The Lancia D50 was a Formula One

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

Lancia Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...

in 1954. The car's design made use of many innovative features, such as the use of the engine as a stressed chassis member, the off-centre positioning of the engine to allow a lower overall height, and pannier fuel cells for better weight distribution and aerodynamics. Six of the cars were built, and two of them are displayed in Italian museums.

Description

The D50 made its race debut toward the end of the

1954 Formula One season The 1954 Formula One season was the eighth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1954 World Championship of Drivers,World Championship of Drivers, 1974 FIA Yearbook, Grey section, pages 118 & 119 and several non-championship rac ...

in the hands of two-time and reigning World Champion, Italian driver Alberto Ascari. In its very first event Ascari took both pole position in qualifying and fastest race lap, although his car's clutch failed after only ten laps. Following Ascari's death, and in increasing financial trouble, the Lancia family sold their controlling share in the Lancia company, and the assets of Scuderia Lancia were given to

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...

. Ferrari continued to develop the car, although they removed many of Jano's most innovative designs, and the car was rebadged as the "Lancia-Ferrari D50" and later simply the "Ferrari D50".

Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio (American Spanish: , ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995), nicknamed ''El Chueco'' ("the bowlegged" or "bandy legged one") or ''El Maestro'' ("The Master" or "The Teacher"), was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated t ...

won the

1956 World Championship of Drivers The 1956 Formula One season was the tenth season of FIA's Formula One motor racing. It featured the seventh World Championship of Drivers, and numerous non-championship races. The championship series commenced on 22 January 1956 and ended on 2 S ...

with this car modified by Ferrari. During their competition lifespan D50s were entered into 14 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, winning five.

Ferrari 801

The D50s lived on into the 1957 season, much modified as "Ferrari 801s" but were largely uncompetitive against the latest generation of Maserati 250Fs.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (results in bold indicate pole position, results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Shared drive

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

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Push-starting a Lancia D50
''www.streetfire.net'' (video) {{Scuderia Ferrari Lancia Formula One cars Formula One championship-winning cars