Vanwall VW5
- Constructor
- vanwall
- Years
- 1956–1958
- Designers
- Colin Chapman (chassis), Frank Costin (aerodynamics), Leo Kuzmicki (engine)
- Engine
- Vanwall straight-4
- Configuration
- straight-4, 2489 cc, naturally aspirated
- Power
- 290 bhp (About 290 bhp at 7,500 rpm on methanol; 255-262 bhp under the 1958 pump-fuel rules)
- Chassis
- spaceframe
- Gearbox
- 5-speed manual with Porsche synchromesh
- Suspension
- Front: torsion bars. Rear: de Dion axle
- Brakes
- disc
- Weight
- —
- Wheelbase
- —
- Tyres
- Dunlop
- Races
- 15
- Wins
- 9
- Poles
- 7
- Drivers' titles
- 0
- Constructors' titles
- 1
- Specification confidence
- medium
A motorcycle engine multiplied by four in an aircraft-aerodynamicist's body on a Chapman chassis
Bosch fuel injection; Costin's streamlined body, which made it the fastest car in a straight line; four cylinders derived from Norton motorcycle practice
Tony Vandervell built Vanwall to beat 'those bloody red cars', and did. The 1957 British Grand Prix, shared by Moss and Brooks, was the first World Championship win for a British car. In 1958 Vanwall took the first Constructors' Championship ever awarded - and then Vandervell's health failed and the team effectively stopped, so the first constructors' champion never defended the title.
The first Constructors' Championship, 1958. Six wins that season, three each to Moss and Brooks - and no drivers' title, which went to Hawthorn's Ferrari on consistency.