As there are over 650 Unraced F1 projects from the period 1885 – 2020 I decided before to publish articles of Unraced projects per year. This is easier for you to see which attempts happened a specific year. Of course, it is easier for me as well as researching and writing an article takes a lot of time, which I don’t always have. If you are interested in one of the summarized attempts perhaps, I can give you more info about it.This is the summarized overview of the Unraced projects in 1986.
Arno Moderni F1 Team
Arno was a small team active in the Italian F3. During the 1985 season, the team decided it was time to move toward the Formula One. Their goal was to appear on the grid in 1986. It wouldn’t take long before the team contacted Carlo Chiti from Motori-Moderni if he could supply the team with engines. In December 1985, Mario Hytten signed a contract with the team to be their driver. However, Arno would not appear on the grid at all. Their car design eventually would become AGS their first car. Read the story here.
Ekström Grand Prix
Ekström Grand Prix is one of the weirdest and most insane attempts to bring a team on the grid in the Formula One. In October 1985, the news appeared in the paddock that a new team aimed their debut in 1986. Who was this team? It was Cecilia Ekström’s Grand Prix team. Her boyfriend, sometimes racer, George Paulin was involved as well in the team. In lower Formulae series the team did not have a good reputation. Eric Lang can probably tell you how Cecilia and George managed their team. The team had an interview with the Swiss television station SRF where they gave the impression they were building up their F1 team. In the end the team never materialised at all. Read the story here.
However, this is not the end of the story. I had a chat with Paul Cherry who worked for the Ekström Grand Prix team in 1985 and 1986. He revealed a lot of information regarding Cecilia’s handling. They did not pay the salaries on time, they went wrong with the needed visas and eventually the customs knocked on the door of the foreign employees, with the message “You have to leave”. The interview with Paul Cherry can be read here.
RAM-Cosworth 04
Who does not remember the RAM cars with the Skoal Bandit sponsoring? Even if you were not born back then you probably have seen the beautiful liveries. At the end of the 1985 season RAM Racing withdrew from the Formula One, to return to the F3000 series. In the series, it was allowed to use existence DFV-powered F1 chassis. This resulted in the development of the RAM-Hart 03 into the RAM-Cosworth 04. James Weaver and Eliseo Salazar raced uncompetitive with the 04 in 1986. The RAM-Cosworth 04 is one of the few cars that are in the grey area if it can be classified as Unraced or not.
