Who drove at Silverstone in 1952?

Question

In particular the Slim Well Special (if i've got the name right)

Answer 1

Can I top trump Rosbif?

Do you mean Thin wall special?

Theese were basically old Ferraris (125s I think) that were entered in 1950 & 1951 British GPs. They were entered by Tony Vandervell and driven by Reg Parnell ( 4th at 1951 French GP) and Peter Whitehead.

Answer 2

Val, the ThinWall Specials, and there were four of them, were the predecessors of the Vanwall Formula 1 cars.  Both were owned and financed by G.A. [Tony] Vandervell.  

Tony Vandervell had been a major backer of the BRM V16 Formula 1 effort but he became disillusioned with Bourne’s lack of results and waste of his money so he entered a series of Ferrari F1 cars as ThinWall Specials.  They were modified with Vandervell ‘Thin Wall’ engine bearings and were an obvious attempt at advertising in that pre-sponsorship age.  Vandervell was a great British patriot so they were painted British Racing Green.

The car wasn’t in the 1952 British Grand Prix but it did win the fastest race at Silverstone that afternoon!  

The 1952 World Championship was run to a 2-litre Formula that had been the previous year’s junior “Formula 2”.  When Alfa Romeo withdrew from F1 at the end of the 1951 season there weren’t enough pukka Formula 1 cars to go round – they had been 4½ litres unsupercharged or 1½ litres supercharged and were rather faster than the 2-litre Formula 2 cars.

The ThinWall Special was a 4½ litre V12 so it couldn’t compete in the FIA British Grand Prix but in those days World Championship Grands Prix were nothing like the be-all-and-end-all they are today.  The 2-litre race was a dull procession but Piero Taruffi won the Formula Libre race in the ThinWall Special that was a major attraction that afternoon after a close dice with Froilan Gonzalez’ Ferrari. The BRMs retired yet again from that race.

I hope this fills in the gaps and identifies the car you're looking for.

Answer 3

Here's the full entry list for the 1952 British GP:

Start number Driver / Entrant Manufacturer

1  Graham WHITEHEAD  / Private Alta

2  Bill ASTON / WS Aston Aston Martin

3  Ken McALPINE / Connaught Engineering Connaught

4  Ken DOWNING / Connaught Engineering Connaught

5  Eric THOMPSON / Connaught Engineering Connaught

6  Dennis POORE / Connaught Engineering Connaught

7  David MURRAY / Ecurie Ecosse Cooper

8  Reg PARNELL / AHM Bryde Cooper  

9  Mike HAWTHORN / LD Hawthorn Cooper

10  Eric BRANDON / Ecurie Richmond Cooper

11  Alan BROWN / Ecurie Richmond Cooper

12  Stirling MOSS / ERA Ltd ERA

14  Roy SALVADORI G / Caprara Ferrari  

14  Bobbie BAIRD G / Caprara Ferrari

15  Alberto ASCARI / Scuderia Ferrari  

16  Giuseppe FARINA / Scuderia Ferrari

17  Piero TARUFFI / Scuderia Ferrari

18  Louis ROSIER / Ecurie Rosier Ferrari

19  Rudi FISCHER / Ecurie Espadon Ferrari

20  Peter HIRT / Ecurie Espadon Ferrari

21  Peter WHITEHEAD / Private Ferrari

22  Ken WHARTON / Scuderia Franera Frazer Nash

23  Tony CROOK / Private Frazer Nash

24  Robert MANZON / Equipe Gordini

25  Maurice TRINTIGNANT / Equipe Gordini

26  Prince BIRA / Equipe Gordini

27  Johnny CLAES / Ecurie Belge Simca Gordini

28  Tony GAZE / Private HWM

29  Peter COLLINS / HW Motors HWM

30  Duncan HAMILTON / HW Motors HWM

31  Lance MACKLIN / HW Motors HWM

32  Emmanuel De GRAFFENRIED / Enrico Platé Maserati

33  Harry SCHELL / Enrico Platé Maserati

34  Gino BIANCO / Scuderia Bandeirantes Maserati

35  Eitel CANTONI / Scuderia Bandeirantes Maserati

I remember reading the name "slim well special" somewhere; I think it was British and that was just the nickname given to the car by the people involved, rather than the official title. The LD Hawthorn is the only privately-constructed (as opposed to privately entered) car on the grid, and it sounds like something he and Peter Collins would have dreamt up for a car name...

EDIT

Good job Julian & Edgar; makes more sense like that. It was a British botch-job though, and there weren't any at the British GP!

Answer 4

Mike Hawthorn, I think