Baron Emmanuel de Graffenried was the most successful Swiss
racing driver of the early post-war years.
He is seen here winning the 300 mile British Grand Prix of 1949.
He began racing in the 1930s and drove Maseratis almost exclusively. His post-war
Maseratis painted in the Swiss colours of red and white, were entered by fellow
Swiss Enrico Plate.
For the 1949 season Plate took delivery of two Maserati 4CLT/48 Grand Prix
cars, which were much slower than the works Alfa Romeo 158, but came close
to matching the speed of the new supercharged Ferrari and had better road
holding.
In 1952 Plate rebuilt his Maseratis as unsupercharged 2000 cc Formula 2 cars. These cars, known as Plate-Maseratis, were largely unsuccessful, but de Graffenried took third place in the International Trophy at Silverstone.
Plate was killed in Argentina in 1954 whilst standing
in front of the pits when he was struck by Daponte's Maserati.
After this de Graffenried's heart went out of racing and he appeared only
very occasionally.
