Since the early days of Grand Prix racing many attempts were made to enter the Formula One and pre-war Grand Prix era. The period 1885 – 2023 contains over 650 Unraced projects. Every now and then new projects appear on the surface. To share with you all the stories i decided to summarize the stories per year. Don’t you worry, all the stories will be researched and eventually published. This is the summarized overview of the 1950 season.
Mauro’s Alfa Romeo 8C-308
This is one of the cases I’m not sure if a car/attempt can be qualified as Unraced. Johnny Mauro seems to have acquired the car from Walt Brown. Originally, the car came from Argentina. Before it arrived In the States somewhere in 1946. Mauro finished the 1948 Indy 500 on the eight place with the car. For the Indy 500 from 1950 he tried it once more with this Alfa to qualify. Sadly, he failed to qualify with the Alfa, as the competition was faster than the more or less outdated Alfa. At that time, the Indy 500 was one of the races for the Formula One. Therefore, it is for me unsure if this can be qualified as Unraced.
Miller RE4D
Another Indy 500 exotic that tried to qualify for the 1950 Indy 500 edition. It seems that Al Miller tried for a last time to qualify himself on Indianapolis. Previously he started in 13 editions. In 1950, he appeared with the Miller RE4D special. The rear-fitted Miller L6 engine powered the car. It seems the car was too slow and he did not manage to qualify himself for the race.
NSW
About this project is almost none information available. It seems that a constructor from the former USSR was working on a Grand Prix car. If the car was to be built to race outside the USSR or just to stay behind the iron curtain is unsure. What the name NSW means nobody seems to know. Neither If the car existed on paper, in someone mind or NSW started working on it.
SVA-Fiat 1500
The SVA (Societa Valdostana Automobili) might be the most interesting projects. SVA was a small Italian car manufacturer established in 1948. The company was once founded to develop the car made by Cisitialia. When the company went into bankruptcy, SVA focused on open-wheel series. For 1950, they designed a Formula 1 car powered by a 1500CC fiat engine. Rudi Fischer was to race the Swiss Grand Prix that year with the SVA. However, the car never arrived on the track.
Tucker Grand Prix Team
This project could have been the very first all American Formula One Dream Team. Preston Tucker in the 1950s a well-known automobile entrepreneur in America had a dream. His plans were a six-car team to join the Formula One in Europe. The team was to be led by Indy veteran Ralph Hepburn. The team would use adapter Miller Indy bodies with a revolutionary bodywork. After Hepburn was killed during the practice for the 1948, Indy 500 the enthusiasm for the programme began to flounder. While some attempts were made, the project eventually folded.
