second A1 was revised into the A1B with more elegant bodywork and revised front suspension, and a new yellow and black livery. The A1B was the only Merzario to qualify for Grands Prix during 1979, which it did twice, though it retired on both occasions. The A2 (designated A3 by some sources), designed by Merzario and Simon Hadfield and based on the first A1, was ready in time for the European rounds of the 1979 season with the same engine and gearbox combination, and it had been modified into a ground effect 'wing' car. Only one example was built. The A2 first took to the racetrack at the 1979 United States Grand Prix West in the hands of Arturo Merzario. Merzario qualified the car for the race but after the front suspension failed he had to start the race in the A1B. The car officially made its debut at the 1979 Spanish Grand Prix, where Merzario set the 26th time during qualifying and failed to make the race. At the next race in Belgium, Merzario crashed during qualifying and broke his arm. For Monaco Merzario asked Gianfranco Brancatelli to drive his car, but Brancatelli failed to pre-qualify. Merzario was back at the wheel at the French Grand Prix. He set the 26th time during qualifying and was more than two seconds slower than the last qualifier. The A2 took to the track for the last time at the Austrian Grand Prix, after Merzario damaged the A4 in a practice accident. By this time, Merzario and Bellasi had purchased the assets of the Kauhsen team (and their driver Brancatelli), arguably taking on cars even worse than his old March-based vehicle. The Kauhsen chassis was rebuilt by Gian Paolo Dallara and renamed the Merzario A4. The A4 employed the same Cosworth / Hewland running gear and the suspension was similar to the A2, but the bodywork was less bulky, with better sidepods for improved airflow. However, the car again failed to qualify for every Grand Prix that it entered, proving even slower than its predecessors. The only time the A4 was not the slowest car in qualifying was at the Italian Grand Prix, where Héctor Rebaque was seven tenths slower in his Rebaque HR100. However, Merzario did qualify and race the car in the non-championship Dino Ferrari Grand Prix at Imola, where he finished 11th and last, two laps down. After Formula