While the F2 engine might have been overwhelmed by the chassis' bulk, tweaks made by Peter Whitehead to the unit in his car showed that the design had tuning potential. Alta engines had already been used by the HWM team since 1949, and from 1953 many more mechanics would come to know the Taylor-designed power plant. Peter Whitehead led the way by removing the engine from F2/5 and installing it into a Cooper T24 chassis, which he ran in the 1953 British Grand Prix. Also present at Silverstone that day were no fewer than four Alta-powered HWM cars. HWM had, the previous year, scored what was Alta's only significant victory, when Lance Macklin won the 1952 BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone. Over the next few years 1.5L and 2.5L Alta engines would find their way into many British-built F1 hopefuls, the most successful of which were Connaught and Cooper. Ultimately the engine would prove to be capable of approximately . With the collapse of Connaught in 1959, the Alta name disappeared from Formula One for good.