Tony Vandervell
Encyclopedia
Guy Anthony "Tony" Vandervell (8 September 1898 – 10 March 1967) was an English
industrialist, motor racing financier, and founder of the Vanwall
Formula One
racing team.
s, under licence from the American inventor, by his company Vandervell Products. Having raced both motorcycles and cars a number of times in his younger days, soon after the end of World War II
he acquired a Ferrari 125
, powered by a 1.5 liter Colombo engine
, which was altered by his mechanics and competed as the Thinwall Special, reflecting Vandervell's business empire. This was initially intended to be run as an evaluation of the Thinwall bearing, to be used as a research exercise by British Racing Motors
(BRM). To this end the car was a success, and Vandervell even provided a detailed critique of the car's flaws back to Enzo Ferrari
himself.
Between 1949 and 1953 there were four different Thinwall Specials. Though one of the first financial backers of BRM, Vandervell rapidly became disenchanted at the way in which Raymond Mays
was running the team and in 1951, after the second Ferrari-based Thinwall Special had been evaluated, he decided to go his own way. He started to build a team, based in his Acton
factory, that would be capable of designing and running its own 2.5L Formula One
entry in 1954. Vandervell was nothing if not ambitious and brought in both Norton
(of which he was a director) and Rolls-Royce
as engine consultants. In the intervening years two more Ferraris found themselves transformed into Thinwall machines, often acting as rolling test-beds for innovative componentry such as Dunlop
disc brakes.
On completion of the engine it was decided to run it in a chassis commissioned from the Cooper Car Company
. Designed by Owen Maddock, the chassis was delivered to Vandervell in early 1954. This car - the Vanwall Special, a portmanteau of Vandervell's and his product's names - was entered into the non-championship International Trophy race on 15 May. It wasn't until July that the car had its first World Championship outing in the 1954 British Grand Prix
, driven by Peter Collins
, where it failed to finish. The car competed in two further races that season, finishing 7th in Italy
, but Collins wrapped it around a tree in practice for the season-closing Spanish Grand Prix. Vandervell reinforced his renamed Vanwall team for 1955, bringing in Mike Hawthorn
and Ken Wharton
as drivers, but only scored minor victories in the two newly constructed machines.
In 1956
Vandervell drafted in Colin Chapman
, Frank Costin
and Harry Weslake
on the engineering side. Even over the brief duration of his involvement with the sport, it was this ability to spot new talent that marked Vandervell out as one of the most successful and influential F1 team owners. The 1956 car, built fully in-house, took Vanwall's first major victory in the International Trophy early in the year, in the hands of Stirling Moss
. Unfortunately, the rest of the season failed to live up to this early promise. Moss was joined by Tony Brooks
for the 1957 Formula One season
, and the pair shared Vanwall's first World Championship victory in the 1957 British Grand Prix
. Moss took two further victories that season, laying a foundation for the team's zenith year: 1958.
The Vanwall team won six of the 1958 Formula One season
's eleven races, Moss and Brookes sharing equally with three apiece. Good driving by the whole team, including third driver Stuart Lewis-Evans
, won Vanwall the Constructors' Championship, beating BRM to this milestone by four years; a vindication of Vandervell's decision to split with Raymond Mays's organisation. However, this even spread of points among the team allowed Hawthorn, by then in a Ferrari, to snatch the Drivers' Championship from Moss by just 1 point. Sadly, the achievement was clouded by the death of Stuart Lewis-Evans from burns sustained in an accident at the Moroccan Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, increasing age and the strains of running a high-profile sporting team had taken its toll on Tony Vandervell's health. Vandervell had been deeply affected by Lewis-Evans's death, and in January 1959 he announced that he would not be continuing with the team. The loss of Vandervell's drive, ambition and money crippled Vanwall, and the team never again won a World Championship race. Vanwall struggled on with a new car in 1959. The same vehicle was run occasionally in non-championship events in 1960, but after 1961 when Lotus
experimented with a Vanwall engine in one of their chassis, the Vanwall name disappeared from F1. The last Vanwall car was built to Intercontinental Formula rules for John Surtees
in 1962. This series was unsuccessful and Vanwall folded for good, fewer than four years after their world domination.
Tony Vandervell withdrew from public life after leaving Vanwall. He died in March 1967. Just seven weeks earlier he had married his personal secretary, Marian Moore.
The purpose of this was to avoid paying stampt duty by a written declaration of disposition of equitable ownership, and to avoid paying tax on the dividends, since the RCS was a charity, and thus not liable to pay tax. This led to a leading case in English trusts law
, Vandervell v Inland Revenue Commissioners
[1967] 2 AC 291.
Unfortunately for Vandervell, his tax avoidance scheme was not successful.
In respect of the shares, it was argued by the IRC that Vandervell retained an equitable interest (in the shares). As such, he was liable to pay tax on the value of those shares. This is because, they argued, his oral instruction to the trust company was not capable of transfer of the equitable interest, since it did not comply with the formality requirements specified in s53(1)c of the Law of Property Act 1925. This section requires signed writing to evidence the existence of a disposition.
The House of Lords held that s53(1)c was not applicable to situations where a beneficiary directs his trustees, by way of his Saunders v Vautier right to do so, to transfer full (legal and equitable - note Lord Browne-Wilkinson's rejection of such terminology in Westdeutsche Landesbank Gironzentralle v Islington LBC) ownership to someone else.
As such, Vandervell had successfully divested himself of ownership (legal and equitable) in the shares, notwithstanding that he did so by means of an oral instruction. He was thus not liable to pay tax on the shares.
However, Vandervell was not so fortunate in respect of the option to purchase. The option to purchase a substantial fraction of the company for only $5000 was extremely valuable. As such, Vanderwell, if he retained an interest in it, would have to pay considerable surtax on it. The House of Lords held by a 3-2 majority that whilst the trust company had the legal title to the option, Vandervell had not successfully divested himself of an equitable interest in the option. As such, the option was held on a resulting trust
for Vandwevell. It was held that a resulting trust would arise where equitable interest had not successfully been divested, because an equitable interest cannot merely hang, unattached to an owner.
As such, Vandervell was liable to pay surtax on the option.
In a second case, Re Vandervell's Trusts (No 2)
[1974] Ch 269, Vandervell again attempted a tax avoidance scheme in relation to the same shares and the same option.
He instructed the tax company to repurchased the shares, through the option. Vandervell did not want to pay tax on the option, and did not want to pay tax on the shares (the trust of which he would be an object, the trustee being his trust company).
The purchase money came from a trust, held by the same trust company, but in favour of Vandervell's children. As such, the trust company took themselves as holding the purchased shares on trust for the children.
The EWCA held that the option ceased to exist once it was exercised. Thus, there was no disposition, and no consequent liability to pay tax.
It also held that the children were the equitable owners of the shares, and, as such, Vanderwell had divested himself of equitable ownership of the shares.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
industrialist, motor racing financier, and founder of the Vanwall
Vanwall
Vanwall was a Formula One motor racing team that competed in the 1950s. Founded by Tony Vandervell, the Vanwall name was derived by combining the name of the team owner with that of his Thinwall bearings produced at the Vandervell Products factory at Acton, London...
Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racing team.
Biography
Vandervell was the son of Charles Vandervell, founder of CAV, later Lucas CAV. He made his fortune from the production of closed-cage Thin-Wall bearingBearing (mechanical)
A bearing is a device to allow constrained relative motion between two or more parts, typically rotation or linear movement. Bearings may be classified broadly according to the motions they allow and according to their principle of operation as well as by the directions of applied loads they can...
s, under licence from the American inventor, by his company Vandervell Products. Having raced both motorcycles and cars a number of times in his younger days, soon after the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he acquired a Ferrari 125
Ferrari 125 F1
The 125 F1 was Ferrari's first Formula One car. It shared its engine with the 125 S sports racer which preceded it by a year, but was developed at the same time by Enzo Ferrari and famed designer, Gioacchino Colombo....
, powered by a 1.5 liter Colombo engine
Ferrari Colombo engine
Ferrari's earliest cars used engines designed by Gioacchino Colombo, who had formerly designed Alfa Romeos for Enzo Ferrari. These V12 powerplants ranged from the diminutive 1.5 L unit fitted to the 125S to the 3.3 L unit in the 1966 275.Enzo Ferrari had long admired the V12 engines of...
, which was altered by his mechanics and competed as the Thinwall Special, reflecting Vandervell's business empire. This was initially intended to be run as an evaluation of the Thinwall bearing, to be used as a research exercise by British Racing Motors
British Racing Motors
British Racing Motors was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945, it raced from 1950 to 1977, competing in 197 Grands Prix and winning 17. In 1962, BRM won the Constructors' Title. At the same time, its driver, Graham Hill became World Champion...
(BRM). To this end the car was a success, and Vandervell even provided a detailed critique of the car's flaws back to Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Anselmo Ferrari Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian race car driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari car manufacturer...
himself.
Between 1949 and 1953 there were four different Thinwall Specials. Though one of the first financial backers of BRM, Vandervell rapidly became disenchanted at the way in which Raymond Mays
Raymond Mays
Thomas Raymond Mays CBE was an auto racing driver and entrepreneur from Bourne, Lincolnshire, England.He attended Oundle School, where he met Amherst Villiers, leaving at the end of 1917. After army service in the Grenadier Guards in France, he attended Christ's College, Cambridge...
was running the team and in 1951, after the second Ferrari-based Thinwall Special had been evaluated, he decided to go his own way. He started to build a team, based in his Acton
Acton, London
Acton is a district of west London, England, located in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross.At the time of the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people...
factory, that would be capable of designing and running its own 2.5L Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
entry in 1954. Vandervell was nothing if not ambitious and brought in both Norton
Norton (motorcycle)
Norton is a British motorcycle marque, originally from Birmingham, founded in 1898 as a manufacturer of "fittings and parts for the two-wheel trade". By 1902, they had begun manufacturing motorcycles with bought-in engines. In 1908, a Norton-built engine was added to the range...
(of which he was a director) and Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
as engine consultants. In the intervening years two more Ferraris found themselves transformed into Thinwall machines, often acting as rolling test-beds for innovative componentry such as Dunlop
Dunlop Rubber
Dunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...
disc brakes.
On completion of the engine it was decided to run it in a chassis commissioned from the Cooper Car Company
Cooper Car Company
The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...
. Designed by Owen Maddock, the chassis was delivered to Vandervell in early 1954. This car - the Vanwall Special, a portmanteau of Vandervell's and his product's names - was entered into the non-championship International Trophy race on 15 May. It wasn't until July that the car had its first World Championship outing in the 1954 British Grand Prix
1954 British Grand Prix
The 1954 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on July 17, 1954. It was the fifth round of the 1954 World Drivers' Championship.- Race report :...
, driven by Peter Collins
Peter Collins (racing driver)
Peter John Collins was a Formula One driver from England. He participated in 35 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952. He won 3 races, achieved 9 podiums, and scored a total of 47 championship points....
, where it failed to finish. The car competed in two further races that season, finishing 7th in Italy
1954 Italian Grand Prix
The 1954 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on September 5, 1954 at Monza. It was the eighth round of the 1954 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :* Pole position: Juan Manuel Fangio - 1:59.0...
, but Collins wrapped it around a tree in practice for the season-closing Spanish Grand Prix. Vandervell reinforced his renamed Vanwall team for 1955, bringing in Mike Hawthorn
Mike Hawthorn
John Michael Hawthorn was a racing driver, born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, and educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex.-Racing career:...
and Ken Wharton
Ken Wharton
Kenneth Wharton was a British racing driver from England. He began competing in the new National 500cc Formula in his own special, later acquiring a Cooper. Ken participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952 and scored a total of 3 championship points...
as drivers, but only scored minor victories in the two newly constructed machines.
In 1956
1956 Formula One season
The 1956 Formula One season featured the seventh FIA World Championship of Drivers as well as numerous non-championship races for Formula One cars. The championship series commenced on January 22, 1956 and ended on September 2 after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his third consecutive title,...
Vandervell drafted in Colin Chapman
Colin Chapman
Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman CBE was an influential British designer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars....
, Frank Costin
Frank Costin
Frank Costin was an automotive engineer who pioneered monocoque chassis design and was instrumental in adapting aircraft aerodynamic knowledge for automobile use. He was the brother of Mike Costin, co-founder of Cosworth. Frank Costin used his aeronautical knowledge to design and build a chassis...
and Harry Weslake
Weslake
Weslake Research and Development was founded by Harry Weslake, with premises in Rye, East Sussex, England. Weslake was a cylinder head specialist who had been instrumental in modifying the side valve standard engine used in the first SS sports car. He also worked on the larger SS engine: "The...
on the engineering side. Even over the brief duration of his involvement with the sport, it was this ability to spot new talent that marked Vandervell out as one of the most successful and influential F1 team owners. The 1956 car, built fully in-house, took Vanwall's first major victory in the International Trophy early in the year, in the hands of Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
. Unfortunately, the rest of the season failed to live up to this early promise. Moss was joined by Tony Brooks
Tony Brooks
Charles Anthony Standish Brooks is a British former racing driver from England also known as the "racing dentist"...
for the 1957 Formula One season
1957 Formula One season
The 1957 Formula One season was the eighth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1957 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on January 13, 1957 and ended on September 8 after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his fourth consecutive title, his fifth in total, in his...
, and the pair shared Vanwall's first World Championship victory in the 1957 British Grand Prix
1957 British Grand Prix
The 1957 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 20 July 1957 at the Aintree Circuit, near Liverpool. It was the tenth British Grand Prix, and the fifth World Championship race of the 1957 Formula One season. The race was won by Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks, who shared driving...
. Moss took two further victories that season, laying a foundation for the team's zenith year: 1958.
The Vanwall team won six of the 1958 Formula One season
1958 Formula One season
The 1958 Formula One season was the ninth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1958 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on January 19, 1958, and ended on October 19 after eleven races...
's eleven races, Moss and Brookes sharing equally with three apiece. Good driving by the whole team, including third driver Stuart Lewis-Evans
Stuart Lewis-Evans
Stuart Nigel Lewis-Evans was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 14 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 19 May 1957. He achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 16 championship points...
, won Vanwall the Constructors' Championship, beating BRM to this milestone by four years; a vindication of Vandervell's decision to split with Raymond Mays's organisation. However, this even spread of points among the team allowed Hawthorn, by then in a Ferrari, to snatch the Drivers' Championship from Moss by just 1 point. Sadly, the achievement was clouded by the death of Stuart Lewis-Evans from burns sustained in an accident at the Moroccan Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, increasing age and the strains of running a high-profile sporting team had taken its toll on Tony Vandervell's health. Vandervell had been deeply affected by Lewis-Evans's death, and in January 1959 he announced that he would not be continuing with the team. The loss of Vandervell's drive, ambition and money crippled Vanwall, and the team never again won a World Championship race. Vanwall struggled on with a new car in 1959. The same vehicle was run occasionally in non-championship events in 1960, but after 1961 when Lotus
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
experimented with a Vanwall engine in one of their chassis, the Vanwall name disappeared from F1. The last Vanwall car was built to Intercontinental Formula rules for John Surtees
John Surtees
John Surtees, OBE is a British former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver from England. He was 500cc motorcycle World Champion in 1956 and 1958–60, Formula One World Champion in 1964, and remains the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels...
in 1962. This series was unsuccessful and Vanwall folded for good, fewer than four years after their world domination.
Tony Vandervell withdrew from public life after leaving Vanwall. He died in March 1967. Just seven weeks earlier he had married his personal secretary, Marian Moore.
Philanthropy
Vandervell donated a large sum of money to the Royal College of Surgeons, in order to establish a chair. He implemented a complex tax avoidance scheme. He instructed his trust company, orally, to transfer complete ownership of shares in his company, which they held on trust for him to the RCS, with an option to purchase back. He then instructed the company to declare a dividend on the shares.The purpose of this was to avoid paying stampt duty by a written declaration of disposition of equitable ownership, and to avoid paying tax on the dividends, since the RCS was a charity, and thus not liable to pay tax. This led to a leading case in English trusts law
English trusts law
English trusts law is the original and foundational law of trusts in the world, and a unique contribution of English law to the legal system. Trusts are part of the law of property, and arise where one person gives assets English trusts law is the original and foundational law of trusts in the...
, Vandervell v Inland Revenue Commissioners
Vandervell v Inland Revenue Commissioners
Vandervell v Inland Revenue Commissioners [1967] 2 AC 291 is a leading English trusts law case, concerning resulting trusts. It demonstrates that the mere intention to not have a resulting trust does not make it so.-Facts:...
[1967] 2 AC 291.
Unfortunately for Vandervell, his tax avoidance scheme was not successful.
In respect of the shares, it was argued by the IRC that Vandervell retained an equitable interest (in the shares). As such, he was liable to pay tax on the value of those shares. This is because, they argued, his oral instruction to the trust company was not capable of transfer of the equitable interest, since it did not comply with the formality requirements specified in s53(1)c of the Law of Property Act 1925. This section requires signed writing to evidence the existence of a disposition.
The House of Lords held that s53(1)c was not applicable to situations where a beneficiary directs his trustees, by way of his Saunders v Vautier right to do so, to transfer full (legal and equitable - note Lord Browne-Wilkinson's rejection of such terminology in Westdeutsche Landesbank Gironzentralle v Islington LBC) ownership to someone else.
As such, Vandervell had successfully divested himself of ownership (legal and equitable) in the shares, notwithstanding that he did so by means of an oral instruction. He was thus not liable to pay tax on the shares.
However, Vandervell was not so fortunate in respect of the option to purchase. The option to purchase a substantial fraction of the company for only $5000 was extremely valuable. As such, Vanderwell, if he retained an interest in it, would have to pay considerable surtax on it. The House of Lords held by a 3-2 majority that whilst the trust company had the legal title to the option, Vandervell had not successfully divested himself of an equitable interest in the option. As such, the option was held on a resulting trust
Resulting trusts in English law
Resulting trusts in English law are trusts created where property is not properly disposed of. It comes from the Latin resultare, meaning to spring back, and was defined by Megarry VC as "essentially a property concept; any property that a man does not effectually dispose of remains his own". These...
for Vandwevell. It was held that a resulting trust would arise where equitable interest had not successfully been divested, because an equitable interest cannot merely hang, unattached to an owner.
As such, Vandervell was liable to pay surtax on the option.
In a second case, Re Vandervell's Trusts (No 2)
Re Vandervell's Trusts (No 2)
Re Vandervell's Trusts [1974] Ch 269 is a leading English trusts law case, concerning resulting trusts.-Facts:Tony Vandervell, an old and wealthy racing car manufacturer, was attempting to make a donation to the Royal College of Surgeons to establish a chair in his name...
[1974] Ch 269, Vandervell again attempted a tax avoidance scheme in relation to the same shares and the same option.
He instructed the tax company to repurchased the shares, through the option. Vandervell did not want to pay tax on the option, and did not want to pay tax on the shares (the trust of which he would be an object, the trustee being his trust company).
The purchase money came from a trust, held by the same trust company, but in favour of Vandervell's children. As such, the trust company took themselves as holding the purchased shares on trust for the children.
The EWCA held that the option ceased to exist once it was exercised. Thus, there was no disposition, and no consequent liability to pay tax.
It also held that the children were the equitable owners of the shares, and, as such, Vanderwell had divested himself of equitable ownership of the shares.