1948 Simca Gordini T15 Grand Prix Monoposto

Amédée Gordini's success during the 1930s led Simca, France's Fiat assembler, to hire him. After World War II, Gordini continued to carry the Simca banner with his competitive small-displacement single-seaters for the new Formula B (later called Formula 2).

This particular example is a 1948 Simca-Gordini T15 Grand Prix Monoposto that was based on Simca mechanicals including the 1,100cc pushrod engine and a special racing chassis. It has a well-documented history and was piloted by many racing legends including Prince Bira of Siam, Louis Chiron, Robert Manzon, Raymond Sommer, and Jean-Pierre Wimille.

This car's inaugural outing was on May 30th of 1948 at the Stockholm, Sweden Grand Prix where it wore race number 2. It was driven by Prince Bira who won the race but was disqualified from 1st place, having been judged to have jumped the start.

The car was originally powered by a 1100cc engine which was plagued with reliability issues. This engine was later upgraded to 1460cc and the current T15 specification. The four-cylinder overhead valve Simca-Gordini engine is mated to a four-speed manual gearbox. There is an independent front suspension with wishbones and coil springs in the front with a rigid rear axle setup with longitudinal torsion bars. Four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes can be found at all four corners.

The next race for this Monoposto was at the Berne, Switzerland Grand Prix of Europe held on July 4th of 1948 where Raymond Sommer suffered engine failure on Lap 9 and was classified as a DNF. Just one week later, at the Circuit des Ramparts races in Angoulème, France, Raymond Manzon dropped out on the first lap of the second heat. A week later, on July 18th of 1948, American driver Harry Schell contested the Grand Prix of Reims in the Petites cylinder (small bore) class. He also dropped out of the race, on Lap 7, due to valve issues.

After the European events, 7GC and 10GC were sent to Argentina to contest the Temporado series there, with Wimille and Fangio scheduled to drive for Gordini. Fangio drove 7GC and was able to defeat the revered Alfa Romeo 158 on one occasion.

On January 28th of 1948, Wimille was driving 10GC during a practice run in preparation for the upcoming Buenos Aires Grand Prix, when he suffered a fatal accident while attempting to avoid a number of people standing on the track, hitting an earth bank, rolling the car and being thrown out.

Saddened by the loss of their teammate, the Gordini team packed up for France and left both Gordinis in Argentina. 10GC was lightly damaged and within a couple of weeks was repaired and returned to competition. While in Argentina, both cars had been acquired for the Argentine National Auto Club, to be driven by Porfirio Rubirosa, Fangio, and Achille Villoresi. Next, both 7GC and 10GC were sent to Europe by the ACA (Automovil Club Argentino) to be raced by Fangio, Jose Froilan González, and Benedicto Campos. The final race for 10GC came at Italy's Grand Prix Modena, with Argentine driver Roberto Mieres.

10GC then returned to Argentina, where it was raced by Campos and it has remained there in single long-term ownership until most recently. It is an unrestored example that is currently in its early 1950s Argentine National Racing Team livery and the name of Benedicto Campos, presumably the last man to drive it in competition.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2017