1.
West Germany
–
West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation on 23 May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990. During this Cold War era, NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany were divided by the Inner German border, after 1961 West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. With the reunification of West and East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, enlarged now to sixteen states and this period is referred to as the Bonn Republic by historians, alluding to the interwar Weimar Republic and the post-reunification Berlin Republic. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, US and British forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Its population grew from roughly 51 million in 1950 to more than 63 million in 1990, the city of Bonn was its de facto capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone was held by the Soviet Union, as a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interbellum democratic Weimar Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs, Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories, the Saarland and divided Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany claimed a mandate for all of Germany. It took the line that the GDR was an illegally constituted puppet state, though the GDR did hold regular elections, these were not free and fair. For all practical purposes the GDR was a Soviet puppet state, from the West German perspective the GDR was therefore illegitimate. Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, in addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state. It recognised the GDR as a de facto government within a single German nation that in turn was represented de jure by the West German state alone. From 1973 onward, East Germany recognised the existence of two German countries de jure, and the West as both de facto and de jure foreign country, the Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for an alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union, when the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. With the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990. Its five post-war states were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin and they formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany
2.
1958 World Sportscar Championship
–
The 1958 World Sportscar Championship season was the sixth season of the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was a series for sportscars that ran in many worldwide endurance events and it ran from 26 January 1958 to 13 September 1958, and comprised six races. Sometimes, even the Drivers World Champion joined in, note, Only the top five positions are included in this set of standings. Manufacturers were awarded only for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 6 races could be retained by each manufacturer, points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table. The following models contributed to the net point scores of their respective manufacturers
3.
Scuderia Ferrari
–
Scuderia Ferrari S. p. A. competing as Scuderia Ferrari is the official name of the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer, Ferrari, and competes in Formula One racing. It is the oldest surviving and most successful Formula One team, the team was founded by Enzo Ferrari, initially to race cars produced by Alfa Romeo, though by 1947 Ferrari had begun building its own cars. As a constructor, Ferrari has a record 16 Constructors Championships, Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen have won a record 15 Drivers Championships for the team. Since Räikkönens title in 2007 the team narrowly lost out on the 2008 drivers title with Felipe Massa, Schumacher is the teams most successful driver. Joining the team in 1996 and departing in 2006 he won five titles and 72 Grands Prix for the team. His titles came consecutively between 2000 and 2004, including the constructors title of 1999 consecutively being won until the end of 2004, this was the teams most successful period. Currently, World Champions Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel are the two race drivers. The team is known for its passionate support base known as the tifosi. The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is regarded as the home race. The Scuderia Ferrari team was founded by Enzo Ferrari on 16 November 1929 and became the team of Alfa Romeo. In 1938, Alfa Romeo management made the decision to enter racing under its own name, establishing the Alfa Corse organisation, Enzo Ferrari disagreed with this change in policy and was finally dismissed by Alfa in 1939. The terms of his leaving forbade him from motorsport under his own name, in 1939 Ferrari started work on a racecar of his own, the Tipo 815. The 815s, designed by Alberto Massimino, were thus the first Ferrari cars, World War II put a temporary end to racing, and Ferrari concentrated on an alternative use for his factory during the war years, doing machine tool work. After the war, Ferrari recruited several of his former Alfa colleagues and established a new Scuderia Ferrari, the team owns and operates a test track on the same site, the Fiorano Circuit built in 1972, which is used for testing road and race cars. The team is named after its founder, Enzo Ferrari, Scuderia is Italian for a stable reserved for racing horses and is also commonly applied to Italian motor racing teams. In 1947 Ferrari constructed the 12-cylinder,1.5 L Tipo 125, a Formula One version of the Tipo 125, the Ferrari 125 F1 was developed in 1948 and entered in several Grand Prix, at the time a World Championship had not yet been established. In 1950, the Formula One World Championship was established, and it is the only team to have competed in every season of the World Championship, from its inception to the current day. The company later switched to the large-displacement naturally aspirated formula for the 275,340, after the 1951 Formula One season the Alfa team withdrew from F1, causing the authorities to adopt the Formula Two regulations due to the lack of suitable F1 cars
4.
1957 World Sportscar Championship
–
The 1957 World Sportscar Championship season was the fifth season of the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was a series for sportscars that ran in many worldwide endurance events and it ran from 20 January 1956 to 3 November 1957, and comprised seven races. In addition, there was a new race on the calendar, the 1957 World Sports Car Championship was contested over seven races. In addition, there was a new race on the calendar, sometimes, even the Drivers World Champion joined in. Maserati had the commitment and the money to success in 1957, and it armed itself with the World’s finest driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, to add to their unfair advantage, they employed a young Englishman, Stirling Moss. Despite leaving their Formula One team, he remained with the Modena team for the World Sportscar Championship, the season opened in Argentina, where Fangio and Moss led imperiously in the 1000 km Buenos Aires, until they retired with transmission failure. As for Ferrari, it was left to the entry of Temple Buell to take the victory. Next up was the Sebring 12 Hours, there Maserati dominated with Fangio and Jean Behra leading throughout, with Moss and Harry Schell backing them up. As for Ferrari, they sent the first two 315 S to Florida, but both were slowed with brake and tyre problems. With Maserati out of contention, Ferrari had no real opposition and Piero Taruffi won the last Mille Miglia, ahead of Wolfgang von Trips. The initial pace was set by Peter Collins in a Ferrari 335 S and he imposed a remarkable pace on the marathon and on course to smash the course record, when a broken transmission put an end to his race. The race at the Nürburgring showed that the British were a force to be reckoned with, the British success continued in the next round at Le Mans, when Grand Prix of Endurance returned to the championship. Never before in the history of the French event, did a single nation sweep the broad so completely as Britain did in 1957, normal service resumed in Sweden, when Ferrari and Maserati returned to the front of the field. The outcome of the depended on the result of the finale. The works Maseratis were supported by the American entrant Temple Buell, the race became an infamous disaster for Maserati, when on lap two Masten Gregory flipped Buell’s 450S. Moss led until he collided with a back marker who strolled across his racing line. Its sister 450S ignited during a pit stop, injuring Behra, so four front-line Maseratis started the deciding Championship race, and all four had crashed - leaving the world title to Ferrari. For the record, Ferrari still took a 1-2 finish, at the very moment when Fangio was giving Officine Alfieri Maserati its first world championship in Formula One, the firm was going into survival mode
5.
Maserati
–
Maserati is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna. The companys headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident and it has been owned by the Italian-American car giant Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and FCAs Italian predecessor Fiat S. p. A. since 1993. In May 2014, due to plans and product launches. This caused them to production of the Quattroporte and Ghibli models. Maserati is placing a production output cap at 75,000 vehicles globally, the Maserati brothers, Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, and Ernesto were all involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. Alfieri, Bindo and Ernesto built 2-litre Grand Prix cars for Diatto, in 1926, Diatto suspended the production of race cars, leading to the creation of the first Maserati and the founding of the Maserati marque. One of the first Maseratis, driven by Alfieri, won the 1926 Targa Florio, Maserati began making race cars with 4,6,8 and 16 cylinders. The trident logo of the Maserati car company is based on the Fountain of Neptune in Bolognas Piazza Maggiore, in 1920, one of the Maserati brothers, artist Mario, used this symbol in the logo at the suggestion of family friend Marquis Diego de Sterlich. Alfieri Maserati died in 1932, but three brothers, Bindo, Ernesto and Ettore, kept the firm going, building cars that won races. The brothers continued in engineering roles with the company, Racing successes continued, even against the giants of German racing, Auto Union and Mercedes. In back-to-back wins in 1939 and 1940, a Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500, the war then intervened, Maserati abandoned car making to produce components for the Italian war effort. During this time, Maserati worked in fierce competition to construct a V16 town car for Benito Mussolini before Ferry Porsche of Volkswagen built one for Adolf Hitler and this failed, and the plans were scrapped. Once peace was restored, Maserati returned to making cars, the Maserati A6 series did well in the racing scene. Key people joined the Maserati team, alberto Massimino, an old Fiat engineer, with both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari experiences oversaw the design of all racing models for the next ten years. With him joined engineers Giulio Alfieri, Vittorio Bellentani, and Gioacchino Colombo, the focus was on the best engines and chassis to succeed in car racing. These new projects saw the last contributions of the Maserati brothers and this new team at Maserati worked on several projects, the 4CLT, the A6 series, the 8CLT, and, pivotally for the future success of the company, the A6GCS. Other racing projects in the 1950s were the 200S, 300S, 350S, Maserati retired from factory racing participation because of the Guidizzolo tragedy during the 1957 Mille Miglia, though they continued to build cars for privateers. Maserati became more and more focused on building road-going grand tourers, the 1957 Maserati 3500 GT marked a turning point in the marques history, as its first ground-up grand tourer design and first series produced car
6.
Eifel
–
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium, the Eifel is part of the Rhenish Massif, within its northern portions lies the Eifel National Park. The Eifel lies between the cities of Aachen to the north, Trier to the south and Koblenz to the east and it descends in the northeast along a line from Aachen via Düren to Bonn into the Lower Rhine Bay. In the east and south it is bounded by the valleys of the Rhine, to the west it transitions in Belgium and Luxembourg into the geologically related Ardennes and the Luxembourg Ösling. In the north it is limited by the Jülich-Zülpicher Börde, within Germany it lies within the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, in BeNeLux the area of Eupen, St. Vith and Luxembourg. Its highest point is the cone of the Hohe Acht. Originally the Carolingian Eifelgau only covered the region roughly around the sources of the rivers Ahr, Kyll. Its name was recently transferred to the entire region. Individual mountain chains, up to 700 m, such as the Schneifel and High Fens, run through the western part of the plateau. The rivers draining into the Moselle, Rhine and Meuse, such as the Our, Kyll, Ahr, Brohl and Rur, have cut deep into the edge of the Eifel and formed larger valleys. The Eifel covers an area of 5,300 km² and is divided into the North and South Eifel. It is further divided into several natural regional landscapes, some with further subdivisions, there are several distinct chains within the Eifel. The northernmost parts are called North Eifel including Rur Eifel the origin of the river Rur, High Fens, the northeastern part is called Ahr Hills and rise north of the Ahr river in the district of Ahrweiler. South of the Ahr is the High Eifel, with the Hohe Acht being the highest mountain of the Eifel, in the west, on the Belgian border, the hills are known as Schneifel, rising up to 698 m. Also in the west, by the Belgian and Luxembourg border, the southern half of the Eifel is lower. It is cut by rivers running north-south towards the Moselle. The largest of these is the Kyll, and the hills on either side of river are called the Kyllwald. In the south the Eifel is concluded by the Voreifel above the Moselle, since 2004 about 110 km² of the Eifel within the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia have been protected as the Eifel National Park nature reserve
7.
Mike Hawthorn
–
John Michael Hawthorn was a British racing driver. Hawthorn also won the 195524 Hours of Le Mans, but was haunted by his involvement in the crash that marred the race. Hawthorn died in an accident six months after retiring, he was suffering from a terminal illness at the time. His father owned the Tourist Trophy Garage in Farnham, franchised to supply and service several high performance brands including Jaguar and his father raced motorcycles and supported his sons racing career, when he died in a road accident, in 1954, Mike Hawthorn inherited the business. Mike Hawthorn made his debut in his 1934 Riley Ulster Imp, KV9475. In 1951, driving a 1½-litre T. T. Riley, he entered the Motor Sport Brooklands Memorial Trophy and he also won the Ulster Trophy Handicap at Dundrod and the Leinster Trophy at Wicklow that year. By 1952, he had switched to single-seaters and during that season won his first race in a Formula Two Cooper-Bristol T20 at Goodwood, further successes followed which brought him to the attention of Enzo Ferrari who offered him a works drive. He made his Formula One debut at the 1952 Grote Prijs van Belgie on the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, finishing in fourth place. By the end of the season, he had secured his first podium, with a third place at the RAC British Grand Prix. This and two podium finishes helped him end the season fourth overall. He also won the BRDC International Trophy and the Ulster Trophy as well as the 24 Heures de Spa Francorchamps with Ferrari team-mate Giuseppe Farina, in January 1955, Hawthorn joined the Jaguar racing team, replacing Stirling Moss, who had left for Mercedes. Hawthorn won the 1955 les 24 Heures du Mans following what has been described as a drive in which he set a lap record of 122.388 mph during a three-hour duel with Fangio in the early stages. The impact shattered the front end of the car, which then somersaulted high, pitching debris into the spectator area, the debris, including bonnet, engine, and front axle, which separated from the frame, flew through the crowd. Eight hours later, while leading the race 1, the French press carried photographs of Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb celebrating their win with the customary champagne but treated them with scorn. The official inquiry into the accident ruled that Hawthorn was not responsible for the crash, the death of the spectators was blamed on inadequate safety standards for track design. The Grandstand and pit areas were demolished and rebuilt soon after, the death toll led to a ban on motorsports in France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and other nations, until the tracks could be brought to a higher safety standard. Another change of team for 1956 – this team to BRM - was a failure, in 1957, Hawthorn rejoined the Ferrari factory team, and soon became friends with Peter Collins, a fellow Englishman and Ferrari team driver. During the 1957 and 1958 racing seasons, the two Englishmen became engaged in a rivalry with Luigi Musso, another Ferrari driver, for prize money
8.
Porsche
–
F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche AG, is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans. Porsche AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, and is owned by Volkswagen AG, Porsches current lineup includes the 718 Boxster/Cayman,911, Panamera, Macan and Cayenne. Ferdinand Porsche founded the company called Dr. Ing. h. c, F. Porsche GmbH in 1931, with main offices at Kronenstraße 24 in the centre of Stuttgart. Initially, the company offered motor vehicle development work and consulting, One of the first assignments the new company received was from the German government to design a car for the people, that is a Volkswagen. This resulted in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car designs of all time, the Porsche 64 was developed in 1939 using many components from the Beetle. During World War II, Volkswagen production turned to the version of the Volkswagen Beetle, the Kübelwagen,52,000 produced. Porsche produced several designs for heavy tanks during the war, losing out to Henschel & Son in both contracts that ultimately led to the Tiger I and the Tiger II. However, not all work was wasted, as the chassis Porsche designed for the Tiger I was used as the base for the Elefant tank destroyer. Porsche also developed the Maus super-heavy tank in the stages of the war. At the end of World War II in 1945, the Volkswagen factory at KdF-Stadt fell to the British, Ferdinand lost his position as Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen, and Ivan Hirst, a British Army Major, was put in charge of the factory. On 15 December of that year, Ferdinand was arrested for war crimes, during his 20-month imprisonment, Ferdinand Porsches son, Ferry Porsche, decided to build his own car, because he could not find an existing one that he wanted to buy. He also had to steer the company through some of its most difficult days until his fathers release in August 1947, the first models of what was to become the 356 were built in a small sawmill in Gmünd, Austria. The prototype car was shown to German auto dealers, and when pre-orders reached a set threshold, production was begun by Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH founded by Ferry, many regard the 356 as the first Porsche simply because it was the first model sold by the fledgling company. After the production of 356 was taken over by the fathers Dr. Ing. h. c. In 1952, Porsche constructed a plant across the street from Reutter Karosserie, the main road in front of Werk 1. The 356 was road certified in 1948, Porsches company logo was based on the coat of arms of the Free Peoples State of Württemberg of former Weimar Germany, which had Stuttgart as its capital. The arms of Stuttgart was placed in the middle as an inescutcheon, on 30 January 1951, not long before the creation of Baden-Württemberg, Ferdinand Porsche died from complications following a stroke. The 356, however, had several stages, A, B, and C, while in production
9.
Aston Martin
–
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. It was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford and their sports cars are regarded as a British cultural icon. Aston Martin has held a Royal Warrant as purveyor of motorcars to HRH the Prince of Wales since 1982, headquarters and the main production site are in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England, on the site of a former RAF V Bomber airbase. One of Aston Martins recent cars was named after the 1950s Vulcan Bomber, Aston Martin has diversified to speed boats, and real estate development. Aston Martin had a troubled history after the quarter of the 20th century but has also enjoyed long periods of success. “In the first century we went bankrupt seven times, ” incoming CEO Andy Palmer told Automotive News Europe, “The second century is about making sure that is not the case. ”Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. The two had joined forces as Bamford & Martin the previous year to sell cars made by Singer from premises in Callow Street, London where they also serviced GWK, Martin raced specials at Aston Hill near Aston Clinton, and the pair decided to make their own vehicles. The first car to be named Aston Martin was created by Martin by fitting a four-cylinder Coventry-Simplex engine to the chassis of a 1908 Isotta-Fraschini and they acquired premises at Henniker Mews in Kensington and produced their first car in March 1915. Production could not start because of the outbreak of World War I, all machinery was sold to the Sopwith Aviation Company. After the war found new premises at Abingdon Road, Kensington. Bamford left in 1920 and Aston Martin was revitalised with funding from Count Louis Zborowski, in 1922, Bamford & Martin produced cars to compete in the French Grand Prix, which went on to set world speed and endurance records at Brooklands. Approximately 55 cars were built for sale in two configurations, long chassis and short chassis, Aston Martin went bankrupt in 1924 and was bought by Dorothea, Lady Charnwood who put her son John Benson on the board. Aston Martin failed again in 1925 and the closed in 1926. Later that year, Bill Renwick, Augustus Bertelli and investors including Lady Charnwood took control of the business and they renamed it Aston Martin Motors and moved it to the former Whitehead Aircraft Limited Hanworth works in Feltham. The only Renwick and Bertelli motor car made, it was known as Buzzbox, between 1926 and 1937 Bertelli was both technical director and designer of all new Aston Martins, since known as Bertelli cars. They included the 1½-litre T-type, International, Le Mans, MKII and its derivative, the Ulster, and the 2-litre 15/98 and its racing derivative. Most were open two-seater sports cars bodied by Bert Bertellis brother Enrico, with a number of long-chassis four-seater tourers, dropheads. Bertelli was a competent driver keen to race his cars, one of few owner/manufacturer/drivers, the LM team cars were very successful in national and international motor racing including at Le Mans and the Mille Miglia
10.
Aston Martin DBR1
–
The Aston Martin DBR1 was a sports racing car built by Aston Martin starting in 1956, intended for the World Sportscar Championship as well as non-championship sportscar races at the time. It is most famous as the victor of the 195924 Hours of Le Mans and it is one of only three cars in the 1950s to win both the World Sports Car Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours in the same year. In addition the six World Sports Car Championship victories was a record for any car in the 1950s and remained a record in the championship until surpassed by the Ferrari 250TR. Following changes to the rules for racing, entrants no longer had to use cars which were road legal, or based on road legal cars. Therefore, with the ability to create a sportscar from a slate for 1956, Aston Martin created the DBR1. The body evolved from the DB3Ss shape, featuring a lower profile. Most notable was that the back of the front wheel well was no longer left open, instead, the DBR1 featured full bodywork with a large triangular vent on the side, a design trait which would become standard on all future Aston Martins. Debuting at the non championship 195624 Hours of Le Mans, DBR1/1 was then upgraded with the newer 3. 0-litre engine, and joined by the identical DBR1/2. Together at the Spa Sportscar Race, Aston Martin took the top two spots, with Tony Brooks winning over Roy Salvadori, the DBR1s then made their World Sportscar Championship debut in the fourth round, the 1000km Nürburgring. Salvadori and Les Leston finished sixth in the race in DBR1/1. Unfortunately these hopes were dashed at the 195724 Hours of Le Mans when both DBR1s failed to finish, the failure at Le Mans meant that any hopes of the World Championship had gone and Aston Martin missed the final two rounds in Sweden and Venezuela. For 1958, DBR1/3 was completed and Aston Martin now had three cars with which to compete, the World Sports Car Championship was now restricted to cars of no more than 3-litres and the teams DBR2 model with its 3. 7-litre engine was ineligible. David Brown therefore chose to concentrate on the Championship with the DBR1, the team did not enter the opening round in Buenos Aires which was won by Ferrari, deciding instead to race at the following round, the 12 Hours of Sebring. Neither DBR1 managed to finish, both suffering gearbox failure, although in the hands of Moss it was the fastest car in the race, unfortunately the bad luck returned at Le Mans, with all three DBR1s failing to finish again. However Ferrari had chosen not to compete having already won the championship and this victory allowed Aston Martin to finish second in the constructors championship behind Ferrari. Returning again for 1959, Aston Martin had completed two more chassis, DBR1/4 and DBR1/5, the first car was actually a conversion from a DBR3, while DBR1/5 was a spare chassis sold to privateer Graham Whitehead. This latter car was the only DBR1 to be sold to a privateer during the 1956-9 period when the team campaigned with them. With four chassis, Aston Martin would again concentrate on the World Sportscar Championship, Aston Martin then completed a hatrick of victories as the sole factory entry again won the 1000km Nürburgring, with Moss and Jack Fairman driving
Ferrari
Porsche
Aston Martin