The new car made its baptism of fire at Silverstone in the May 1956 International Trophy. Moss was persuaded to try the new car in the race since Officine Alfieri Maserati was not entering the race. Moss and Schell were the stars of the show, making the Lancia D50 cars of Scuderia Ferrari look outclassed. Moss won convincingly from the Lancia of Fangio. Schell was also sparkling, but had to retire after running into some engine problems. The victory of the new car on its maiden event certainly got many tongues wagging. And it got Moss to thinking as well. Although he was committed to Maserati, whenever his services were not needed, he agreed to drive for the Vandervell team.

Although the cars did not match this level of performance in subsequent events in 1956, they definitely served notice that they had to be taken seriously.

(Left: Fox among the chickens. Fangio, Castellotti, Schell and Collins round the Hairpin at Monaco, 1956)

At the French race at Reims, Schell took over the car of Hawthorn (the Prodigal Son) and put the car among the leaders even after pitting to switch cars. He was reaching speeds of almost 300 km/h down the hill to Thillois, a fantastic rate for that time. Fangio, Collins, and Castellotti teamed up on Schell and despite their tricks hung with them, although he dropped back just a tad when it got a bit rough - he was handled particularly roughly by Castellotti who edged him out on the grass several times and balked and blocked him very badly at other times. All was for naught when the throttle mechanism failed and he was forced to pit. Although there was not as much as a "thank you" or a pat on the back for Schell by Vandervell after the race, Schell did find himself the recipient of the entire amount of the starting money (£550) rather than the usual 50%. Notice was served.

There were almost three entries for this race. As a reward for services rendered as well as recognition for his driving skills, Colin Chapman was entered as the third driver for the team. However, he managed to not only damage his car when he missed his braking point, but hit that of Hawthorn as well. Although the Hawthorn car was able to be repaired in time for the race, the Chapman car was beyond repair so far from home and did not start the race. Vandervell was not amused in the least with this and Chapman was never given another opportunity with the team.

At Silverstone, Vandervell asked Omar Orsi of Maserati if he could possibly use Moss for the British Grand Prix, but was politely turned down. Instead of Moss, Jose Froilan Gonzalez was in the cockpit of a Vanwall. He was accorded the honor of being given starting money equal to that of his countryman Fangio. However, Gonzalez never came to grips with the car and his race was measured only in meters versus kilometers when a universal joint failed as he left the line. Both Schell and Trintignant suffered from what were apparently fuel starvation problems. Both had the team puzzled and they wanted some answers. The latter was traced to the use of sodium silicate to seal the tanks during manufacture. The former was attributed to the part being overstressed and it was beefed up to prevent future recurrences of the failure.

The team made one more race in 1956, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Although all three cars retired - Schell and Piero Taruffi with gearbox oil loss and Trintignant with a broken shock absorber, their speed was readily apparent and the car was now very respected among the other competitors for that reason.

The 1956 season saw the foundation for the 1957 and 1958 seasons laid out. The team kept making subtle adjustments to the package and although the reliability for 1956 was not very good, it was also a learning experience since the time was now building "the book" for the forthcoming seasons. As the mechanical side of the team was coming together, it was the driver side that saw Vandervell make some significant moves. Trintignant and Schell were both released. Vandervell thoroughly enjoyed the company of Schell, but business dictated that new blood be brought into the team.

(Left: "Handsome," Harry Schell. born in France to an American mother and father, served in the U.S. Army during WWII.)

It came in the form of Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks. These were among the best drivers in the business and they had the additional benefit of being British. With came a long list of "suggestions" about the chassis. These included larger brakes, particularly at the rear, improved suspension - the transverse leaf spring system at the rear was replaced by coil spring suspension and an improved layout for the de Dion tube at the rear.

One minor glitch emerged over the winter which was notable due to the very absence of such glitches: Pirelli initially stated it would be unable to provide tires for the team, but eventually a deal with them was struck. It meant, however, that the discount was now 30% versus the previous 50%. The team looked at the possibility of using Dunlop tires, the R4 in particular, but stayed with Pirelli although keeping Dunlop in mind for the future. Shell Mex & BP continued to provide the racing fuel for the team as before.

The racing department now employed 18 mechanics, a very large contingent for those days. And they were kept busy by the preparations for the new season. While the engines available ran only to the V7 serial, the cylinder heads now numbered into the 40's.

The Championship held its first round in Buenos Aires, but Vanwall did not enter the race and Moss drove once again for Maserati. In the Spring of 1957, Britain (along with its invasion partner - France) was still suffering from the fallout from the Suez Canal intervention in the waning weeks of 1956. The team found itself on the sidelines until early April when they raced at Siracusa on Sicily. Moss took third and set the fastest lap. At Goodwood Brooks was sixth while Moss retired. At Monaco Moss tangled with Hawthorn and Collins at the chicane and retired while Brooks (Right) kept it going despite the temperatures in the cockpit being enough to bake him to finish second to Fangio.

There was a big gap in the racing schedule in 1957 between the GP at Monaco on 19 May and the GP de l'ACF on 7 July at Rouen. The Vandervell team found itself with a driver problem during this interval. Tony Brooks suffered serious injuries to his legs when his Aston Martin crashed at Le Mans and was subsequently out of action for several weeks. Then Moss managed to damage his sinuses while on vacation in the south of France when he inhaled too much saltwater while water-skiing. He was trying a trick move and the spray was directed straight into his nostrils. Stuart Lewis-Evans and Roy Salvadori (Below) were pressed into service as drivers.

The Reims GP was one of the "big money" races for back in those days. Both the starting and prize monies were extremely "generous" and Vandervell wanted to do well. Hence the Streamliner. It was laid out to cover a new chassis, VW6. The body design was supervised by Mike Costin and the work done by Abbey Panels of Coventry. The team mechanic who supervised this work was Cyril Atkins. The Streamliner was flown out to France the Tuesday after Rouen. The Rouen cars, VW1 and VW4, were loaded on the plane at Calais and returned to Southend. The Streamliner proceeded to Reims where VW7 and VW8 were already waiting.

Stuart Lewis-Evans was the first to try VW6 in practice and found it badly overgeared. This was worked on overnight and the next day both drivers tried VW6, but the lack of experience by both drivers with cars at speed on the Reims circuit ? or in Vanwalls at any speed for that matter -- meant that both were never comfortable with it. They then concentrated on the "regular" cars for the race. Sadly, the Streamliner was returned to its transporter and not raced that weekend. However, VW6 did reappear that season, albeit with the Streamliner panels being removed and replaced with normal bodywork.

In the race, Lewis-Evans nearly pulled off a win and impressed all with his speed. He was receding into the distance - he had a lead of over 100 meters at the end of the first lap! - when an oil leak began to throw oil all over the car. Lewis-Evans kept his wits and eased off and settled for third. It was a first rate performance and showed a very mature decision by the young driver. The long held desire of Vandervell to field a third car was now a reality. Lewis-Evans was offered and then accepted the role of the third driver on the team.

The Grand Prix de l'Europe incorporating the R.A.C. British Grand Prix, 20 July 1957. That was actually the official title according to the literature distributed by the RAC! Usually it is just referred to as the XII R.A.C. British Grand Prix. The Grand Prix de l'Europe title was essentially meaningless. It was to be the Vanwall rendezvous with destiny.

With the British Grand Prix being still held on Saturday back then, it was a short six days after the Grand Prix de Reims until the next race. The race was at Aintree for the second time, now in a rotation with Silverstone. After coming very close to winning the race at Reims, the team now had the third team driver it had been seeking. Stuart Lewis-Evans had been in the lead and drawing away when an oil leak forced him to back off and eventually cross the line in third place. Aintree would see Lewis-Evans join a full strength Vanwall team, the A Team of Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks both returning to the fray. Brooks was returning after an accident at Le Mans where his most serious injury was to a leg and even now his was far from being completely well. Moss was returning after having damaged his sinuses while water skiing when he blasted water up his nose while attempting a trick move. It was a painful and embarrassing injury and one that did not amuse the Guv, Tony Vandervell, one bit.

The team rushed its mechanics back to Acton from the Continent, dropped off the cars used at Reims and loaded up the cars that were prepared for Aintree. The cars were taken on Wednesday to the main Ford agency in Liverpool where they were would be serviced when away from the track. The team was headquartered at the Adelphi Hotel. Having all the attributes that would make it fit into tracks being used 40 years later - too many corners and too few straights, the circuit was highly unpopular with the Continental drivers who generally detested it. The surroundings did little improve things since it was surrounded by industrial sites and generally gray and grimy on the best of days.

Vanwall brought four chassis and two spare engines to the race.The chassis and engines were allocated this way: VW1 with engine V3 for Moss; VW4 with engine V4 for Brooks; VW5 with engine V2 for Lewis-Evans; and, VW7 served as the spare along with engine V1 as one of the two spares brought along. After some problems during practice, the mechanics pulled V4 and replaced it with V1 for the race. When the dust and grime settled, Moss was on the pole, Brooks third, and Lewis-Evans sixth on the grid. In the race, Behra in his Maserati 250F got an absolutely demon start - one which would have even made Don Garlits envious - and grabbed the immediate lead. Moss being Moss he was soon past Jean Behra and building a comfortable lead. Brooks started to fall back after several laps and was passed by Hawthorn and Collins in their Ferraris. However, the Moss Vanwall started to misfire and Moss dashed into the pits on the 22nd lap to have a loose plug lead put back on. The stop took over 30 seconds and after roaring off to rejoin the race, Moss was back in the next lap to have the plugs changed.

Brooks had been circulating in fifth place and not having a good time of it since his leg was giving him problems. With Moss in the pits, Brooks was waved in to hand over Moss. Brooks was only too happy to oblige with the request. The car was barely stopped in the pits and it seemed that Brooks was being yanked out of the cockpit before Moss was behind the wheel and accelerating away in pursuit of leader Behra. When Moss rejoined the race, he was in ninth position and had lots of ground to make up.

Brooks finally returned VW1 to the fray after it was in the pits for nearly 11 minutes. The car had dropped all the way back to 16th place and was clearly sounding sickly despite the plug change. After 51 laps, both VW1 and Brooks were put out of their misery and Brooks was waved into the pits to retire the car. Brooks was happy to call it a day.

Meanwhile, Moss was flying through the field, but it was obvious that he would need a miracle to win this race. Behra had built up a substantial lead and although Moss was soon in fourth place behind Behra, Hawthorn and Lewis-Evans, he was making little to no dent on the leader. Behra was driving a wonderful race and had the field covered. He could pace himself and seemingly draw out a bit more when needed with ease. Moss was creeping up on Lewis-Evans and Hawthorn, but Behra was in another race from the rest of the field. Perhaps this was to be his day finally.

Then it all went crazy. When lap 69 was scored, Moss was fourth just behind Lewis-Evans. On lap 70 the lap chart had Moss in the lead barely ahead of teammate Lewis-Evans, they were almost dead even as they crossed the line. In one lap, Behra had his clutch fail, Hawthorn had his left rear tire start to deflate, and Moss passed his teammate. Vanwall was now running 1-2 in its home Grand Prix. When the Maserati rolled to a stop in the pits, Behra received an ovation from the crowd for having driven a wonderful race - although his retirement may have also been a relief to many.

The usual Vanwall luck hit Lewis-Evans this time instead of Moss. Lewis-Evans was running a strong second when the throttle linkage managed to derange itself and he was forced to pit to have it wired together. He did manage to rejoin the race and finish seventh in spite of this.

Moss, once in the lead, found that although he had a comfortable lead - nearly half a minute, but Luigi Musso in his Ferrari was pouring it on and carving off time from that lead. Fears that the Vanwall would suffer its usual disaster and conk out in the final laps were on many minds as Musso tore around the track and Moss reeled off the remaining laps. Amazing enough, the car hung together and Moss took the flag to hand the British their first win in a Championship Grand Prix.

At the next race, the German Grand Prix, Moss and the rest of the team were merely bit players in the drama between Fangio and the youngsters of Scuderia Ferrari: Collins and Hawthorn. Moss wound up fifth and Brooks ninth with Lewis-Evans retiring.

Due to the problems from the economic crunch that Suez brought about, Italy was allowed two events in the Championship. And Vanwall won them both! At the Pescara circuit, Moss not only won, he set the fastest lap in doing so. And at Monza, Moss won yet again with Brooks setting the fastest lap and Lewis-Evans sitting on the pole. The Vanwall team was rolling. The final event of the season was the non-championship round in Morocco in which Lewis-Evans was second.