Following the production of the Alta GP car, the Alta Car and Engineering Company lacked the necessary funding to develop a direct successor for Formula One. In response, Geoffrey Taylor decided to move the firm's focus toward the junior Formula Two category. Alta cars had become popular among club racers due to their ability to be converted easily between different engine classes, allowing drivers on a limited budget to contest more than one category without needing a second car. The Alta F2 chassis design followed the preceding GP car very closely.
The Alta F2 was powered by a Taylor-designed 1970 cc inline 4-cylinder, naturally aspirated engine, developing around 130 bhp (97 kW; 132 PS). This resulted in an overweight car considering the greatly reduced power available from the unsupercharged motors. Five chassis were associated with the F2 program: F2/1 and F2/2 were taken on a tour of European races by Tony Gaze and Gordon Watson. Chassis GP4 was sold to Bobbie Baird in Ireland and eventually became a Jaguar-engined 2-seater sportscar; F2/3 was no more successful than its siblings. F2/4 followed in construction and was sold to Orlando Simpson before Peter Whitehead placed an order for what was to become the last Alta car built: F2/5.
The Alta F2 struggled to achieve significant results in its primary category. Drivers Tony Gaze and Gordon Watson campaigned F2/1 and F2/2 across a tour of European races, but good results were hard to come by. The model's participation in the FIA World Championship occurred during the 1952 season. Peter Whitehead entered the final chassis, F2/5, in the 1952 French Grand Prix. Later that year, his half-brother Graham Whitehead drove the same car in the 1952 British Grand Prix. Neither appearance resulted in a points finish.
While the F2 chassis was considered cumbersome, the 2.0L engine showed significant tuning potential. Peter Whitehead demonstrated this by removing the engine from chassis F2/5 and installing it into a Cooper T24 chassis, which he ran in the 1953 British Grand Prix. This marked the end of Alta's tenure as a complete constructor and the beginning of its role as a specialist engine supplier. George Abecassis had some success with a revised voiturette design before the Second World War interrupted. Alta engines had already been used by the HWM team since 1949, and from 1953 many more mechanics would come to know the Taylor-designed power plant. HWM had scored what was Alta's only significant victory, when Lance Macklin won the 1952 BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone. In its later developed forms, including 1.5L and 2.5L variants, the Taylor-designed engine eventually reached outputs of approximately 240 bhp (179 kW; 243 PS).
Chassis F2/5 survived the post-war era and was eventually reunited with its original 2.0L Alta power plant. In recent years, it has been active in historic motorsport, including an appearance at the 1999 Goodwood Revival meeting.
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