Stanguellini 'Delphino' Formula Junior

[Yimkin]

Has anybody got any links to pictures of this beautiful car?

(The Delphino is the rear engined FJ, with a 'sharknose' and the exhausts supported on a strut above the engine cover)

I've tried the Stanguellini website, but they only have 2 rather poor pics of one in a museum.

Was it at all successful? (I suspect not, as sometimes the most beautiful are the least successful). How many were made, and do they ever come on the market? And if so - how much?

[Vitesse]

Only one Delfino was built, so the one you've found must be it! Hodges A-Z says it had a Fiat 1100/103 engine, inclined at 45 degrees. Power output is quoted at 90bhp @ 7500rpm, but I'm pretty sure that's a misprint, since the Ford 105E produced about 85bhp and Hodges describes 90 as "modest"! 70bhp, the same as early BMC A-series, is probably more likely.

[Vitesse]

I see what you mean, Yimkin: handsome car!

Here's a Systran translation of the entry about the car on the site. As ever, not exactly idiomatic but you can get the gist of it ...

On ending 1961, to the dell’Automobile Hall of Turin, Victoria
Stanguellini – that just he can be considered the father of the Junior
one – introduced one newest posterior motor single-seater, nicknamed
“Delfino” for profilatissima the auto body and the facade careened
just like the snout of a dolphin. This car debuttò shiningly s
Daytona with pilot Walt Hansgen, pertaining to the scuderia of Briggs
Cunningham. Stanguellini had become account that the initial
technique, in the true spirit of the formula, adopter un’impostazione
much traditional one, with elements of the suspensions taken equal
from the mass production, had been by now falsata from the
d’Oltremanica realization. For the Junior formula a new chapter was
opened. The English telaisti, united to the processors of the 4 Ford
cylinders (derived Anglia) and BMC, revealed the best ones. The
Junior one in 1961 Km/h exceeded the 220 easily. It was therefore
necessary to adeguarsi in the first place to the times, passing to the
posterior motor and a chassis to reticular attice rather than simply
with tubular crosspiece spars, like first and most fortunate model to
front motor. Faithful, but, to the mechanics Fiat, Stanguellini for
the Dolphin had maintained at first the motor of Fiat 1100, from which
she succeeded to concern 95 Cv. to 7500 giri/min. Rendendosi but
account dell’impossibilit�* to equal the power of the Ford Anglia
elaborated from Cosworth or Holbay, Stanguellini carried out an other
attempt reducing the motor Fiat 1300 to 1000cc. as the regulations
prescribed, that it had changed the denomination from F. Junior to
F.3. With this motor the pilot Gianfranco Stanga disputed the GP of
Pergusa. Stanguellini then tested the possibilities of the 1200 of
Fiat “124”, opting then of new for the 1100/103 from which it obtained
103 Cv. to 7700 turns. The change of center for own the most
important concessionaire Fiat, transferred in modern buildings, the
remarkable dell’iniziativa engagement financial, the lack of time to
dedicate to the development and the putting to point of the Dolphin
did not allow but to this Junior all Italian of misurarsi with those
of English production and contrastarle. With it however Vittorio
Stanguellini it had demonstrated to if same and to the Italian
sportswomen who, wanting, the Italian technique would not have been
sure inferior to that English.



Motor: posterior, tilted towards left

Cylinders: 4 in line

Bore and race: 68.2 x 75 milimeter.

Piston displacement total: 1.096 cc.

Compression ratio: 10:1

The maximum power: 90 Cv. to 7,500 giri/min.

Cooling: water, to forced circulation

Distribution: 1 lateral tree to cams in the base, setting in action
the valves vertical parallels and in head by means of auctions to
balances

Feeding: 2 carburetors double Weber “40 DCOE” body

Clutch: monodisc to dry

Change: mounted in group with the differential and fed by means of
interchanging posterior gears of dismissal (derived Fiat “1100”)
Chassis: tubular to attice, realized with 27 tubes of milimeter. of
diameter

Suspensions: front independent, with cross-sectional triangular arms,
helicoidal motivatings force, coaxial hydraulic telescopic
shocks-absorber and stabilizzatrice cross-sectional bar; posterior
independent, with transversal quadrangolari arms, helicoidal
cylindrical motivatings force and coaxial hydraulic telescopic
shocks-absorber

Brakes: to disc on the 4 wheels, posterior to sides of the
differential.

Step: 2260 milimeter.

Tracks: ant. 1220 milimeter, post. 1220 milimeter.

Dry weight: 400 the Kg. (minimal prescribed for the category) the
Maximum speed: 210 Km/h.

Year of construction: 1961

N° chassis car: CS 00202

I see that 90bhp figure is there though!! Perhaps I was looking at the wrong year for the 105E!

[Yimkin]

Originally posted by Vitesse
I see what you mean, Yimkin: handsome car!

Mmm, s'lovely! Looks like I won't ever be able to get one though....

If anyone else is interested in seeing the car, try

http://www.stanguellini.it/

and look under the 'musee' section.

I might stand a chance with the almost as lovely F3 car they made towards the end of the sixties - I can't find *any* pics of that, although I have seen one in the dim and distant past...

A friend of mine tells me there is an article on Stanguellini with accompanying pics in the current issue of 'Auto Italia' magazine, so time to pop down to the nearest WHSmiths!

[Felix Muelas]

Well, if that´s the case (I mean you getting the Auto Italia issue) I think then it will be better to wait and see if you obtain a decent picture there.
Road & Track published, early 1962, an article on the car, including a 3/4 picture of the car (b&w), a close shot of the engine (it says there "develops 100 bhp") and a full A4 cutaway drawing of the car (courtesy of Cavara).
All with a text that ends up with a funny sentence, that I think I should quote : The Ferrari-style nose may be intended to cow the British.

Of course the car was a beauty. And a disaster, by the look of things.

[guessing mode] If there was only one of these cars built, I´m going to imagine that the entrant for that car was Stanguelini SpA, aka the "works". If that´s the case, and browsing through 1962 Junior results, it made an appearance in Monaco in the hands of Gastone Zanarotti -to no avail- and I find no more, let alone in British races! A couple of other Stanguellinis were campaigned during the year in European and American races, but it´s not obvious if any of those was actually the Delfino. Do you know who was actually the driver of that car, and where did it raced? Nota - Zanarotti made several appearances in Italian races, but he figures as entrant himself. Would he have bought the car, and then sold it back, for instance? [/guessing mode]


Felix

[Felix Muelas]

Oops !
I forgot that there was actually one reference in the Stanguellini site to the start of it all : they claim that the debut of the car (excellent or, as the translation shows "shiningly" )at the Daytona race (that´s 28th January 1962)in the hands of Walt Hangsen under Briggs Cunningham´s Team.
I don´t know what Stanguellini calls "excellent", "brilliant" or "shining", but in any case, Hangsen did not finish the race.
Moreover, I have to reckon that we (at The 8W Game) have never heard about that detail regarding Hangsen.

Actually, this is (part of) what we found and published about him:

Walter Hansgen was a grey-haired racing veteran at the time he entered the 1961 US GP and 1962 Mexican GP. Born in 1919, Hansgen started racing as late as 1951 when he took out a Jaguar XK120 in US club events. A year later Walt had his first international race, finishing a creditable 10th at Sebring, sharing an MG TD with Randy Pearsall. For 1953, Hansgen created his own car for SCCA nationals, a Jag C-type/Cunningham C-3 hybrid that was successful from the start but was soon surpassed on pace by the Ferraris. It was the first connection of Hansgen with Briggs Cunningham's team but Walt had to beat Briggs's cars before being ask to join them. In 1956 at Cumberland he finally did it, taking victory in his own new D-type over the Cunningham D-types of John Fitch, Sherwood Johnson and John Gordon Bennett. Two weeks later Hansgen was a Cunningham driver. The next four years he took the SCCA 'C' modified title on board Alfred Momo-prepared Cunningham Jags, the team having switched to Jaguars, Maseratis and Corvettes after the production of Cunningham cars stopped in 1955.

In 1958, Walt crossed the pond for the first time to race saloons, sportscars and F Libre cars in England. He won races in each type of vehicle, probably amazing himself with his versatility. Back in the US, Hansgen started racing single-seaters, driving a Cooper FJ prepared by Momo. He got quite good at it, at one time even putting together a string of five wins before the opportunity came up to go F1 racing. In a Cooper T53 owned by Cunningham and entered by Momo Hansgen lined up 14th on the grid, faster than Olivier Gendebien and fastest of the local heroes, outpacing Roger Penske, Hap Sharp, Jim Hall and Lloyd Ruby. On lap 14, however, Walt crashed heavily.

A year later he self-entered a Lotus 18 in the inaugural Mexican GP, a 60-lap race that saw a nice turn-out of 17 quite competitive cars. The car (chassis 372) bore the same starting number 60 as the Cooper that was destroyed in the 1961 US GP. Walt qualified in a solid 13th place before retiring on lap 45 with ignition trouble.

After his F1 adventure Hansgen went back to sportscars, winning the 1963 FIA Manufacturers Double 500 in Cunningham's Cooper-Buick. He subsequently became 'King of the Bridge' when in 1964 in spite of a 10-minute pit stop he bought John Mecom's Scarab a victory over the Ferrari of Pedro Rodriguez. The year also saw a one-off return to single-seaters, Walt qualifying an amazing 10th for the 1964 Indianapolis 500. Hansgen's MG-Liquid Suspension Special ran as high as second until mechanical troubles resulted in a 13th place finish. Later in the year, Hansgen made his second F1 appearance, doing a one-off for Lotus at Watkins Glen. It got him two World Championship points as he took his Lotus 33 home in fifth, 3 laps down.

In 1966, Hansgen took on a young Mark Donohue as his protégé, the pair sharing a Ford Mark II to 3rd in the Daytona 24 Hours and finishing second at Sebring. Going on to Le Mans with Ford, Walt crashed fatally during a washed-out test session, shooting up an escape road after failing to negotiate the fast right-hander after the pits. He was flown at once to the US Army Hospital at Orleans, where he died five days later.

Although usually only the greats have corners named after them, Walter has been honoured in the same way. At Bridgehampton 'Hansgen's Bend' is the acknowledgement for being the first to take the fast downhill right-hander after the pits without backing off! Very much a deserving title.

OK, back to the topic : so Hangsen drove the Delfino at Daytona. What did he do then with the car? (Tip : as of 23rd March 1962, for the Sebring race, Hangsen was back at the wheel of the Cooper 59 of the Briggs Cunningham´s stable) But then, once we know that the car had been flown to the USA, we might take a further look at the stats looking for Stanguellini entries in the American races...let me see.

Sebring 23-3-62 Someone called Don Brady drives a Stanguellini-Fiat. He finishes eight. Our Delfino?

Marlboro, Governor´s Cup National Races 14th April 1962. A Stanguellini-Fiat this time in the hands of Pierre Mion. He finishes eight too!

Danville, President´s Cup Race, 29th April 2001. Same car, same driver, this time a fourth (Hangsen won the race with the Cooper).

Cumberland National Races, 13th May 1962. Back to Don Brady as the only Stanguellini starter. He improves his previous best, and finishes fifth (Tim Mayer won the race from Peter Revson)

Santa Barbara, 27th May 1962. Three Stanguellini-Fiats on the grid, driven by J Platek, T R Langley and Paul Crowley. Is any of these the Delfino? Or had it already being flown back for Zanarotti to drive it at the Monaco race (2nd June)?

Note- (almost) all the above is pure speculation, of course...

Felix

[Valve Bounce]

That looks more like an ugly duckling to me. Far more beautiful is the front engined one, of which I am told by my fried that he raced it at Wakefield Park about 3 months ago, and which, he was informed by Francesco Stanguellini, won a championship race at Monza in March 1960. With a bit of luck, my friend will race his car at one of the races at the Australian GP meeting next year. I still remember pics of this car in R&T, and which I thought was the prettiest F Jr car of the field. I also remember some "fantastic" power claimed for the engine.

[alessandrosilva]

Felix,
according with Orsini "Formula Junior" the race in Daytona was on Febr. 11th 1962. The car was accompanied by Vittorio's son and chief-tester Goldoni. It got pole position and broke the chain of distribution in the engine during the race, a costly misshap. The car was brought back to Europe, raced a while by Zanarotti on local Italian events and sold to French driver Martell who raced it at Nogaro on May 13th 1962, but was entered for Zanarotti at Monaco, June 2nd 1962. Martell came second at La Chätre on June 17th. The car had a serious problem with the chassis and handled poorly. I probably can go on if you are interested.

[Felix Muelas]

Alessandro

Thanks for taking me from my flying feet and putting them back on the floor (that is where they should stay)

Extremelly interesting -and, as usual, well documented- details about the car and its thereabouts. My first reaction to your question of whether you should go on was to say no, but now I am wondering...
Would it make sense to complete the picture? Probably yes, and if we can post some pictures and you can write the rest of the story, we will find that we end up making a small and respectful "obituary" to the car. Does it sounds tempting?

Un abraccio

Felix

[Roger Clark]

Autosport also says that the Daytona race was on Feb 11th although they don't mention Hangsen or the Delfino. I wonder if Alessandro or Felix would summarise for me the paragraph on page 200 of Orsini's book concenring the Delfino and Zanarotti.

[alessandrosilva]

Roger,
page 200 of Orsini’s book tells of the Italian debut of the car at the Stallavena-Boscochiesanuova hillclimb. Driven by Zanarotti the car skidded and was a late finisher (April 8th 1962).

This is the homework given by Felix to me.
Addition: before going to Martell, Zanarotti took the car on April 15th to the Vienna GP where he rertired...
After La Châtre, Martell returned the car and bought a Lous. The works gave the car again to Zanarotti for the GP della Lotteria at Monza. The car did not pass scrutineering because of the exhaust pipes (that were very high and mounted on a weird concoction pyramid-like protruding from the top of the gearbox). [researching after 40 years the Delfino story, I got the impression that it was this episod that really “killed” the car; after that a loss of interest by the Stanguellinis in the Formula is evident].
On September 16th at Monza (IV Coppa Junior), the car, now with exhaust pipes below the gearbox, was driven by Zanarotti who was instrumental in the accident where Marcello de Luca di Lizzano died.
Apparently the car disappeared at the end of the 1962 season where the best results by Italian cars in international FJ were:
the second of Martell in the Delfino at La Châtre and a third by a named Fred Parkhill at Tucson (Arizona) in a Fiat-Volpini.
Stanguellini announced that the firm was quitting FJ and also Dagrada did the same.
But....
On May 12th, 1963 the Delfino reappeared in the hands of quick amateur from Milan Franco Dari at the difficult Circuito del Garda. The car looked very diffrent in the shape and finished a creditable 7th followed by a sixth in the Vigorelli Cup at Monza. The car was also entered for the last FJ race I Italy on Spet. 29th, 1963.
All this is documented.
If my memory does not fail me, the car was later seen in Italian hillclimbs 64/65 as a F3.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by alessandrosilva
...and broke the chain of distribution in the engine....

This is known in English as the timing chain... some things do come out strangely with literal translations.

Harking back to the front engined cars, the Stanguellini had a strange method of locating the rear axle laterally... two steel cables, one from the right of the chassis to the left of the axle, one from the left of the chassis to the right of the axle, relying on stretch to allow axle movement up and down, I gather...

[Rupertlt1]

#62, Daytona, 1962:

https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/my090sr1585

https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/zm746kx8217

RGDS RLT

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by Rupertlt1

#62, Daytona, 1962:

https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/my090sr1585

https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/zm746kx8217

RGDS RLT

Thanks! Lovely car that (although the exhaust is unappealing)