Britain's first F1 constructors' champion

At the 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix, Hawthorn was disqualified for starting his car against the direction of the circuit. However, in a move that summed up his career, Moss, with whom Hawthorn was locked in a tense battle for the championship, told the officials that their version of events was incorrect and that Hawthorn was innocent. The decision was over-turned, and the points he reclaimed were instrumental in his winning of the 1958 title, a single point ahead of Moss.

Vanwall’s manufacturers’ championship success with the VW5 was far more emphatic. The British team won six times, with triumphs at Spa-Francorchamps, the Nürburgring and Monza, to dominate against Ferrari (two wins) and Cooper-Climax (two wins). That year would prove to be the team’s last full season in the sport, but it cemented Vanwall’s place in the F1 history books.

The VW5 itself competed in the 1957 and 1958 Formula 1 seasons. It was powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine mounted at the front, running on aviation fuel and producing around 280PS (207kW) in ‘58. While it was easier to drive than the rest of the field, it actually proved to be pretty unreliable. While Moss and Brooks took turns to win the final four races of the season, the other driver on each occasion retired. Vanwall no doubt benefitted from the regulations at the time, which meant only the best scoring car at each race contributed to the constructors’ standings. Nevertheless, the VW5 was the class of the field in 1958, and deserves its place in history.

It’s perhaps fitting that this significant car in Formula 1 history is now part of the collection owned by Bernie Ecclestone, and it was one of several of his cars in attendance at the 2021 Revival. The Vanwall was put on static display at part of the Sir Stirling Moss Tribute, and was being looked after by Tim Higgins.

He told us: “I think Mr Ecclestone has owned the car about ten or eleven years. I’ve been looking after it for the four years I’ve been working for him.”

The car is relatively easy to look after, but has a few foibles that require particular attention. “It’s a strange engine,” Higgins says, “it’s pretty much four Manx Nortons joined together so all the valve springs are external, so it does leak a lot of oil everywhere so you’ve got be really on top of it and mopping up, but it will put a nice film of preservative over the outside of the engine after two laps.”

Work began on the car around five or six weeks before Revival: “We use storage oils and storage fluids in it, so for this weekend we were getting the storage fuel and stuff out. We had a look at it about five or six weeks ago just to see if it needed anything, and we just bled the brakes on it, just did the standard stuff. Mr Ecclestone is very good on letting us spend what we sort of want on preserving fluids for the cars. If you just have these on normal anti-freeze it will cause corrosion. These engines have got old aluminium and old magnesium in them.”

That a car of this historic importance continues to exist in such pristine and original form is testimony to the work of people like Tim Higgins. We will always be grateful for opportunities like this to see such legendary Formula 1 machinery at the Goodwood Revival.

Photography by Joe Harding.