Small teams from fifties

Alta

The company of Geoffrey Taylor built sports and racing cars in the 30s. Formula 2 car was also undistinguished, its engine gave to 150hp and was used by the HWM team.
The two Altas showed up for the first round of the newly established world championship at Silverstone. Crossley qualified seventeenth with Kelly two places behind him. Crossley's race ended with transmission problems, while Kelly finished the race non-classified and thirteen laps behind the winners. Crossley entered the Belgian GP at Spa and qualified 12th of 14 cars and finished 9th, five laps behind. Kelly would run his Alta in the 1951 British Grand Prix, starting 18th out of 20, and finishing an unclassified 15 laps behind the winner. Neither Crossley, Kelly, or the Alta GP would make another championship start.
For the 2.5 litre Grands Prix Alta built engines for Connaught which gave up to 250hp. When Connaught abandoned their Formula 1 effort the original Alta also ceased operations.

Drivers
1950 Geoffrey Crossley, Joe Kelly
1951 Joe Kelly
1952 Graham Whitehead, Peter Whitehead

Aston Martin

Concentration on a successful sports car, built after a four year development program, Aston Martin the first and only Grand Prix car in 1959. The handsome DBR4/250 type with 6-cylinder engine for which up to 280hp was claimed. Roy Salvadori drove Astons to 6th place in British and Portuguese Grand Prix bu the cars were obviously outclassed by rear-engined machines.
A 1960 version was built with independent rear suspension, but the factory wisely decided to withdraw from the Grand Prix field. They did so to focus on their grand touring program.

Drivers
1959 Carroll Shelby, Roy Salvadori
1960 Maurice Trintignant, Roy Salvadori

Connaught

Was founded in 1950 by designer Rodney Clarke with engineer Mike Oliver. Their first single seater was the F2 car A-type. This car used a Lea-Francis engine in a tubular chassis, with independent front suspension and a de Dion rear end. The World Championship category in 1952-53, and drivers of the calibre of Salvadori showed that the car lacked nothing in road holding but quite a lot in power.
The B-type followed with a 2.5 litre 240hp Alta engine for the formula that came into effect in 1954, altough it was not ready for that season. Connaught's 1955 record was hardly encouraging until Tony Brooks won non championship race in Sicily.
Clarke and Oliver still had to operate the team on a shoestring budget by financial backer Kenneth MacAlpine. In the only championship rounds Connaught entered in 1956 Fairman placed a works car fourth in the British Grand Prix, and Flockhart and Fairman were third and fifth in the Italian Monza.
The last race for a Connaught works team was the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix, when another talented new driver, Stuart Lewis-Evans, finished fourth in a car dubbed toothpaste tube. By that time MacAlpine had withdrawn his support, and in 1957 Connaught ceased operations.
Two of the B-types bought Bernie Ecclestone and made an attempt to qualify for a couple of Grands Prix the following year.

Drivers
1952 Dennis Poore, Eric Thompson, Ken Downing, Kenneth McAlpine, Stirling Moss
1953 Andre Pilette, Bira, Ian Stewart, Jack Fairman, Johnny Claes, Kenneth McAlpine, Roy Salvadori, Stirling Moss, Tony Rolt
1954 Bill Whitehouse, Don Beauman, John Riseley-Prichard, Leslie Marr, Leslie Thorne
1955 Jack Fairman, Kenneth McAlpine, Leslie Marr, Peter Walker, Tony Rolt
1956 Archie Scott-Brown, Desmond Titterington, Jack Fairman, Les Leston, Piero Scotti, Ron Flockhart
1957 Ivor Bueb, Stuart Lewis-Evans
1958 Bernie Ecclestone, Bruce Kessler, Ivor Bueb, Jack Fairman, Paul Emery
1959 Bob Said

HWM

Hersham and Walton Motors flit across Grand Prix history in the F2 world championship period.
The first HWM, in 1950, had an Alta engine, and that combination entered the Grand Prix arena in the F2 years of 1952-53. The engine was not very powerful, producing some 150hp. Paul Frere placed and HWM fifth in the Belgian Grand Prix in 1952, Peter Collins was sixth in the French Grand Prix and there was numerous lesser placings for the marque, but in 1953 was Collins 8th in the Zandvoort and that was the best result.
One of the pair behind HWM John Heath was killed in a sports car accident in 1956 and George Abecassis, who had sometimes raced HWMs, gave up the racing side of the company.

Drivers
1951 George Abecassis, Stirling Moss
1952 Dries van der Lof, Duncan Hamilton, George Abecassis, Johnny Claes, Lance Macklin, Paul Frere, Peter Collins, Roger Laurent, Stirling Moss, Tony Gaze, Yves Giraud-Cabantous
1953 Albert Scherrer, Duncan Hamilton, Jack Fairman, John Fitch, Lance Macklin, Paul Frere, Peter Collins, Yves Giraud-Cabantous
1954 Lance Macklin
1955 Ted Whiteaway