F1’s Vanishing Grid: Short-Lived Teams and Privateers (1971–1972)

After covering the forgotten F1 teams and privateers of 1970 in two parts, we now turn our attention to the short-lived teams and privateers of 1971 and 1972. These brief Formula 1 projects brought unusual cars, independent drivers, and fascinating stories to the Grand Prix grid before disappearing from the sport.

Short-Lived Teams and Privateers of 1971 and 1972

Most of them were privateers who tried their luck and found a way to enter F1. As we all know, the early 1970s were still very much part of the customer-car era, when the F1 grid could contain a fascinating mixture of established factory teams, independent privateers, small constructors, and one-off entrants.

Our article focuses more specifically on privateers and teams that had their final races during those years. We will try to continue this series in the same way, looking at teams that disappeared after those seasons and never raced in F1 again.

Stichting Autoraces Nederland and Gijs van Lennep’s Home Grand Prix

Among the most interesting Dutch privateer efforts of the period was Stichting Autoracers Nederland.

The organization represented a different kind of F1 ambition, one driven partly by national pride and the desire to guve Dutch racing talent an opportunity in Formula 1.

Rather than designing its own F1 car, Stichting Autoracers Nederland operated in the traditional privateer manner, they acquired an older Surtees TS7 chassis and prepared it for Dutch Driver Gijs Van Lennep, who was about to make his F1 debut.

The choice of location made the project particularly meaningful, Van Lennep entered the 1971 Dutch GP at Zandvoort, giving the Dutch driver the opportunity to make his first F1 appearance in front of his home crowd.

The Surtees TS7 was no longer competitive, but the privateer operation managed to produce a respectable result, Van Lennep finished eight, completing the race and placing the independent Dutch effort ahead of several more established competitors.

It was a small result compared with the victories and podium that dominate F1 history, but for Stichting Autoracers Nederland it represented a successful culmination of its project, the organization didn’t establish permanent F1 presence, but its appearance at Zandvoort became one of those brief episodes that demonstrate how local backing could occasionally bring a national driver into F1.

Champcarr Inc. and the American Privateer at Watkins Glen

The 1972 F1 Season brought another unusual privateer entry when Champcarr Inc Arrived at Watkins Glen for the United States GP.

Champcarr was an American racing organization associated with Doug Champlin and Fred Carrillo, its background was rooted in American motorsport rather than European GP racing, with activities connected to Indy cars and Formula 5000.

For 1972, however, the organization decided to attempt soemthing considerably more ambitious, Champcarr purchased a Surtees TS9B chassis and fitted it with the familiar Cosworth DFV V8 engine, the car was entered for American road racer Sam Posey, creating a genuine transatlantic privateer effort on the F1 grid.

The 1972 United States GP at Watkins Glen was therefore much more than another race for Posey, it represented an American independent operation taking on the established European F1 teams, Posey qualified deep in the field, but the race itself provided a solid conclusion to the experiment, he brought the Surtees home in 12th place.

Champcarr never developed into a permanent F1 operation, its appearance at Watkins Glen remained a single chapter in the organization’s racing history.

Connew: The Garage-Built Constructor That Refused to Give Up

Few stories from the early 1970s capture the spirit of independent F1 better than Connew.

Technically, Connew shouldn’t be described simply as a privater, there is an important distinction between the team and organizations such as Champcarr or Shell Arnold.

A traditional privateer could purchase or rent an existing chassis from another manufacturer, but Connew went much further, former Surtees draftsman Peter Connew and a small group of friends designed and built their own F1 car, Connew PC1.

The project was developed on an extremely limited budget, with much of the work carried out in an East London garage, there was no major manufacturer providing the resources normally associated with F1 car construction, the project depended heavily on determination, improvisation and the skills of a very small group of people, that made Connew one of the most remarkable independent projects to reach F1.

The PC1 was entered for the 1972 British Grand Prix but did not start the race. Its official Formula 1 debut eventually came at the 1972 Austrian Grand Prix, with French driver François Migault behind the wheel.

He started 26th, but the car’s suspension failed on lap 22, bringing an end to Connew’s only Formula 1 race. The dream was extremely short-lived, as the project could not develop into a sustainable F1 operation. The PC1 became one of those rare machines remembered as much for the story behind its construction as for its actual racing results.

Eifelland Caravans and the Extraordinary E21

If Connew represented the ultimate small-scale independent effort, Eifelland Caravans represented something completely different, a privater with enough financial backing to attempt something radically unconventional, the German organization was backed by caravan manufacturer Gunther Hennericci.

Eifelland purchased a customer March 721 chassis for its F1 1972 campaign, but instead of simply entering the March in its original configuration, the team decided to transform the car.

For the project, Hennerici turned to designer Luigi Colani, whose futuristic approach to automotive design was already well known, the result was the Eifelland E21.

The car looked dramatically different from other F1 cars at the time, Colani surrounded the March’s mechanical components with an unusually smooth and rounded body, creating one of the most visually distinctive cars to appear on the grid. The most famous feature was the unusual rear-view mirror arrangement, normally they were mounted beside the cockpit, the E21 used a central mirror positioned on a structure ahead of the driver.

The concept was visually striking, but F1 punished aerodynamic and mechanical compromises very quickly, the radical bodywork contributed to serious problems, including engine cooling difficulties and handling issues, the team gradually moved back toward a more conventional configuration, effectively bringing the car closer to the March design from which it had originated.

German driver Rolf Stommelen nevertheless managed to extract respectable results, he recorded two tenth-place finishes during the season.

The project remained short-lived, Hennerici eventually sold his caravan business, and the F1 operation disappeared with it, the Eifelland E21 therefore survives as one of the most memorable examples of what a privateer could attempt in an era when F1 still allowed considerably more freedom to private entrants and small teams.

Shell Arnold Team and Jean-Pierre Jarier’s Formula 1 Debut

The Shell Arnold Team was another French privateer that briefly entered the Formula 1 world in 1971, it was founded by Marcel Arnold, a furniture manufacturer, and received backing from the French subsidiary of Shell.

Its main activities were concentrated elsewhere in European single-seater racing, particularly Formula 2, but in 1971 the team stepped onto the F1 stage, and the opportunity came at the Italian GP at Monza.

Like many independent operations of the period, Shell Arnold didn’t construct a F1 car from scratch, instead, the team rented a March 701, an older customer machine, and placed it in the hands of a young French driver named Jean-Pierre Jarrier. The race was significant for Jarier because it marked his F1 debut, he faced a difficult introduction to the sport, the March wasn’t among the most competitive cars on the grid, Jarier qualified at the back!

Even so, the French driver managed to complete the race, reportedly a broken clutch pedal made the challenge even more difficult, but Jarier brought the March home in 12th place, last on the grid with 8+ laps behind the winner Peter Gethin.

The result was hardly spectacular in championship terms, but it was an important milestone in Jarier’s career, he would go on to become a familiar figure in F1 during the 1970s and 1980s.

For Shell Arnold, the Italian GP remained its one and only F1 race, the team returned to the history books as another independent organization that briefly crossed paths with the world’s premier single seater championship.

Jarier also is a member of The Heartbreak Club: Lead Without a Win in F1.

Matra Sports: The Factory Team That Disappeared After 1972

Not every team disappearing from F1 during this period was a privateer, Matra Sports provides an important contrast to the independent organizations described above.

By 1972, Matra was an established factory constructor with its own chassis and V12 engine, the French team represented the most important national projects in European motorsport, but the 1972 season became Matra’s final full F1 campaign.

The team entered their last year with the Matra MS120D and continued to develop its own V12 powerplant, unlike the privateers using customer March or Surtees chassis, Matra controlled its own technical program from the ground.

Chris Amon was the team’s sole full-time drivers, he showed how quick the Matra could be when everything worked. One of the most memorable moments came at the French GP, where Amon took pole position.

However, let’s not forget that Matra won the Formula 1 World Championship. Its journey in F1 was relatively short, from 1967 to 1972, but it is remembered as a team that competed at the front, winning nine races and taking 21 podiums. At the end of 1972, however, the French team withdrew from F1, bringing its short but successful Grand Prix story to an end.

F1 teams and privateers of 1970

The disappearance of these teams and privateers between 1971 and 1972 tells an important story about how quickly F1 was changing.

These stories are easy to overlook because none of the teams became permanent F1 institutions, they didn’t accumulate decades of Grand Prix victories or build huge factories that still operate today, some lasted a single race, while others disappeared after only a short campaign.

But that is what makes them worth remembering, and that is what we do here at CarsRave: remember the past, the legends, the forgotten stories, and the untold chapters of motorsport history. The early 1970s were among the final periods when F1 could accommodate such a remarkable variety of competitors. Their final races may have been just quiet moments in the championship results, but behind those results were ambitious projects, personal fortunes, national pride, and enormous determination.

Our latest articles about Privaters and Teams:
Independent F1 Entries of 1970: Private Teams and Owner-Drivers
Forgotten F1 Privateers of 1970: The Teams That Built Their Own Way
Rob Walker Racing: 9-Time Grand Prix Winners

FEATURED IMAGE CREDITS: Lothar Spurzem, Nürburgring 1969 / CC BY-SA 2.0 DE via Wikimedia Commons

Forgotten F1 Teams of the 2000s and 2010s We Will Never See Again | Part 6