Baron Emmanuel de Graffenried

Although his racing activities began well before the Second World War in his native Switzerland with both a 3-litre Alfa Romeo and a Type 6C Maserati, it was the immediate post-war years that saw 'Toulo '- as he was popularly known - at his zenith.

In 1946 he formed Team Autosport with former Mercedes driver Christian Kautz, the pair acquiring a new four-cylinder Maserati which de Graffenried brought into fifth place in the Prix de Geneva. He finished third in the car at Lausanne the following year, and drove splendidly to finish second to Farina in Geneva, and third in the Monaco GP behind Farina and Chiron in 1948, before his season was overshadowed by the death of Kautz in the Grand Prix de l'Europe at Bremgarten.

'Toulo' enjoyed his greatest triumph in 1949, winning the British Grand Prix in his latest San Remo-type 4CLT/48 Maserati, backing this up with second places in the Pau, Zandvoort and Swedish GPs, the Jersey Road Race in St Helier, as well as many other placings. He continued to race the car into the 1950 season but it was now a little long in the tooth. However, his performances were such that Alfa Romeo invited him to race for the team in the Grand Prix des Nations at Geneva, where he performed creditably to finish second to Fangio but only two seconds ahead of Taruffi after more than two hours' racing on this demanding street circuit.

Although de Graffenried was forced to continue racing his faithful Maserati in 1951, Alfa invited him to compete in their all-conquering team for three Grand Prix races that year, where he again acquitted himself more than respectably. With the new Formula 2 rules in force for 1952, he drove Enrico Platé's Maseratis without achieving much success in the championship races, but picked up third places at Cadours and Aix-les-Bains

Things were very different in 1953, however. Now at the wheel of the latest Maserati A6GCM model, he enjoyed some memorable races, winning the Syracuse GP, the Eifelrennen F2 race and the Lavant Cup at Goodwood. Installing a 2.5-litre engine in the car, de Graffenried raced it briefly in 1954, as well as competing in a Maserati sports car that he took to South America early in the season, winning the Circuit of Gavea race at Rio and the São Paulo GP. He raced little after this, having a few sports car outings in Ferraris and Maseratis before making a final Grand Prix appearance at Monza in 1956.

He built up a successful car dealership in Lausanne, which at first sold Alfa Romeo’s, and later Rolls Royce and Ferraris. 'Toulo' was not lost to the Grand Prix world, however, for he was closely involved with the sport and seen regularly at the circuits over the next three decades. His death on January 22nd 2007 at the age of 92 marked the last link with the era of the pre-war drivers.