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Pre-war Grand Prix cars that never raced (work in progress)

[ Author ]

  • Roger Valentine

[ With thanks to ]

  • Richard Armstrong, David Beard, François-Luc Beaudoin, Ray Bell, Tom Berge, Leo Breevoort, Barry Boor, Allen Brown, Roger Clark, Pedro Dupont, 'Ensign14', Pete Fenelon, Michael Ferner, Chris Hall, Carlos Jalife, Frank de Jong, Enoch Law, Jamie McGregor, Rainer Nyberg, Doug Nye, Jimmy Piget, Marco Rooney, Stu Schaller, Roger Valentine, Frank Verplanken, Pieter de Vos.

[ Revision date ]

  • March 21, 2003


Eligible cars/entries: All Grand Prix cars that were intended to appear in any of the major or minor GPs on this list but never showed up or made it past the (pre)qualifying hurdle in their then-present guise, i.e. the Apollon qualifies although it did race as a Williams, but the McGuire doesn't as it raced - and with sad, colossal effects - in the 1977 Shellsport series.

Mainly based on information dug up through the collective efforts of the AtlasF1 Nostalgia Forum and the Foro Historia TheF1.com. Additional sources: Hodges, A-Z of Formula Racing Cars 1945-1990; Lawrence, Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965; Norman Smith, Case History. Alan Henry, The 4-Wheel Drives. Any help on extending this list and adding to the comments is appreciated.

Year Car Comment
1900 Nesselsdorf Early reports of a 'large racing car' from the forerunners of the Tatra company.
1900 Daimler An unfinished chassis was exhibited at the National Exhibition in November. An 'unspecified member' of the ACGBI was reported to have placed an order.
1900 Peugeot 100 hp Car with 4 (or 8?) cylinders was commissioned by Lamaitre.
1900 Canstatt-Daimler 24hp 5-litre car for Jellinek.
1900 Benz 15hp Almost a starter. Eugen Benz arrived at start, but declined to participate due to insufficient preparation time.
1900 Mors Started (and finished) unofficially.
1900-'01 Snoeck-Bolide Jenatzy said that the car he started in the race was not the one he intended to run.
1901 Benz 50hp
1901 Darracq
1901 Peugeot
1901 Panhard
1901 FN
1901 Napier 50hp Started in Paris-Bordeaux instead.
1901 Wolseley A drawing appeared in 1901 catalogue.
1901 MMC Motor Manufacturing Company of Coventry built a Panhard-like car for Henry Farman for 1901 Gordon Bennett race. Withdrawn due to lack of testing.
1901 Canello-Dunkopp
1901 Mercedes
1902 Auto-Mixte
1902 Wolseley 45hp
1903 Harkness Completed in time for second of two Long Island tests, but did not arrive due to split water tank.
1903 Mathesson 4 cyl 8"x10"
1903 Peerless Although a Peerless did compete, Lord Montague refers to two cars at the second Long Island test - a 'smaller' and 'larger' model.
1903 Dennis The Guildford firm listed a 'Gordon Bennett type' in their 1903 catalogue.
1903 Wolseley 30hp Improved version of 1902 car - not allowed to compete in qualifying trials due to late entry.
1903 Star dnq
1904 Renault
1904 Spyker First 4WD car.
1904 Benz One car for Madame du Gast.
1904 Durkopp
1904 Protos
1904 De Dietrich One car for Ettore Bugatti.
1904 Metallurgique One of five Belgian firms reported in October 1903 to be possible contestents.
1904 Harkness 107hp
1904 Whipples Giant Car A 'crypto-Peerless' from Baltimore.
1904 Buffum A low-slung flat-8.
1904 Cooper-Hewitt
1904 Moyea
1904 Smith & Mabley Simplex
1904 Packard Grey Wolf
1904 Christie
1904 Peerless Rebuilt 1903 car - took part in Long Island trials.
1904 Winton 1903 car for Oldfield - took part in Long Island trials.
1904 Weller 80hp Ordered by Ernest Owers in summer 1903. Probably existed only on paper.
1904 Hutton 150hp
1904 Serpollet DNQ
1904 Panhard 70 DNQ
1904 Clement-Bayard DNQ
1904 de Dietrich 24/28 DNQ
1904 Hotchkiss HH DNQ
1904 Darracq DNQ
1904 Gobron-Brillié DNQ
1905 Pipe (B) Entry withdrawn due to wrangling within the ACF.
1905 Rapida
1905 Itala
1905 Hermes (Mathis) Bugatti 90 hp
1905 Dufaux 26 ltr (SW) Withdrawn due to dispute.
1905 Star DNQ
1905 Wier DNQ
1905 Siddeley DNQ
1905 Darracq DNQ
1905 Renault AK DNQ
1905 Panhard 70 DNQ
1905 Hotchkiss HH DNQ
1905 Clement-Bayard DNQ
1905 CGV DNQ
1905 Automoto DNQ
1906 Vulpes DNS - 1906 ACF GP.
1907 Aquila A single car entered in 1907 ACF GP. DNS - car damaged in transit.
1908 Napier 11371cc ACF GP - not allowed to start (detachable wire wheels).
1909 Cottin-Desgouttes Entered for 1909 ACF GP (cancelled).
1909 Le Gui Entered for 1909 ACF GP (cancelled).
1909 Mors Entered for 1909 ACF GP (cancelled).
1909 Rolland-Pilain Entered for 1909 ACF GP (cancelled).
1910 American DNS - 1910 American Grand Prize.
1910 National DNS - 1910 American Grand Prize.
1910 Roebling-Planche DNS - 1910 American Grand Prize.
1910 Sharp-Arrow DNS - 1910 American Grand Prize (driver WH Sharpe killed in practice).
1910 Stoddard-Dayton DNS - 1910 American Grand Prize.
1910 Simplex DNS - 1910 American Grand Prize.
1912 Darracq DNS - 1912 ACF GP. Car not ready.
1912 Sigma DNS - 1912 ACF GP. Car not ready.
1912 Hispano-Suiza voiturette DNS - 1912 ACF GP. Car not ready.
1912 Koechlin voiturette DNS - 1912 ACF GP. Car not ready.
1912 Ford voiturette DNS - 1912 ACF GP. Car not ready? (Other explanations also seen.)
1912 Knox DNS - 1912 American Grand Prize.
1914 Alfa GP Car not ready for 1914 ACF GP.
1914 Caesar Scacchi DNS - 1914 ACF GP.
1922 Austro-Daimler Entry withdrawn - 1922 ACF GP, following the death in practice of driver Gregor Kuhn.
1922 Bianchi 18 DNS - 1922 ACF GP.
1922 Delage DNA - 1922 ACF GP.
1922 Mathis DNA - 1922 ACF GP.
1922 SLIM-Pilain DNA - 1922 ACF GP. SLIM stood for Société Lyonnaise de l’Industrie Mécanique.
1922 Mercedes DNA - 1922 Italian GP.
1922 Talbot-Darracq DNA - 1922 Italian GP.
1923 Alfa Romeo P1 Withdrawn from 1923 Italian GP following death in practice of Ugo Sivocci.
1925 Mathis DNA - 1925 Belgian GP.
1926 Alvis Not ready for the British GP, ran in the 200 race.
1926 Fiat 451 Never raced. "The most curious device of the decade" (Court, Power & Glory).
1926 K&M DNQ - 1926 Indianapolis 500.
1926 Shambaugh DNQ - 1926 Indianapolis 500.
1926 Sievers Jr DNQ - 1926 Indianapolis 500.
1926 Thomas Special "Flat-iron" DNA - 1926 British GP (but seen frequently at other British races).
1926 Sima-Violet DNA - 1926 ACF GP. The two-stroke Sima-Violet was theoretically designed as a GP car but was 200 kilos underweight, so it ran ballasted. It never raced in a GP but was an unsuccessful Voiturette (both categories were 1500cc s/c at the time). It ran unballasted in hillclimbs though, still unsuccessfully.
1926 Maserati 26 (8C-1500) Reserve - 1926 Italian GP.
1926 Guyot Spéciale A Rolland Pilain chassis, built by Albert Guyot. DNA - 1926 San Sebastian GP.
1926 Jean Graf CIME DNA - 1926 San Sebastian GP.
1927 Green DNQ - 1927 Indianapolis 500.
1927 Rausie DNQ - 1927 Indianapolis 500.
1929 Alphi DNA - 1929 ACF GP.
1929 Vernandi CIME DNA - 1929 ACF GP.
1931-32 Maserati 8C/2500 Trazione Anteriore Project not completed.
1932 Bugatti T53 4WD Used in practice only for 1932 Monaco GP.
1934 Mercedes Benz W25 record breaker Not intended for GP racing.
1935 Trossi Monaco Ran at 1935 Italian GP (practice only).
1938 Mercedes Benz T90 Six-wheeled prototype.
1938 ERA GP prototype Tested at Donington, July 1938. This car later developed into GP1.