The Magical Era of Voiturette Racing Cars.

The 1930–1940s offered the world a unique but international class of racing on tracks that were “around the house’ venues

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Formula One Forever

8 min readSep 1, 2020

The Voiturette (750cc, 1100 cc, and 1500cc) races which took place between 1931 and 1940 were magic; technically interesting cars, that raced “around the house” venues.

A racing series that was truly International with multi-make participation, that finally culminated into a devastating secret weapon unleashed by Mercedes Benz which defeated and demoralized the opposition.

There was never a dull moment on or off the track.

Voiturette Racing

Voiturette in French means ‘small car’, which is rather hard to copyright. But in 1895 a French cycle-car designer Leon Bollée was given the exclusive right by the French Courts to use the word for his new three-wheeler.

But it did not stick, either because his three-wheeler car was not all that successful or because the word ‘voiturette’ quickly passed into common usage or both.

The term Voiturette, of course, was relative, and always to that which defined ‘big car’ at any given time in terms of first weight and then capacity. Cycle-cars, often called “Light cars” were smaller and lighter compared to 1100cc and 1500cc automobiles which were in turn were trifling compared to the 9 and 10-liter cars which dominated the Grand Prix races until World War I.

The Bugatti T10 with only 1456cc placed second to the 10 liters Fiat at the 1911 French Grand Prix and provided a perfect example of a Voiturette race car and as many later Voiturettes did, it set the size and weight trends for the future.

The 1908 T10 Bugatti — A 1908 T10 Bugatti

By the 1920s, Voiturette racing was generally defined as a class of smaller racing cars under the main Grand Prix formula displacing anywhere from 750cc to 1500cc. Then in 1926–27, the Voiturette class of 1500cc supercharged cars became the Grand Prix formula, and the Voiturette class became the 1100cc class.

This French-legislated (the governing body before World War II was the ‘Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus’, or AIACR) dance occurred again in 1946 and in 1961, where the large Grand Prix formula cars were throttled back to the status of 1500cc Voiturettes.

The Era Of The ERA

The golden era of the Voiturette racing cars was from 1931 to 1940, when a truly International cast of 1100cc and 1500cc Supercharged Race Cars competed throughout Europe and featured cars and drivers from France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K.

The venues were largely ‘around the houses’ circuits such as Pau and San Remo, the drivers were semi-professional or talented amateurs, and interestingly, there were no points or championships for manufacturers or drivers. It served as a training ground for Grand Prix races (or Formula 1 today) and provided exciting, close racing.

In fact, the formula was so good it became the official Grand Prix class in 1945, which lasted until 1952. Furthermore, from 1934 to 1940, it was distinctly different than the Grand Prix formulas then in effect, which was dominated by Mercedes Benz and Auto Union and effectively ended the true International competition.

The 1930s Voiturette races are also remembered by the English-speaking world because of the international success of the English Racing Automobiles, or ERA. With a supercharged production-based Riley engine (which like the BMW 328, featured a Hemi-head with valves operated from pushrods and cams high in the head) these conservative but carefully constructed cars dominated the 1935 and 1937 Voiturette racing seasons, winning almost every event they entered.

The competition was if not fierce then fair, with Bugatti, Delage, and Maserati all capable of winning races. In fact, ERAs quickly became English Legendary, a sort of a race car version of the later Spitfire fighter plane. Today they are national treasures.

International Players Join The Ranks

The ERA is so legendary it is easy to overlook the fact that both Austin and MG entered the Voiturette classes with some success, particularly in the case of the MG K3, which was a race-winning sports car that easily could be converted to a Voiturette formula car.

Austin officially backed the creation of the Murray Jamieson-designed DHOC 750 supercharged single-seater that was able to compete with cars twice its size.

Like ERA, Maserati produced cars for the formula and sold them to drivers as well as maintained a small factory team. The Tipo 26, 4CM 1100 and 1500, the 6CM, and the 4CL filled the grids in the thirties and the Maseratis were the backbone of the Voiturette class.

The 1937 Maserati 6CM — A 1937 Maserati 6CM

Like Alfa, Maserati failed to create a car powerful enough to defeat the Germans in the Grand Prix races, and their winning reputation was based largely on the Voiturette class wins.

Alfa very nearly missed the boat entirely. Little known was the fact that Jano’s 1750 supercharged DOHC was stripped down, reduced to 1500cc, and with an open-wheel body competed in early Voiturette races in the 1930s.

Concentrating on the 8c2300/2900, Alfa officially ignored the smaller class until 1938, when it could do so no longer and out popped the legendary Alfetta 158. Like others, they had decided to stop wasting time trying to compete with the Germans and finally embraced the Voiturette class.

From France came the Amilcar, Bugatti, Delage, Salmson, and Talbot. Bugatti made do very well with the T37a until the DOHC engine from the T51 was sleeved down to become the T51a and became the most successful Voiturette between 1932 and 1934, primarily driven by Pierre Veyron, whose name is still associated with Bugattis today.

The 1933 T51a Bugatti — A 1933 T51a Bugatti

Mercedes Benz Demolishes The Opposition

Eventually, Mercedes Benz also turned to Voiturette racing and did so only once. But at the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix, they surprised the racing world and unveiled their new ultra-sophisticated two V8 cars and walked away with the race, totally demoralizing the competition.

Both cars had survived the War at the Mercedes-Benz representative in Zurich. They were held by the Swiss government until 1950. By this time 1.5 liter had indeed become the displacement limit for Grands Prix, which are part of the newly created Formula 1 World Championship.

The W165’s rivals of old, Maserati, and Alfa Romeo, were still running strong and a return to Grand Prix racing by Mercedes-Benz was the subject of heavy speculation. Eventually, in the summer of 1951, the green light was given to build a further five W165s.

It proved to be too late as for 1952 the regulations were heavily revised, rendering all ‘Voiturette’ style racing cars obsolete.

The two surviving Tripoli racers were retained by Mercedes-Benz and lingered in the company’s massive collection until 1995. Upon receiving an invitation for that year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Tripoli winning car was carefully reconditioned. It missed most of its bodywork, which was carefully recreated.

The fruits of the labor came in June that year when the beautifully prepared W165 was piloted up the hill first by the then Mercedes Museum director and later by racing legend John Surtees and McLaren principal Ron Dennis. It was the first time in over 50 years that the car had been driven in public.

In the end, the W165 raced just once but can still be considered one of the old-time great single-seater racers as the final development of the pre-War ‘Silver Arrows.’

When it was all over, the old Voiturette formula had become the new Grand Prix Formula One.

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