Connaughts

Just what are Connaughts?
I do expect at least three of you to know this.
CDK

Its either a breed of Austrailian Springer (dog) or a race car:



[ 03-03-2004: Message edited by: Basil ]

[ 03-03-2004: Message edited by: Basil ]</p>

Like Basil said... A little more information. I believe The Connaught company/racing team was formed shortly after WWII, I do know that they quit racing in the mid-1950's at which point I think the company went out of business entirely.

It's also a fairly well documented fact that they made a very small number of road cars between 1950 and 1955, no more than 12 and very possibly less than that number. I believer CDK is referring to the scanned picture I sent him recently, of the Connaught L-3 street roadster I sent him in an e-mail. Coldplugs... if you still have that picture I sent you, do you have webspace to host the picture for this thread?

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Sherlock:
... Coldplugs... if you still have that picture I sent you, do you have webspace to host the picture for this thread?<hr></blockquote>

Yup.



Here's another one of a Connaught Formula car at the museum in Beaulieu.



Connaughts had a reputation for being beautifully built & prepared but a little too slow for prime time racing. The reason they are remembered more fondly than HWM (for example) is that a Connaught won the first major GP race by an English car built and designed in England and driven by an English driver (Tony Brooks). This was on Sicily in 1955. It was the only significant win they ever had (and I'm not sure it was all that important a race, but one takes what one can get sometimes). The GP cars had Alta engines. If anyone wants to become a Connaught expert, read Graham Gould's biography of Reg Parnell.

In the musueum picture, there's another interesting GP car of the era to the left of the Connaught - a V16 1.5 liter BRM (aka the "Moon rocket built by Victorians").

You can also find an interesting thread about Connaught over at atlasf1's "The Nostalgia Forum". From memory, that Syracuse win was not a Championship round, but was still a Grand Prix event. Tony Brooks wasn't a full time driver at the time, and was asked almost at the last minute to drive in the race. He was studying dentistry at the time, and spent the trip to Italy and back studying for his exams!
-William

Thanks everybody for the pics and links.Two out of the three responces expected came thru. Thanks, James and John but what happened to Nial, I thought for sure there was a folder in the file cabinet.
CDK

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by CDK:
..... but what happened to Nial, ...<hr></blockquote>

Dave:
See, I'm building our FIRST Robot, re-assembling the Spridget, doing my taxes, working.....who has time for Connaughts?

Anyway, Connaught is well-known as a formula car builder and to be honest, I'm not a big fan of F1 racing or formula cars in general (although I did own a Formula Vee once). The little street roadster that bears the same designation as my plane (L-3) is pretty neat...I hadn't seen those.

A while ago, when I was looking up stuff related to racing in Ireland, the name "Connaught" came up, but the car is British (although it seems to have an Irish name). I do know that Connaught made some use of the American Hilborn fuel-injection system in their cars and that they used a sort of paddle-shifter (based on a Wilson pre-selector box). If Coventry-Climax had built the little V-8 (intended for Connaught), the marque might be more well-known today.
William's reference is a good one:

https://www.atlasf1.com/2001/can/preview/okeefe.html

Basil,

I didn't know that the connaught was a breed of australian springer. I guess you learn something new every day.

Cheers,
Walter

Thanks Nial. I new you would have info on this,thats why I was surprised when I didn't see any responce. Are you programing in Post reply capabillities into the robot.
CDK