By Pete Vack
With the announcement of a new “Formula Junior” class in 1958, there was a remarkable flowering of individual designs to populate the grids of the new formula. Race car constructors from America, Italy, England, Germany and France grabbed whatever engine was close to 1100c–BMCs, Fiats, Fords, Renaults–and served them up in a bewildering variety of concoctions. Among the fastest, and certainly the loudest, are the ten or eleven cars built by Angelo Dagrada of Milan.
Born in 1912, Dagrada earned a living as a mechanic, and built several race cars for the Italian 750 and 1100 cc races so popular after WWII. Building a reputation as a speed wizard, Dagrada improved upon the Fiat 1100-Siata head and combustion chambers. His cars achieved some significant wins, but a series of road accidents in the early 1950’s put further race car activities on hold. But by 1955, Dagrada was once again in the speed business, this time with Alfas.
A Dagrada at speed, probably at Monza.