The Alta Car and Engineering Company was a British sports and racing car manufacturer, commonly known simply as Alta. Their cars contested five FIA World Championship races between 1950 and 1952, as well as Grand Prix events prior to this. They also supplied engines to a small number of other constructors, most notably the Connaught and HWM teams. Geoffrey Taylor was extraordinary in what he achieved with very small budgets, building not only chassis, but also engine and gearboxes. He began building cars in 1928 in the stables of his father's home. The name was a contraction of Alberta - which Taylor liked the sound of. The cars were run in a variety of national events in the 1920s and 1930s with he first notable success being the 1935 Formula Libre Limerick GP in which Peter Whitehead finished third. There were other successes, notably at Crystal Palace where George Abecassis finished second in a couple of sportscar races in 1938 and won the 1939 Imperial Trophy Formula Libre race. It was not until after the war that Taylor began to plan a Grand Prix challenger. It took three years to complete the first car which made its debut at the Swiss GP in 1948 with driver John Heath, lasting just seven laps. In 1949 Heath won the Manx Cup at Douglas and Abecassis finished seventh at the British GP while newcomer Geoffrey Crossley also did well to finish seventh in the Belgian GP. In the immediate post-war era the company dallied with road car production but made only a very limited number of road-going saloons before concentrating on racing again.For the 1950 season there were three Alta F1 cars racing and the firm supplied engines to the HWM team as well. That year Joe Kelly ran one car and finished second in the Wakefield Trophy at the Curragh track. Crossley continued his occasional Grand Prix appearances, while Stirling Moss in the HWM-Alta gave the company some much-needed exposure with third place at Bari.
