The vehicle was produced by the Vanwall company, founded by Tony Vandervell. The name was a portmanteau of the owner’s surname and his "Thinwall" bearings manufactured at the Vandervell Products factory in Acton, London. Before constructing original chassis, the team operated modified Ferraris known as "Thinwall Specials" in Formule Libre events. The transition to original construction began with the Vanwall Specials, built at Cox Green, Maidenhead, to meet the 1954 Formula One regulations.
The early Vanwall chassis were designed by Owen Maddock and constructed by the Cooper Car Company. The engine was a 2.0-liter unit designed by Norton engineer Leo Kuzmicki. This powerplant was essentially a combination of four 498 cc Manx single-cylinder motorcycle engines sharing a common waterjacket, cylinder head, and valvetrain. This assembly was fitted to an aluminum copy of a Rolls-Royce B40 military engine crankcase.
The car utilized four AMAL motorcycle carburetors for induction. While the Goodyear disc brakes—built in-house by Vanwall—were successful, the car suffered from troublesome front suspension and cooling systems. For the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix, the engine capacity was increased to 2,237 cc for driver Peter Collins, and eventually reached a full 2,489 cc.
By the end of 1955, Tony Vandervell recognized that while the engine was sound, the Ferrari-derived chassis required significant improvement. He hired designer Colin Chapman and aerodynamicist Frank Costin to overhaul the car for the 1956 season.
The updated 1956 design featured:
Space frame construction.
A De Dion rear axle with reduced unsprung weight.
A front torsion bar.
A five-speed transmission equipped with Porsche synchromesh.
Despite these refinements, the car’s height remained a significant issue. Because the engine was mounted vertically and the driving seat was positioned above the transmission, the driver’s helmet sat 50 inches above the road surface. While the handling was considered suspect, Costin’s aerodynamic work resulted in a car that was faster in a straight line than its contemporary rivals.
In 1956, Stirling Moss drove the car to a non-championship victory at Silverstone and set a lap record at Syracuse. Full-time drivers Harry Schell and Maurice Trintignant demonstrated the car's potential throughout the season, though they achieved limited championship success.
The development of the front-engined Vanwall culminated in the 1957 and 1958 seasons. In 1957, the team switched to Bosch fuel injection after Vandervell persuaded Daimler-Benz to allow the use of the system. Although the transition from alcohol fuels to 130-octane aviation gasoline in 1958 reduced the engine's power output from 290 bhp to approximately 278 bhp, the car remained competitive. The disadvantage in raw power compared to the Dino Ferrari V6 was offset by superior road holding, streamlining, and the use of nylon-cord Dunlop R5 racing tyres.
The evolution of the Vanwall chassis led to the team becoming the first British constructor to win a World Championship race at the 1957 British Grand Prix, a victory shared by Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks. In 1958, the team secured the first-ever Formula One Constructors' Championship. Moss and Brooks finished second and third in the Drivers' Championship that year, each recording three race wins.
The era of the front-engined Vanwall ended as mid-engined competitors, such as the Cooper, began to dominate. A final attempt at a rear-engined Vanwall was made in 1961 for the Intercontinental Formula, but development ceased when the category failed to gain traction in Europe. Examples of the various Vanwall models were later preserved in the Donington Collection.
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