Tag Archives: BRM

Arise Sir John ? Pt 1 – Ferrari 158 # 006

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After the success of winning the 1961 World Drivers and Manufacturers Championships with Phil Hill driving the shark nose V6 powered Ferrari 156 model, the team experienced one of it periodic slumps.

Ferrari 158, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

The ensuing 12 months saw Enzo Ferrari fallout with a patential saviour Ford, a couple of customers Ferruccio Lamborghini and Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata his engineers Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini and star driver Phil Hill.

Ferrari 158, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

Despite these difficulties Enzo set Mauro ‘Fury’ Forghieri to work on a new V8 powered formula one challenger which was ready at the begining of 1964 for seven time world Motor Cycle Champion John Surtees to drive in his second season with the team.

Ferrari 158, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

John’s first season with Ferrari driving the old V6 powered shark nose had seen him finish four races in 4th, 3rd, 2nd and culminating with a win in the 1963 German Grand Prix which saw him finish 4th overall in the World Drivers Championship and Ferrari 4th overall in the constructors championship.

Ferrari 158, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

Unlike the 1963 championship wining monocoque chassis Lotus 25, the Ferrari 158 features a semi monocoque chassis which has aluminium sheets riveted to a steel structure.

Ferrari 158, Goodwood Revival

The 8 cylinder 1,489 cc / 90.9 cui type 205/B motor like the contemporaneous Coventry Climax V8 that powered the Lotus and BRM V8 has two banks of cylinders inclined at 90 degrees and produces around 210hp.

Ferrari 158, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

The motor mounted behind the driver was attached to a Ferrari 6 speed gear box and the whole car weighed in at 468 kg / 1,032 lb with water and oil.

Ferrari 158, Goodwood Revival

There were 10 races counting toward the 1964 World Championship and John qualified 4th for the first round at Monaco but retired after 15 laps with a broken gearbox in a race won by Graham Hill from team mate Richie Ginther driving for BRM.

Ferrari 158, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

John qualified 4th again for the Dutch Grand Prix and this time finished second to Jim Clark’s Lotus. At the Belgian and French Grand Prix John qualified 5th and 3rd respectively but retired from both with engine problems with less than half a dozen laps completed.

Ferrari 158, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

At the 1964 British Grand Prix John qualified fifth but managed to go the whole distance to finish third behind Jim Clark and Graham Hill, Clark who had won the Belgian Grand Prix was leading Hill by four points in the championship with Surtees outside the top five 20 points behind Clark.

Ferrari 158, Autosport International, NEC, Birmingham

John qualified, chassis #006 featured in these photographs, on pole for the German Grand Prix and went on to win the race from Graham Hill while Clark began a series of three consecutive retirements thanks to two engine and one half shaft failure.

Ferrari 158, Goodwood Revival

All three emergent championship contenders retired from the Austrian Grand Prix which was won by John’s team mate Lorenzo Bandini.

Ferrari 158, Goodwood Revival

Going into the Italian Grand Prix John was 13 points behind championship leader Graham Hill but a second win from pole, again in chassis #006, closed the gap to just four points as both Graham and Jim Clark failed to finish.

I’ll conclude the story of John’s championship Formula One season next week, but meantime there is a petition to get John Surtees the knighthood he so richly deserves for being the only man to win World Championships on two wheels and four, if you would like to sign FOLLOW THIS LINK.

Thanks for joining me on this “Arise Sir John ? Pt 1” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psychoontyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a Jaguar Special. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Rubery Owens Last Stand – BRM P201/01-R

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After a dismal 1973 season in which BRM did not even mange to clock up a non championship victory the team lost their primary sponsor, Philip Morris, to McLaren.

However Louis Stanley who managed the team for longtime BRM backers Rubery Owen managed to put a deal together for Frenchman Jean Pierre Beltoise, Henri Pescarolo and Francois Migault to drive for BRM in 1974 with backing from the French oil company Motul.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne

The Motul deal was interesting because all three drivers were also members of Matra’s dominant sports car team which won at Le Mans and the 1974 World Sports Car Championship who were sponsored by rival company Shell.

Not only that but in agreeing to finance three drivers at BRM Motul reneged on a deal that was to have brought Ron Dennis and Niel Trundle into Formula One as team owners of Rondel Racing. The Rondel car was sold on to become first the Token and later the Safir while Dennis and Trundle eventually teamed up to take over McLaren in 1981.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne

Plans for the 1974 BRM challenger were started in 1974 when Bourne resident Mike Pilbeam was entrusted with the design of the new car which shows a combination of influences including the triangulated cross section of the monocoque as first seen in Gordon Murray’s 1973 Brabham BT42, side radiators and all round inboard brakes as first seen on the 1970 Lotus 72 and an airbox that might not have looked out of place on the 1973 Championship winning Tyrrell 006.

While in no obvious way original the striking P201 did differ from all of those that influenced it’s design in one important aspect namely in the engine bay where a revamped BRM V12 with new narrow angle 48 valve heads was to be found said to capable of 460hp at 11,000rpm in place of the Cosworth DFV which powered the rest of the field apart from Ferrari.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne

Jean Pierre Beltoise was the first to be allowed to dump his aging P160 to give the P201 it’s debut in the 1974 South African Grand Prix where he qualified a respectable 11th and lasted the distance in a race noted for a high rate of attrition to finish a credible 2nd 33 seconds down on Carlos Reutemann who won the first race of his career aboard the Brabham BT44.

BRM went on to score just two more points in it’s long and turbulent history at the Belgian Grand Prix where Beltoise came home 5th. The rest of the year was a disaster for BRM with Pescarolo scoring a best tenth place finish at the German Grand Prix in his 201 which did not appear until Swedish Grand Prix.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne

Francois Migault only had two starts in the P201 in Holland and Italy retiring from both races. The Italian Grand Prix the only one in which 3 P201’s started marked a particularly low point for the team as all three cars were out by the end of the fourth lap.

The Italian Grand Prix marked the last appearance for both Henri Pescarolo and Francois Migault for BRM at the season ending Canadian and US Grand Prix they were replaced by Chris Amon who’s own 1974 programme had come to a halt with a failure to qualify in Italy.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne

The Canadian Grand Prix neither car covered sufficient distance to be classified with Amon starting from the back of the grid lasting ten laps longer the Beltoise who started 17th and retired on lap 60.

At the US Grand Prix Beltoise disgraced himself in qualifying by trying to go to quickly too soon damaging his car and injuring himself on what proved to be his final run in a World Championship Grand Prix while Chris qualified 12th and finished 9th two laps down on Carlos Reutemann’s winning Brabham BT44.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne

At the end of 1974 Rubery Owen pulled the plug on BRM, after initial BRM backer Alfred Owen had died earlier in the year. This should have meant the end of BRM but some how Louis Stanley managed to save the team going into the 1975 season.

Mike Wilds with an independent backer sponsoring him got the single Stanely BRM entry for the two early season South American races but retired his P201 from both.

1974 European Formula 5000 champion Bob Evans was then given the drive achieving a best 6th place finish in the non Championship Race of Champions before the Stanley BRM’s 1975 season fizzled out prematurely at the Italian Grand Prix.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne

Not knowing how to disappear gracefully the Stanely BRM P201 appeared at the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix with 1973 European Formula 5000 champion Ian Ashley at the wheel after qualifying 21st Ashley retired with oil pump failure after 2 laps. Allegedly this entry was made simply to continue BRM’s record of entry each year since 1950.

For 1977 the Stanely BRM fiasco continued with a new model the P207 which was packed into a crate to big to be air freighted to the Argentinian Grand Prix, after retiring from the Brazilian Grand Prix in the new P207 Larry Perkins was given a run a P201 for the 1977 South African Grand Prix qualifying 22nd Larry brought the P201 in 15th on what would be the models final World Championship Grand Prix appearance.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne

Stanley BRM soldiered on for the remainder for the remainder of the season until disappearing for good from the World Championship circuit at the Italian Grand Prix.

Most of Stanley BRM were acquired by cereal millionaire John Jordan in 1978, and a new car the Jordan BRM P230 was built for British Championship events with the P207 also appearing in the same series.

BRM P201, BRM Day, Bourne

Today’s featured car BRM P201/1 seen at BRM Day in Bourne a couple of years ago is owned by Bruce McCaw, the driver was listed as TBA and his identity has yet to be established though we can say it is definitely not Bruce.

Thanks for joining me on this “Rubery Owens Last Stand” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at another Maserati 250F. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Backyard Hi Tec – Amon Cosworth AF101

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This month’s Sunday posts will feature 5 Formula One cars that ran in the 1974 season for which the then 31 year old Le Mans winner Chris Amon decided to follow in the foot steps of Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren by building a car bearing his own name.

Amon Ford F101, Maydon, Siverstone Classic

It would appear Chris had plans to build both Formula 1 and Formula 5000 cars the latter to race in the lucrative US series with up and coming Australian Larry Perkins; a driver, engineer and sofa surfer who was making his way through the junior ranks in the UK. However despite financial backing from amateur racer John Dalton only the Formula One spec AF101 featured here ever saw the light of day.

Chris commissioned Gordon Fowell to provide him “with a sophisticated chassis” powered by a Ford Corsworth DFV motor driving the rear wheels through a Hewland gearbox. Gordon had designed the attractive, if underpowered, Martini sponsored 1973 Tecno E731 that Chris drove in practice at three meetings in 1973 but had never raced.

Amon Ford F101, Maydon, Siverstone Classic

The AF101 chassis, fabricated by Thompson who were also responsible for fabricating the Tecno E731 and Ferrari 312 B3, was certainly sophisticated with unique, for the time, central fuel cell that would become deriguer once ground effects were better understood with the introduction of the Lotus 79 in 1978. The car also had titanium torsion bar suspension and inboard front brakes, as did the well proven Lotus 72.

Responsibility for the aerodynamics was handed over to Professor Tom Boyce, and almost every time the car appeared it had a different nose including a high wing when it was first tested, a chisel nose in Spain where it first raced, a shovel at Monaco where the car qualified but did not race and then a lower full width wing was tried when the car failed to qualify in Germany and Italy.

Amon Ford F101, Maydon, Siverstone Classic

Unfortunately the AF101 proved a little to sophisticated for Chris’s budget, despite Larry Perkins saving a fortune in hotel bills with his sofa surfing skills, the little team folded having clocked just 22 laps in the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix before a brake shaft broke. Looking back on the project Chris conceded that he had attempted to build, what turned out to be a fragile hi tec vehicle on a backyard budget when he might have achieved more with a vehicle that was a little less ambitious and a little more reliable.

Larry Perkins loyalty was rewarded with an attempt at qualifying the Amon in the German Grand Prix after Chris was taken ill, unfortunately the combination of the Nurburgring, a rookie driver and a fragile car proved too much of a challenge for the team.

Amon Ford F101, Maydon, Siverstone Classic

After out qualifying Ricky von Opel and his works Brabham BT44 in the 1974 Spanish Grand Prix Chris was offered the second works Brabham drive for the rest of 1974, but turned it down out of loyalty to his own employees. Just as in 1973 when Tyrrell stepped in to offer Chris a couple of end of season drives after the demise of the Tecno team, at the end of 1974 BRM stepped in to offer Chris a couple of drives in the wonderful BRM P201, a model I’ll be looking at in a couple of weeks.

Post Italy 1974 the Amon was abandoned, restored and languished in a German Museum before it was restored to running condition in 2005. It is currently owned and raced by Ron Maydon in the Grand Prix Masters Series, Ron is seen driving the AF101 at Silverstone a few years ago.

Amon Ford F101, Maydon, Siverstone Classic

Thanks for joining me on this Backyard Hi Tec edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be starting a new GALPOT feature “Maserati Monday”. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Thrown Together And Sent To America – BRM Chevrolet P154 #01

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Like many would be designers Tony Southgate built an Austin 7 special, while serving an Engineering Design apprenticeship with a non automotive company, raced it three times before the engine broke thus ending his career as racing driver.

Upon finishing his apprenticeship Tony joined Lola where he was involved with drawing of the Lola Mk VI which eventually evolved into the GT40. Not wishing to be tea boy on the GT40 project Tony joined Brabham and stayed until Lola’s founder Eric Broadley also disentangled himself from Ford and the GT40 project.

Rejoining Lola in Slough Tony was involved with the design of the Lola T70 and a broad spectrum of open and closed wheel Lola racing cars which included the Lola T130 / Honda RA 300 Formula One car which John Surtees drove to victory in the 1967 Italian Grand Prix.

Tony was lured to Santa Ana to work for Dan Gurney on a still born Eagle F1 project before he became involved in designing Eagle Indy Cars which achieved a remarkable 1-2-3 finish in 1968, later amended to 1-2-4.

After a couple of years with Lola Tony was asked to join BRM where he would briefly team up with John Surtees again before the 1965 Champion deemed it would be better to go his own way and started his own Formula One Team.

While at BRM Tony first designed the BRM P153 Formula One car, with which Pedro Rodriguez managed to win the 1970 Austrian Grand Prix. Alongside the Formula One car Tony got “…sucked into doing the Can Am car, the P154.” featured to day.

Mike Wilds, BRM Chevrolet P154, Brands Hatch

Due to time constraints, in Tony’s own words, the P154 ‘…was thrown together and sent to America for the mechanics to sort out on the hoof.” Power for the Castrol sponsored P154 was courtesy of a BRM tuned Chevy V8.

Canadian Deptartment Store heir George Eaton, who also drove for the BRM Formula One team through most of 1970, was assigned the responsibility for driving the P154 in the 1970 Canadian American challenge which got off to an inauspicious start, in the tradition of many BRM projects, at Mosport where George qualified 7th and retired with oil and transmission problems.

At Mont-Tremblant George qualified the BRM, today’s featured chassis #P154/01, 9th and finished a personal season high 3rd behind Dan Gurney in the winning McLarem M8D and Jackie Oliver in the Autocoast Ti22.

The rest of Georges season was a catalogue of failures interrupted by two 5th place qualifying positions the first at Road Atlanta where the engine blew during practice meaning George did not get to start and the second at Donnybrooke where a broken rocker arm caused George’s retirement.

For the last three races of the 1970 Can Am Challenge the highly esteemed and accomplished Mexican Pedro Rodriguez drove a second BRM P154 managing 9th, 5th and 3rd place finishes to equal Eatons best result. After finishing the final race at Riverside Pedro told the designer “… it was the worst car he’d ever driven.”, much to Tony Southgates embarrassment.

The following year BRM built improved P167’s initially using the P154 chassis tubs before building two complete new P167 cars which achieved a small measure of success in the European Interserie series in 1971.

P154 #01 featured today appears to have been run with P167 body work by David Hepworth in Europe on at least 3 occasions in 1972. Former double British Hillclimb Champion David, who bought the entire BRM Can Am project including all five cars along with “three tons of spares, then sold P154 #01 on to Lol Hopkins who entered the car for at least one event in 1973.

Today’s featured photo was taken at Brands Hatch in 1982 with former works Stanley BRM Driver Mike Wilds at the wheel, Mike qualified 5th for the Atlantic Trophy race on seven cylinders. At the start he managed to blast through from the third row of the grid in to the lead, he is seen here approaching Hawthorn Bend on the opening lap. Mike maintained a 5 sec lead until first a fuel pressure problem intervened and then the brakes faded completely causing him to leave the track and retire without further damage or injury. Mikes only consolation was that he established a new lap record of 1m 30.78s with an average speed of over 103 mph, 1 second faster than the fastest qualifier for the race Ray Mallock and about 27 seconds off the pace of the Formula One cars that weekend.

P154 #01 still exists and was recently sold with a few modifications having survived at least one major accident and a couple of rebuilds.

Tony Southgate went on to design the BRM P160 the last BRM to win a championship Formula One race and the BRM P180 the last works entered BRM to win a Formula One race before joining Shadow where he designed race winning Formula One cars and the 1974 Can Am Challenge winning Shadow DN4. He had a brief spell at Lotus where he had a hand in the design of the race winning Lotus 78.

Tony also designed most of the Jaguar XJR Group C/IMSA racers which won the World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans and Daytona 24 hour races, before working on endurance racer programs with Toyota, Nissan and more recently Audi.

George Eaton became president of the Eaton’s Department Store empire and oversaw a period of it’s steady decline.

Mike Wilds was part of Ray Mallocks 1986 Ecurie Ecosse Group C2 World Endurance Championship winning team in 1986 and is still to be found racing in historic events, testing numerous cars particularly for Colin Bennett’s CGA Engineering when not instructing race car drivers or helicopter pilots.

Thanks to all those who contributed to the BRM Can Am cars thread at The Nostalgia Forum which revealed the identity of this car.

Thanks for joining me on this “Thrown Together And Sent To America” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t for get to come back now !

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Right Tyre, Right Time – BRM P180 #P180/2

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Despite winning the 1971 Austrian and Italian Grand Prix BRM lost their Yardley sponsor to McLaren at the end of 1971, but started 1972 with a plan for a five car assault on the 1972 World Drivers and Constructors championships using three different models the P153 from 1970, the P160 from 1971 and a new design the P180. All three models were designed by Tony Southgate and there was some interchangeability of suspension that was used to update the older models.

BRM P180, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

The P180 differed from the earlier models by having the radiator at the front moved to the rear in a bid to get a 33/67 balance in the weight distribution from front to rear in a bid to improve traction.

BRM P180, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

One of the novel features of the P180 was the steering wheel popping up through the cockpit fairing.

BRM P180, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

The P180 made it’s debut at the Spanish Grand Prix with Peter Gethin at the wheel, Jean Pierre Beltoise also had today’s featured chassis #P180/2 available to him but found the older P160 more to his liking. Gethin started 21st and Beltoise started 7th, both retired.

BRM P180, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

Howden Ganley drove #P180/2 in the ’72 Monaco Grand Prix where he qualified 20th but crashed on lap 47. Beltoise won the race from 4th on the grid in the older P160, this would prove to be BRM’s final championship Grand Prix victory. With the weight balance of the P180 being more like 30/70 the P180’s were modified.

BRM P180, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

While the work was carried out the P180’s appeared at two non championship meetings, Reine Wisell qulified 7th for the Gold Cup at Oulton Park but was rear ended by his compatriot Ronnie Peterson on the start line which broke Reine’s finger and caused his retirement. At Brands Hatch for the Rothman’s 50,000 both Beltoise and Ganley preferred to race the older P160’s.

BRM P180, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

The P180’s appeared again at the Italian Grand Prix where Beltoise qualified #P180/2 16th and finished 8th to score the models only Championship race finish. Both P180’s were taken to the Canadian and US Grand Prix’s Bill Brack joined Beltoise in Canada and Brian Redman replaced the Canadian in the States. No finishes were recorded and the cars failed to qualify in the top 15 for either race.

BRM P180, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

The P180’s final appearance was in the non championship John Player Challenge at Brands Hatch, where Beltoise qualified #P180/2 7th. The track was wet at the start but Beltoise elected to go to the start line on intermediate tyres where as almost everybody else was on wet tyres. At the start of the race Beltoise was left behind but as the track started to dry out he was perfectly placed to pick off those ahead of him to score the BRM team’s final race victory.

Tony Southgate, who say’s of the car what it really lacked was a budget to develop the engine, left BRM to join Shadow for 1973 and BRM decided to retire the P180 in favour of using yet another update of the P160 for 1973.

Howden Ganley is seen driving the car above at last years BRM Day.

My thanks to Ray Bell, RCH, kayemod Rob and MCS at The Nostalgia Forum for their help in finding out the cause of Reine Wisell’s broken finger.

Thanks for joining me on this “Right Tyre, Right Time” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Another Fine Mess – BRM P139 #P139/2

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With the benefit of hindsight it could be said that the introduction of the 3 litre era Formula One regulations was the perfect excuse for unprecedented levels of chaos to reign at BRM. When the new regulations were announced BRM forgot its past troublesome experience with the supercharged BRM V16 and elected to built an even more complicated motor a 3 litre / 183 cui H16, effectively two flat 8 motors on top of one another sharing a common crankshaft. This heavy motor required four men to lift it and although powerful was also predictably unreliable though it did power Jim Clark to victory in the 1966 US Grand Prix, sitting in the back of a Lotus 43.

Alongside the H16 program BRM also developed a 24 valve V12 which Bruce McLaren used to power his one off McLaren M5A. When it lasted the V12 was capable of finishing in the points as Denny Hulme’s 5th in the 1968 South African Grand Prix had proved, however by then Bruce had already decided that the future of his Grand Prix team lay with the Ford Cosworth DFV which was used to power the 1968 McLaren M7A.

BRM P139, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

For 1968 BRM decided that the simpler and lighter V12 might be the better bet and abandoned it’s H16 and free lance designer Len Terry was drafted in to design a new V12 powered BRM P126 of which second evolution P133 and third evolution P138 variants were built in the same season. The teams best results were a second place in Monaco for Attwood in the P126 and 2nd place in the following Belgian Grand Prix for Pedro Rodriguez driving the P133.

1965 World Champion John Surtees was teamed up with Jackie Oliver in the BRM team for 1969 by which time BRM had developed a 48 valve version of the V12. The first half of the 1969 season went so badly with a best 5th place finish for John Surtees in Spain and 6 retirements from the opening 8 starts in 4 races that the team missed the 1969 French Grand Prix to regroup. During the break Tony Rudd, who had been working on a ground effect design with Peter Wright, was forced to resign and the team prepared a new challenger, the P139, for John Surtees to drive at the British Grand Prix.

BRM P139, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

John retired on the second lap of the 1969 British Grand Prix when the suspension of the new P139 collapsed in the remaining five races of the 1969 season John managed two finishes the best of which was third in the Italian Grand Prix. At the end of the season John left BRM to start his own Formula One team.

Today’s featured car is #P139/2 which was ready for Jackie Oliver to drive in the 1969 Italian Grand Prix. Jackie Oliver ended his rookie season with Team Lotus in 1968, in which he replaced the much missed Jim Clark, with a season high third place finish in the season finale Mexican Grand Prix where team mate Graham Hill over came the odds to win the race and his second world drivers championship.

BRM P139, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

After the 1968 Mexican Grand Prix Jackie was replaced at Team Lotus by Jochen Rindt and Jackie found himself with the second seat at BRM for the 1969 season which started with a seventh place finish driving the BRM P133 at the South African Grand Prix. Jackie then had a run of four retirements in the P133 up to the British Grand Prix a fifth straight retirement driving the P138 at the German Grand Prix followed by three more in Italy Canada and the USA driving #P139/2. In Mexico Jackie’s fortunes changed and he finished 6th two laps down on Denny Hulme who drove his McLaren M7A to the models final final victory.

Jackie remained with BRM in 1970, but again he retired from all but two races with the P139’s replacement the Tony Southgate designed P153 scoring a best fifth in Austria. In 1973 Jackie teamed up with Don Nichols and designer Tony Southgate, who was part of the team that replaced Tony Rudd and Peter Wright at John Surtees insistence, to form the Shadow and later Arrows teams.

BRM P139, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

Tony Rudd joined Lotus production car operation when he left BRM and was still there when Peter Wright joined Lotus some years later. After joining Lotus Wright became involved in the development of the Lotus 78 ground effect and Lotus 79 moving on the work Wright and Rudd had started on the never completed BRM P142 in 1969.

Last time I looked today’s featured car seen in these photographs at last years BRM Day in it’s home town of Bourne was being offered for sale by Hall & Hall.

Thanks for joining me on this “Another Fine Mess” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Britain’s World Beater – BRM P578 #P578/1 Old Faithful

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In 1961 BRM were running late with their 1.5 litre 91.5 cui engine program to meet the new Formula One engine regualtions and so came up with an interim design the P48/57 which was powered by a proprietary Coventry Climax engine like most of the British ‘Garagiste’ teams. For 1962 their new V8 was ready and though it was no more powerful than the Coventry Climax the BRM V8 did rev to 11,000 rpm as against only 7,500 for the Climax. The space frame from the 1961 car formed the basis of the ’62 challenger which was known as the P578.

D Hill, BRM P578, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

Richie Ginther joined incumbent Graham Hill on the BRM driving strength from ’61 World Champions Ferrari. The main challengers for the 1962 World Drivers and Constructors Championships emerged as BRM and Lotus who had introduced a revolutionary new Climax powered car the Lotus 25 which featured a sheet aluminium monocoque chassis in place of the space frame constructed from tubes as was common practice up to that time.

D Hill, BRM P578, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

First blood in the 1962 season fell to Graham Hill in the Netherlands where Jim Clark finished last of the runners in 9th place 10 laps down in the new Lotus 25. Bruce McLaren won the Monaco Grand Prix in his Cooper Climax, the last win for the marque for three years until 1966. Jim Clark won for the first time in 1962 at the Belgian Grand Prix where he was followed home Graham Hill. The French Grand Prix saw a fourth different winner in the form of Dan Gurney who was driving a Porsche 804.

D Hill, BRM P578, BRM Day, Bourne, Lincs

Jim Clark became the first repeat winner of the ’62 season when he won the British Grand Prix from John Surtees driving a Lola Climax Mk 4. Graham Hill then won the German Grand Prix again from Surtees in the Lola. In Italy Graham became the first three time winner in ’62 when he led team mate Ritchie Ginther across the line. At the ’62 US Grand Prix Clark led Hill home by nearly 10 seconds.

Going into the last race of the season the superior reliability of the less radical BRM meant that Jim Clarks only opportunity to win the ’62 Championship was to win the South African Grand Prix held in East London. Clark won pole with Hill alongside him and dominated the race until he developed an oil leak with 25 laps to go. Five laps later Clark retired leaving Graham to claim his fourth victory of the season and his first World Drivers Championship. BRM also won their only World Constructors Championship seventeen years after Raymond Mays had founded the team to build a “British World Beater“.

Today’s featured car BRM 578 chassis #P578/1 known as ‘Old Faithful’ was driven for much of the 1962 season by Graham Hill. The car which belongs Collier Collection in Florida is seen here at last years BRM Day being driven by Graham’s son 1996 World Drivers Champion Damon Hill.

Thanks for joining me on this “Britain’s World Beater” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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