used from the British GP 1979 to the end of the 1979 season.

So the interesting question isn't the one on behalf of A3/01 or A4/01 but on behalf of the chassis that was used in late 1978 and early 1979. Was it one and the same or were there two chassis? In the latter case the first one would have been the second chassis of the development of the A1 design and the second one would have been the third chassis, but the second type (the solitary A2 design).

What should be helpful are photos of the car that was introduced at Monza 1978 and raced for the rest of 1978. I reckon there must have been pictures in Italian magazine "AUTOSPRINT" - Guido, where are you?

I have added the information from Autosport and Sheldon's Black Books to Reinhard's excellent list.

[U]Race  rallyeracing  Msa	Schwab   Prüller   sport auto  Autosport  Sheldon[/U]

ARG   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/001	1/01		A1-01	  A1-01

BRA   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/001	n.a.		A1-01	  A1-01

SAF   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/001	AM1/01	  A1-01	  A1-01

USW   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/001	AM1/01	  A1-01	  A1-01

MON   A1/001		A1/01  n.a.	 n.a.	  n.a.		A1-01	  A1-01

BEL   A1/001		A1/01  n.a.	 A1/001	n.a.		-		  A1-01

ESP   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/001	n.a.		A1-01	  A1-01

SWE   A1/001		A1/01  A1/01	A1/01	 MA1		 A1-01	  A1-01

FRA   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01	A1B/001   n.a.		A1-01B	 A1-01

GBR   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01	A1B/001   A1B		 A1-01B	 A1-01

GER   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01	A1B/001   n.a.		A1-01B	 A1-01

AUT   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01	A1B/001   n.a.		A1-01B	 A1-01

														  A1-02	  A1-02

NED   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01	A1B/001   n.a.		A1-01B	 A1-01

														  A1-02	  A1-02

ITA   A1B/001	   A1/01  A1/01						  A1-01B	 A1-01

	  A2				   A1/02	A2		A1/2				   A1-02

USA   A2			A1/01  A1/02	A1/02	 A1		  A1-01B	 A1-02

CAN   A2			A1/01  A1/02	A1/02	 A1B		 A2-01(sic) A1-02

Autosport (Jeff Hutchinson) on the Austrian GP:
"Arturo Merzario had his Mk2 Merzario chassis at this race, the car only finished in time for the Saturday morning session. It features a revised front suspension, and with it a lot cleaner nose section as well as a lot of titanium parts. 'It's not really a new car, just an improved old one', said Merzario who was plagued with fuel pressure problems in his first run with the car. Even so, he declared the new chassis better than the old, but he ran out of time to prove it before the rain began to fall. The unlucky Italian missed the race by just a hundreth of a second."

Sorry, Reinhard, no pictures of the new car.


and for 1979

[U]Race  rallyeracing  Msa	Schwab   Prüller   GPint.	  sport auto Autosport  Sheldon[/U]

ARG   A1-02B		A/2	A1B/1	A1-02B	A/2B		A1B		A1B-1	  A1-01

BRA   A1-02B		A/2	A1B/1	A1-02B	A2/B		n.a.	   A1B-1	  A1-01

SAF   A1-02B		A/2	A1B/1	A1-02B	A1B		 A1B		A1B-1	  A1-01

																				A1B-2

USW   A1-02B		A2	 A1B/1	A1-02B	02		  A1/02B	 A1B-1	  A1-01

	  A3-01				A2/1	 A3-01	 03					 A2-1	   A2-03

ESP   A3-01		 A3	 A2/03	03-01	 03		  F1/04	  A2-03	  A2-03

																				A1-01

BEL   A3-01		 A3	 A2/03	A3-01	 A2/03	   A3B		A2-03	  A2-03

											  A2/02							 A1-01

MON   A3-01		 A2	 n.a.	 A3-01	 A2/03	   n.a.	   A2-03	  A2-03

																				A1-01

FRA   A3-01		 A/2	A2/03	A3-01	 A2/03	   n.a.	   A2-03	  A2-03

GBR   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4-01	 A4/01	   A2		 A2-04	  A2-02

						   A2/03			  A2/0+				  A2-03	  WK1-004

GER   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4-01	 A4/01	   n.a.	   A2-04	  WK1-004

																				A2-03

AUT   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4-01	 A4/01	   A2		 A2-04	  WK1-004

											  A2/03							 A2-03

NED   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4-01	 A4/01	   n.a.	   A2-04	  WK1-004

											  A2/03

ITA   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4-01	 A4/01	   n.a.	   A2-04	  WK1-001

																				A2-03

CAN   A4-01		 A2	 A2/04	A4		A4/01	   n.a.	   A2-04	  WK1-004

USA   A4			A2	 A2/04	A4		A4/01	   n.a.	   A2-04	  WK1-004

Autosport (Jeff Hutchinson) of the US West Grand Prix:
"Last qualifier would have been Arturo Merzario who, after an assortment of problems with his new A2 chassis, ended up running the older car in the race. It all started out with a broken engine, the a split oil radiator, but he was finally prevented from running the new car when the subframe supporting the front suspension pick-up point sheared, and he declared that it would be unwise to attempt overnight repairs and then risk another failure in the race."

Autosport (Nigel Roebuck) on the British Grand Prix:
"Arturo Merzario, who has now (for reasons unclear to this writer) purchased the two appalling Kauhsen chassis from their former owner, did very few laps in practice, and failed to qualify,..."


David Hodges 'A-Z of Grand Prix Cars' (2001) :

A1 Concept drawings by the respected Giorgio Piola in 1977 promised a sleek car, but the 1978 reality was an inelegantly bulky device that dwarfed its driver. Expediently, Merzario utilized some components from his March 751 in the first car. This was conventional, with an aluminium monocoque, double wishbone front suspension, upper and lower links at the rear, and outboard springs all around. A DFV engine drove through a Hewland FGA five-speed gearbox. A second car had revised front suspension, and it was further modified for the last races of 1979 (sic, shouldn't that be the first races of 1979?), with smarter bodywork. This A1B was the only Merzario to qualify to start in Grands Prix in 1979, in the Argentine and US West races.

A2 Merzario and mechanic Simon Hadfield designed this ground-effects car, necessarily on economic lines and naturally with a DFV/Hewland combination. There were lower wishbones and top rocket arms front and rear, and springs were obviously inboard. However, it seemed that the monocoque was too broad to allow for adequate airflow.
Merzario tried to qualify it twice and, when he was injured, Gianfranco Brancatelli also made an unsuccessful attempt to get the A2 to a grid. A second car was never completed.

A4 Merzario acquired Kauhsen material when that hapless team collapsed early in 1979, and its WK was the basis of the ground-effects A4 (so Dallara's name was linked to Merzario). This car had a slender aluminium monocoque, with the fuel cell behind the cockpit and side pods that allowed for adequate airflow. Suspension was on A2 lines. The DFV/Hewland combination was also similar, and probably transferred. Seven attempts to qualify this car for grids were unsuccesful.

My current guesstimates on the Merzario chassis history:

First chassis:
A1-01: As Reinhard states, the original car for Argentina 1978 through to Sweden 1978. 4 starts, 4 dnq/dnpq.
A1-01B: Also as Reinhard, the same chassis uprated to 'B' spec, for France 1978 through to the end of 1978. 4 starts, 4 dnq.

Second chassis:
A1-02: New chassis introduced in Austria 1978. 0 starts, 1 dnq, 2 spare car.
A1B-02 (or -01?) : This is a new thought, brought on by Hodges inferring that it was the second car that was uprated to A1B spec, with another bodywork. If this is correct, than it would resolve Reinhard question of four or five chassis (four), explain why there was an A1-01B and an A1B-01 (or -02) in Autosport reports, explain why rallyeracing, Prüller and Msa has chassis 2 used in early 1979... Against this stands Sheldon's assertion that Merzario had A1B-2 as a unused spare car in South Africa...
or Hodges could be wrong, and this is in fact the third manifestation of the first chassis... and Sheldon's A1B-2 could be the second chassis also uprated to 'B' spec... 1 start, 1 non-start, 2 dnq, 3 spare car.

Third chassis:
A2-03 or A3-01: New chassis for Long Beach 1979. 0 starts, 5 dnq/dnpq, 4 spare car (used or unused).

Fourth chassis:
A2-04 or A4-01: New chassis for Great Britain 1979, based on the Kauhsen WK-004. 1 start (non-championship Imola), 6 dnq, 1 spare car.


As has been said many times before... pity the poor historian...

conjohn - you must have spent hours on your post!

At 9.19 h I edited my post to replace "Schlang" with "Schwab".

You posted at 11.29 h with quotes still including "Schlang". So I can imagine how much time went into your reply.

Looking at the results poor Arturo achieved with his cars it seems more work is done nowadays on researching them than was done on his day in preparing them.;)

Originally posted by Reinhard Windeler
conjohn - you must have spent hours on your post!

Yes, time flies... especially when you have fun... and when you get new ideas as you write...

I have also edited my post to say 'Schwab'...

Originally posted by ReWind on Non Championship F1 races thread
Guido - From your collection of AUTOSPRINT magazines can you lend a helping hand in this thread?

Surely I have nothing to add to conjohn post: Autosprint reports simply Merzario A3 and A4.
If you want some picture, I found a drawings about all Merzario (click to enlarge) :

• 1978: Merzario A1 (39 KB)
  
• 1978: Merzario A2 (27 KB)
  
• 1979: Merzario A3 and A4 (263 KB)
  

(From Autosprint 36/1978 page 64 and Autosprint 36/1979 page 69)

Ciao,
Guido

Photos from GPI Long Beach '79


A2 (still a hint of March 761 in there somewhere?)




A3 (how on earth did he see out of the cockpit?)