Isis (racing car)

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Isis, second chassis

The Isis was the first racing car from the Italian car manufacturer De Tomaso . The car, which was built in small series, was intended for Formula Junior and formed the basis for several other De Tomaso vehicles. Some sources also refer to the car as "De Tomaso" without any additional name.

background

The Argentinian racing driver and businessman Alejandro de Tomaso contested his last Formula 1 race in December 1959. He registered a Cooper T43 for the US Grand Prix , which he had equipped with an OSCA engine. In the same year he founded an automobile workshop in Modena, Italy , in which he had racing cars for various classes (and from 1965 also street sports cars) manufactured. The first vehicle of the new brand was named Isis. The name was a tribute to de Tomaso's wife Isabell de Tomaso (née Haskell), who financed her husband's racing projects from her assets.

construction

Body by Fantuzzi: Isis

Motorsport literature commonly assumes that the Isis was a replica of a contemporary Formula 2 car made by Cooper . Some sources consider Alberto Massimino to be the responsible designer.

The Isis had a tubular frame . All bikes were hung individually. The body was made by Fantuzzi . A 1.1 liter inline four-cylinder engine from the Fiat 1100 , which was initially tuned by Aquilino Branca and later by OSCA, served as the drive behind the driver's seat . In 1963, two newly built vehicles appeared that were equipped with a Ford engine tuned by Holbay . They were more stable than the Fiat four-cylinder and ensured that the Isis reached a few target arrivals.

On the basis of the Isis, Alberto Massimino developed the Formula 2 racing car F2 and the Formula 1 model F1 , of which a total of five copies were built by 1963. Even the F1, which was designed for different engines, was only successful with the Holbay engine.

production

The scope of production is not precisely documented. One source believes that a total of six vehicles were built between 1959 and 1963. The first car was built in 1959, the last in the winter of 1962/63. Three cars remained in Italy, where they were used by the Scuderia De Tomaso in individual Italian races, among others ; in addition, at least one was sold in the USA . Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips bought one of the cars for Scuderia Colonia . A racing use of this vehicle is not proven.

Races

In 1960, only one Isis race was recorded. Isabell de Tomaso drove the car on October 23, 1960 at the Coppa d'Oro di Sicilia on the Circuito di Siracusa in Syracuse . She did 10 of 30 laps before retiring.

At the beginning of 1961 Giovanni Alberti reported an Isis to several Formula Junior races in Italy. The reports were mostly made under the company's own name, but sometimes also for the Scuderia Madunina . It is not certain whether he actually took part in the races with the car. Placements are not noted. What is certain, however, is that he missed the qualification at Lotteria Monza im Isis.

In 1962, different pilots drove the Isis. Giovanni Alberti, Gastone Zanarotti , Nasif Estéfano and a driver with the pseudonym "Lucky" were each registered for one or more Formula Junior races in Italy; However, the arrival of these drivers has not been confirmed. "Lucky" missed the qualification at least once and was canceled again due to technical reasons, Estéfano also did not finish. The Isis was not successful until the last Italian race in 1962, the Trofeo d'Autunno in Vallelunga : Franco Bernabei was third in the overall standings, 30 seconds behind the winner.

In 1963 Franco Bernabei drove a few races in a revised Isis equipped with a Ford Holbay engine. At the Trofeo Bruno e Fofi Vigorelli in Monza , he finished ninth with this car. Roberto Bussinello finished second in a parallel run with a comparable car and drove the fastest race lap. Other Isis Ford drivers this year were Franco Bernabei, Vincenzo Zannini (eleventh in the Lake Garda tour ), a driver with the pseudonym “Miro Gay”, who finished third in the Trofeo Luigi Musso in Vallelunga, and Giosue Butti .

literature

  • David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 (English).
  • David Hodges: A – Z of Formula Racing Cars. Bay View Books, Bideford 1990, ISBN 1-87097-916-8 (in German: David Hodges: Rennwagen von A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 ).
  • Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1899870393 (English).
  • Daniele Pozzi: De Tomaso: From Buenos Aires to Modena, the History of an Automotive Visionary , Dalton Watson Fine Books, 2016, ISBN 978-1854432780

Web links

Commons : Isis Racing Car  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Overview of the Formula Junior racing cars from the 1950s and 1960s on the website www.formula2.net (archived version; listed there as De Tomaso without any additional name) (accessed on May 24, 2018).
  2. ↑ Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1899870393 , p. 100.
  3. ↑ a b Motorsport Magazine, Issue 10/1962, p. 15.
  4. ^ A b Daniele Pozzi: De Tomaso: From Buenos Aires to Modena, the History of an Automotive Visionary , Dalton Watson Fine Books, 2016, ISBN 978-1854432780 , p. 36.
  5. ↑ a b David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 121.
  6. ^ Daniele Pozzi: De Tomaso: From Buenos Aires to Modena, the History of an Automotive Visionary , Dalton Watson Fine Books, 2016, ISBN 978-1854432780 , p. 38.
  7. ^ David Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars 1906-2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 , p. 75.
  8. ↑ Motorsport Magazine, issue 6/2010, p. 111.
  9. ^ Hans-Peter Meyer: Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips on his 85th birthday. www.eifelzeitung.de, May 8, 2013, accessed on May 24, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Statistics of the Coppa d'Oro di Sicilia 1960 on the website www.formula2.net (archived version) (accessed on May 23, 2018).
  11. ↑ Statistics of the Gran Premio della Lotteria 1961 on the website www.formula2.net (archived version) (accessed on May 23, 2018).
  12. ↑ Statistics of the Trofeo d'Autunno 1962 on the website www.formula2.net (archived version) (accessed on May 24, 2018).
  13. ↑ Statistics from the Trofeo Bruno e Fofi Vigorelli 1963 on the website www.formula2.net (archived version) (accessed on May 24, 2018).
  14. ↑ Statistics of the Circuito del Garda 1963 on the website www.formula2.net (archived version) (accessed on May 24, 2018).
  15. ^ Statistics from Trofeo Luigi Musso 1963 on the website www.formula2.net (archived version) (accessed on May 24, 2018).