CONNAUGHT HISTORY

Established in Send, Surrey, in the late 1940’s 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 2 1/2 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 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 cars 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, 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 actually completed and track
tested until April 2006. For this 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 now with
re-commissioning in prospect will be ready to grace the
circuits again. The car has current HTP papers valid until
31st December 2025. It comes with a vast file of documents and history.