VOTE: Best Looking 1950s F1 Car Semi-Final #2

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Which of these two Formula One cars is better looking?

  • Total voters
    54
  • Poll closed .
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1950-1951 Alfa Romeo 158/159 Alfetta vs 1954-1959 Maserati 250F

1950-1951 Alfa Romeo 158/159 Alfetta

Engine: 1.5L supercharged Alfa Romeo I8
Noted Drivers: Nino Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio, Luigi Fagioli

giuseppe_farina__great_britain_1950__by_f1_history-d6f8kna.jpg


20140413160817!Alfa-Romeo-159-%281951%29.jpg


1954-1959 Maserati 250F

Engines: 2.5L Maserati I6, 2.5L Maserati V12
Noted Drivers: Juan Manuel Fangio, Luigi Musso, Harry Schell, Stirling Moss

Raced with minor tweaks over the years but generally retained the same shape.

goodwood_media_2010-14.jpg


fangiogermany57.jpg
 
The Alfa Tipo 158 dates from the 1930's, when it competed as a voiturette. Its ultimate manifestation as the 1951 Tipo 159 saw it gain grossly oversized fuel tanks to satiate its awful 1.5 miles per gallon mileage from its twin supercharged straight 8 engine. It's really a car from the 30's, lost in time, grown portly in old age.

The better choice is the Maserati 250F, particularly the '57 Lightweight shown above, and the '58 Piccolo (not shown).
 
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Dotini
The Alfa Tipo 158 dates from the 1930's, when it competed as a voiturette. Its ultimate manifestation as the 1951 Tipo 159 saw it gain grossly oversized fuel tanks to satiate its awful 1.5 miles per gallon mileage from its twin supercharged straight 8 engine. It's really a car from the 30's, lost in time, grown portly in old age.
Click to expand...

I disagree somewhat. It's still a glorious looking machine even if it does retain a 1930s style. In the top image with Farina in the cockpit, it looks brilliant with the slender, slightly inward-taping nose with a stouty grille.

However, the 250F is streets ahead and especially the lightweight Fangio made so famous so while I do rather like the Alfa, the Maserati gets my vote.

Edit: Incidentally, using the 1.5 miles per (imperial) gallon calculation the Alfa Romeo 159 used 208 gallons / 945 litres of fuel at the 1951 Italian Grand Prix. That's astonishing.
 
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The Alfetta wins, but only just. I'm a sucker for the rounded late-1930s designs, the shaped grill, and those shotgun exhaust pipes.

I also like the 250F (nominated it), but it's just not as stylish as the 158; it's from the wrong era, it's supercharged, and that seals it, in my opinion.

For those who want to give the Maserati 250F a second crack, it did have a race start in the 1960 Argentine GP...
 
The Maserati is the classic 50's shape of F1 with the cigar-shaped body. Win for me.
 
But the best sounding Car in the 50's will be the BRM P15 with that complex English V16
and the supercharger
and the noise! (If you have never heard the V16 BRM engine... what are you doing in this thread!)
Brutal car.

(I Voted Alfa - you have to really, otherwise the serpent will devour you!)
 

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