Monnier Spéciale

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The Monnier Spéciale was a Formula 2 racing car that was created as a one-off in 1947 and was fitted with different engines one after the other. His designer Maurice Monnier and a few other drivers contested a few Formula 2 races with him from 1950 to 1954, but did not achieve any success.

background

The car was designed by the amateur racing driver Maurice Monnier. Some sources refer to him as Belgian, others as French. According to an internet source, Monnier owned an automobile repair shop. Monnier appears in databases only in connection with the Spéciale; There is no evidence that he contested races with other cars.

construction

Little is known about the construction details of the Monnier Spéciale. According to one source, Monnier used suspension parts from the BMW 328 . The engine was positioned behind the front axle, the rear was very short. Different engines have been used over the years. On its debut, the Monnier Spéciale had a 1.5-liter four-cylinder Fiat engine , in 1950 it was converted to a six-cylinder engine from BMW , and in 1954 it appeared once or twice with a 2.0-liter Bristol engine , which of course was on a BMW design was based. In the area of ​​the front of the car there were some adjustments to the modified drive unit. A striking design feature mentioned in various publications was wire-spoke wheels.

Races

1947

The Monnier Spéciale made its debut on June 1, 1947 at the Robert Benoist Cup , a Formula Libre race in Nîmes in the south of France . At that time the car had a Fiat engine. Maurice Monnier was registered as the driver. The result lists of the race do not show Monnier's finish; he did not complete a round. It is not clear whether Monnier failed on the first lap or whether he did not even start in the race. The Monnier Spéciale did not take part in races in the following two years.

1950

Almost three years later, the car appeared again, which was now equipped with a BMW engine and was called Spéciale 2. Maurice Monnier registered him for four Formula 2 races in 1950. The first entry was made in May 1950 for the Grand Prix de Cinquantenaire in Roubaix in northern France . Monnier competed here with his own construction in a field of 15 participants against constructions by Ferrari , Gordini and Maserati . He was the only competitor to miss the qualification. Two weeks later, Monnier announced the Spéciale 2 for the 20th Grand Prix des Frontières in Chimay , Belgium ; the message was first made under the name Écurie Flandres (German about: Team Flandern). Monnier took part in the race but was not classified because at the end of the race he was more than 10 laps behind the winner Johnny Claes . Monnier and his car did not make it into the ranking for the third time the car was used this year, at the Grande Trophée Entre Sambre et Meuse in Mettet , Belgium . A month later, Monnier registered the car - this time again under its own name - for the first time in a race outside the French-speaking area. He appeared on the Lake Garda tour in Salò, Italy . Monnier was the last to finish the race, which lasted 18 laps of 16.3 km each. His deficit on the winner Alberto Ascari , who fielded a factory Ferrari, was three laps.

In the years 1951 and 1952 there was again no evidence of participation in races.

1953

In 1953 Monnier left the Spéciale mainly to other racing drivers. For the 23rd Grand Prix des Frontières in Chimay, the Frenchman Georges Mulnard competed in the car, which was unchanged from 1950. Moulnard retired before the end of the first lap due to a gearbox defect. A week later the car appeared at the Coupe de Printemps on the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry for a racing driver named Noreille. Most of the literature assumes that the car was equipped with a six-cylinder Bristol engine in this race, while others assume that a conventional BMW engine was used here as well. Only six amateur drivers took part in this race. Noreille crossed the finish line in fifth and penultimate one lap behind. In July 1953, Maurice Monnier competed again with his Spéciale in a race. The car appeared with a Bristol engine on Berlin's Avus , where it competed with older Ferrari and Maserati models, as well as a number of German self-builds. Monnier crossed the finish line four laps behind the winner Jacques Swaters in ninth and last.

1954

Because the automobile world championship was again advertised for Formula 1 from 1954 , Formula 2 lost its attractiveness. The number of Formula 2 races was reduced considerably; only seven races took place throughout Europe throughout the year. At the beginning of the year, Maurice Monnier sold his now seven-year-old Spéciale to Pierre Bastien , who entered the car with a BMW engine for the 24th Grand Prix des Frontières for the Écurie Flandres in June . Bastien started the race but dropped out at halftime due to a broken oil pipe.

After that, the Spéciale no longer appeared in a race.

Whereabouts

The Monnier Spéciale still exists. It is occasionally shown publicly at a historic motorsport event.

literature

  • David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
  • Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1899870393 (English)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 196.
  2. ↑ Entry on Maurice Monnier on the website (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  3. ↑ Overview of Maurice Monnier on the website www.chicanef1.com (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  4. ↑ Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1899870393 , p. 34.
  5. ↑ Results of the Robert Benoist Cup on the website www.chicane.com (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  6. ↑ Statistics of the Grand Prix de Cinquantenaire on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  7. ↑ Statistics of the Grand Prix des Frontières 1950 on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  8. ↑ Statistics of the 1953 Grand Prix des Frontières on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  9. ↑ Most sources only give this name. A single source (David Hodges: Rennwagen von A – Z nach 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , S: 196) leads the pilot under the name M. Noreille, although it is unclear whether the M. a Abbreviation of the first name or the abbreviation for the general salutation Monsieur is.
  10. ↑ a b Registration list for the Coupe de Printemps 1953 on the website www.chicanef1.com (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  11. ↑ Overview of the Coupe de Printemps 1953 on the website www.silhouet.com (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  12. ^ Statistics of the Coupe de Printemps 1953 on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  13. ↑ Statistics of the international AvD Avus race 1953 on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  14. ↑ Overview of the Formula 2 races in 1954 on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  15. ↑ Statistics of the 1954 Grand Prix des Frontières on the website [1] (accessed on October 10, 2014).
  16. ^ Illustration of the Monnier Spéciale from 2004 (accessed on October 10, 2014).