Dan Gurney’s – Brabham Racing Organisation – Coventry Climax FWMV 1.5-litre V8 during the 1963 Monaco Grand Prix weekend. F1-1-63’s second race.
The car is a Brabham BT7, the second type of GP Brabham, Jack having debuted the BT3 Climax in 1962. Two F1 BT7s – there was also two BT7A Intercontinental/Tasman Formula cars – were built. Dan debuted BT7 F1-1-63 at the International Trophy, Silverstone on May 11, 63, and Jack first raced F1-2-63 at Zandvoort on June 23, 1963.
(LAT)
Dan in front of Tony Maggs (fifth) and Willy Mairesse (DNF final drive) at Monaco that year: Brabham BT7 Climax, Cooper T66 Climax and Ferrari Dino 156. Gurney was out with crown wheel and pinion failure in the race won by Graham Hill’s BRM P57 from teammate Richie Ginther’s P57. Bruce McLaren’s Cooper T66 was third.
(MotorSport)
Gurney on the way to an historic first Championship Grand Prix win for the Brabham marque aboard his BT7 at Rouen-les- Essarts, France in June 1964. Dan also won the non-championship 1964 Mexican GP with this F1-1-63, while Jack’s best in F1-2-63 was a pair of wins in in the Aintree 200 and the Silverstone International Trophy in April/May 1964.
Somewhat incredibly, Allen Brown records the last of 48 in-period race meetings for this (Jack’s) car was at Indianapolis, where Dave Rines won the SCCA Regional at Indianapolis Raceway Park in May 1968, at which point the car was powered by a 3-litre Coventry Climax FPF-four.
Dutch GP: second, Clark won in a Lotus 25 (MotorSport)
Coventry Climax FWMV 1.5-litre Mk3 V8: Lucas fuel injected, DOHC, two-valve, 195bhp @ 9500rpm. Early five speed Hewland HD gearbox with distinctive upside-down VW Beetle case, but not yet with neato, bespoke side-entry rear housing. The ‘vertical bomb’ is Lucas’ hi-pressure fuel pump. Rear end comprises mag alloy uprights, inverted wishbones at the top, single links at the bottom plus two radius rods doing fore-aft locational duties. Ron changed his mind about the respective locations of the wishbones and links pretty soon after this.
The car is Brabham BT30 chassis # 17 owned by ex-racer/businessman/team owner John ‘Noddy’ Coombs, the machine was shared by Jack and Jackie Stewart that season
Brabham didn’t finish at Pau fuel metering unit problems intervened. Jochen Rindt won in a works/Jochen Rindt Racing Lotus 69 Ford FVA from four BT30s: the machines of Henri Pescarolo, Tim Schenken, Derek Bell and Francois Mazet.
(MotorSport)
“Yeah, its not a bad little jigger, we’ve won a few races with BT30s in the last twelve months I suppose. It’s a lot tighter than I remember when I tested it for Ron last year mind you…”
Jack gets out of BT30/17 over the June 28, XVIII Grand Prix de Rouen-les-Essarts weekend where he was eighth in the race won by Jo Siffert’s BMW 270.
BT30/17’s best results that season was Jackie’s second place at Thruxton and victory at Crystal Palace, while Jack was second at Tulln-Langenlebarn. Coombs shipped the car to Japan in May, where JYS won the Formula Libre Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji with Ford Cosworth FVC power.
Stewart bagged the Quadrella in the London Trophy at Crystal Palace in May. He won his heat, the final from pole, bagging fastest lap along the way (MotorSport)(MotorSport)
The Brothers Brambilla compound during the Hockenheim 11, 1970 weekend. The car in shot is Tino’s #7 Brabham BT30/21 (DNF) during the 1970 Preis von Baden – Wurttemberg und Hessen Euro F2 Championship round. Dieter Quester had a home-win for BMW, he prevailed in an M11 powered BMW 270. The exhaust of Vittorio’s car, BT30/22, is at right.
The essential elements of customer F2 Brabhams of the era are on display; a spaceframe chassis, Ford Cosworth 1.6-litre FVA 210bhp engine and Hewland FT200 five-speed transaxle. It was then up to the driver to make these immensely robust, chuckable, fast, Ron Tauranac designed cars do the rest.
Jack toyed with wings on and off at Rouen, racing without the appendages. Here he is showing the way to customers, Derek Bell (seventh) and Peter Westbury (tenth).
(MotorSport)
Another lovely Pau GP shot, where Tim Schenken was third in the Sports Motors International Brabham BT30.
That year the European F2 Championship was won by Clay Regazzoni’s Tecno 69 and 70 FVAs with 44 points, from Derek Bell’s BT30 (he also bagged one point in a BMW 270) 35 points, and Emerson Fittipaldi’s Lotus 69 FVA on 25.
‘Graded drivers’ – in essence and summary, drivers who had scored points twice in the Top Six of a Grand Prix in the previous two years, and the World, F2, Indy, and Can Am Champs of the previous year – were ineligible for Euro F2 championship points.
In 1970 Rindt won at Thruxton, Stewart at Crystal Palace and Ickx at Tulln-Langenlebarn. Of the non-graded drivers, Regga won at Hockenheim, Enna-Pergusa and Imola – and won his first Grand Prix for Ferrari that September at Monza -, for Derek Bell at Montjuich Park, Barcelona, and Dieter Quester in the final Hockenheim round.
Jack Brabham put the cat amongst the Indy pigeons in 1961 together with John Cooper. Their Cooper T54 Climax FPF 2.7 blew the minds of the establishment. They were stunned by the speed of the itty-bitty, mid-engined roller-skate despite giving away 1.5-litres to the bulky Offy engined roadsters – which hung onto The Milk until 1965 of course.
Brabham returned in 1964 with Ron Tauranac’s BT11 derived, spaceframe BT12 powered this time by an injected 4.2-litre Offenhauser twin-cam, two-valve four. The pacey package also featured a robust Colotti Francis T37 transaxle.
BT12-1 in build at Motor Racing Developments, Weybridge, Surrey circa April 1964. Long-stroke, 4128cc, 420bhp @ 6600rpm Offy sits tall in the frame, Colotti-Francis GSD transaxle and inverted lower wishbone, single top link, two radius rods and coil spring/shocks, rear discs, knock on hubs and beefy driveshafts all clear (MotorSport)Spaceframe chassis, upper and lower wishbone/coil spring-shock and roll bar suspension. Note the bungee’d in place oil tank and top-of-chassis little fuel tank. Note too the main tanks offset to keep the bulk to the inside. About 59 gallons of fuel when full (MotorSport)Indy 1964 (MotorSport)
Jack didn’t qualify well with a multitude of problems, not least spring/shocks which were way too soft (as specified by car owner John Zinc), and time, pulled as he was by his GP commitments to straddle both sides of the Atlantic.
Famously wary at the start of that race – having been warned about how dangerous the Mickey Thompson built Thompson Ford was by Masten Gregory, who didn’t qualify his – Brabham picked up a small fracture in one of those ginormous aluminium fuel tanks in the horrific lap two accident caused by Dave MacDonald losing control of his Thompson Ford in the middle of the field. MacDonald, very much a man of the future, and the much-loved Eddie Sachs, Halibrand Ford, perished in the horrific conflagration. Brabham was out after 77 laps, the race was won by AJ Foyt’s Watson Offy from the similar front-engined roadsters of Rodger Ward and Lloyd Ruby.
Jim McElreath on the way to victory in the Trenton 500 during 1965, Brabham BT12 Offy. Note in the other Trenton shot below the symmetrical fuel tank setup compared with Jack’s at Indy the year before (DJ Teece)
When Jack returned to Europe, the John Zinc owned car was raced with plenty of speed by Jim McElreath, and a few decent hits too. The final shunt at Indy was a biggie, it wasn’t worth repairing the mild steel tube frame, in part because it would not have been legal under USAC’s 1965 rules.
Clint Brawner therefore built two chrome-moly steel tube copies of the BT12 late in 1964, one for Zinc/McElreath, and one for his – Al Dean sponsored – outfit to be driven by a talented young rookie named Mario Andretti.
A very young and happy Mario Andretti at Indianapolis in 1965 aboard the Brabham BT12 Ford aka Hawk 1 65 Ford. Apart from the Ford V8 installation note the changes to the bodywork which were thought later to provide some ground effect. This car was a rocket in 1965-66 despite the presence of plenty of Lotus 34 and 38 machines (unattributed)The Dean Van Lines/Brawner outfit called their Brabham BT12 Ford a Brabham for a while, as proved above. They then named it a Hawk, and later a Brawner Hawk, not unreasonable given the evolution of the body and modifications to fit the Ford Indy V8Andretti during practice at Indy in 1966. Still aboard his favourite BT12/ Hawk 1 65 Ford. He raced with #1, popped the car on pole, choosing to race it rather than the Lotus 38 he also had at his disposal (Dave Friedman/MotorSport)
Andretti loved the ‘Hawk Ford’ (chassis Hawk 1 65), winning the USAC Championship in it in 1965-66. In ‘65, McElreath was one of his closest competitors in the Zinc Brabham Offy, finishing third. The following year he went one better and placed second to the future 1978 F1 World Champ, this time Ford Indy V8 powered.
Another two BT12 copies were built for Jim Hayhoe’s outfit, with drawings provided, perhaps, via Jack Brabham in 1968.
One of these Offy powered BT12s, with suitably updated body by Jud Phillips, finished fifth in the 1971 Indy 500 as the catchily named Sugaripe Prune Spl with Billy Vukovich at the wheel. In a strong year for the seven year old design, and three year old chassis, Vukovich was third in the USAC points table. His haul included two third placings at Milwaukee and Phoenix, and a staggering second to Mark Donohue’s state-of-the-art Penske McLaren M16A Offy at Michigan.
Bill Vukovich, Brabham BT12 Offy t/c at Indy in 1971, looking slightly different! to Jack’s BT12 Offy seven years before. I dare say the suspension geometry copped a tickle to accommodate the advance of tyre technology over that period (IMS)(unattributed)Rick Muther in the ex-Andretti BT12/Hawk 1 65 chassis, now fitted with an Offy turbo at Indy in 1970. Q15 and eighth, race won by Al Unser, Colt 70 FordShit shot of a Fugly Cup contender. Rick Muther in the ex-Andretti Hawk 1 65 Offy t/c before the 1971 Indy 500 (unattributed)Muther, hanging onto his helmet while travelling sideways along Indy’s front chute at well over 120mph – no he didn’t go over. Chassis a tad second hand after this lot, Indy 1971
Equally amazing was that Andretti’s old nail – the Hawk 1 65 – that he raced so successfully in 1965-66, by then owned by Jack Adams, also started the 1970 and that ’71 500 with Rick Muther the driver.
The Offy powered, Arkansas Aviation entered car was involved in a spectacular accident with David Hobbs’ Penske Lola after completing 85 laps of the race won by Al Unser’s Colt 71 Ford. Hobbs engine blew, then Muther, immediately behind him swerved in avoidance, pegged the inside wall, then veered right into Hobbs’ path and the outside wall, taking both of them out in a lucky escape.
Who said that spaceframes were old hat by the end of 1962!?
Spaceframe BT12 out front of MRD. Note the Halibrand wheels (MotorSport)
Credits…
The MotorSport Images shots at MRD were taken by David Phipps, DJ Teece, Indy Motor Speedway, Bill Daniels Collectibles
As always, thanks to Allen Brown’s mind-blowing OldRacingCars.com – racing car history results and database website. I simply cannot get the level of historic accuracy – facts – into some of these articles without his one-of-a-kind website. Click on this link to Allen’s main Indy page Indy 500 and USAC racing 1971-1978 « OldRacingCars.com then you can scroll for yourself through far more details about the BT12 cars; Brabham, Hawk and Hayhoe
Tailpiece…
Brabham ready to boogie aboard the Zinc Trackburner Special on raceday at Indianapolis in 1964.
Such an influential car the BT12, an unsung, or at least an under-recognised Brabham in some ways.
Jack Brabham aboard his Brabham BT24/1 Repco ‘Streamliner’ in the Monza pitlane during the September 10, 1967 weekend.
Lanky Dan Gurney is at right keeping an eye on his old-boss, while Jo Ramirez, in the white pants/dark top, and the All American Racers crew, tend to Dan’s erotic Eagle Mk1 Weslake #103.
Brabham, Ron Tauranac and Repco-Brabham Engines nicked the 1966 F1 World Drivers and Constructors titles from under the noses of those who were a smidge quicker, but not as well organised or reliable as the Brabham and Hulme driven Brabham BT19/20 Repco 620 V8s.
They did it again in 1967, not that it was a lucky win. Their 330hp Brabham BT24 740 Repco V8 was all new; chassis, engine and major suspension components. They got the cars running reliably el-pronto, aided and abetted by blooding the new exhaust-between-the-Vee cylinder heads during the Tasman Cup; both drivers used 2.5-litre RBE640 V8s throughout New Zealand and Australia.
Lotus ran them close of course. Colin Chapman’s Lotus 49 chassis – in truth little different to his 1966 Lotus 43 – was powered by the new 400bhp Ford Cosworth 3-litre V8, rather than the heavy, unreliable 3-litre BRM H16 engine fitted to the 43.
Driven by a couple of champs in Jim Clark and Graham Hill, they were mighty fine, quick cars, but not in 1967, reliable enough ones. That would come soon enough, of course…
Brabham, all enveloping rear body section clear (MotorSport)Ron Tauranac, Keith Duckworth and Denny Hulme swap notes. “Have you really only got 330bhp Ron?” (MotorSport)
As Lotus and Cosworth Engineering addressed engine reliability, Brabham and Tauranac tried to squeeze more speed from Ron’s small, light BT24.
There was only so much Repco Brabham Engines could do with the SOHC 740 Series V8, they were busy just keeping up with routine rebuilds for the two BRO cars. As the year progressed the Maidstone, Melbourne crew explored the 850 radial-valve V8 as their ’68 F1 engine, and then, having spent way too much time flogging that dead-horse, on the definitive, but way-too-late 860 DOHC, four-valve V8. Click here for a piece on the RBE740; ‘RB740’ Repco’s 1967 F1 Championship Winning V8… | primotipo…
The aerodynamics of the BT24 was another thing entirely of course. That was within Ron and Jack’s control. If MRD could just make the car a little bit more slippery through the air, maybe an extra 500revs or so would make the difference between race wins, and not.
By the time the team got to Monza on September 7, the cocktail of goodies tried on Jack’s BT24 included the all-enveloping windscreen used on an F2 BT23 earlier in the year, all-enveloping bodywork extending right back beyond the endplate of the Hewland DG300 transaxle, and spoilers which were tried either side of the car’s nose, and alongside the engine. Remember, the Chaparral inspired explosion of wings in F1 occurred in 1968.
Rear spoiler, Monza (MotorSport)Note the winglets or spoilers, Jack’s nosecone at Spa in mid-June 1967 (MotorSport)
Jim Clark started from pole, with 1:28.5 secs, ahead of Jack on 1:28.8, then Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Dan Gurney in BRM, Ferrari and Weslake V12 engined cars, then Denny in the other BT24 on 1:29.46.
Jack could have won of course, but the equally foxey John Surtees out-fumbled him in the final corners, bagging a popular win for the Honda RA300 V12. Denny retired with over-heating so the championship – ultimately decided in his favour – was still alive, with races in the US and Mexico to come.
The office of BT24-1, Jack’s car. The Varley battery is in the aluminium box beneath the driver’s knees (MotorSport)
One of my favourite Grand Prix cars, the BT24, was just enough of everything, the sheer economy of the car always strikes me. See here for my last rave in relation thereto; Give Us a Cuddle Sweetie… | primotipo…
It was the first time Ron had designed an all-new F1 chassis since BT3 way back in 1962. Beautiful details abound, not least the new cast-magnesium front uprights first fitted to Jack’s BT23A Repco, his ‘67 2.5-litre Tasman Cup mount, in late 1966, the Alford & Alder/Triumph Herald uprights used hitherto were finally cast aside.
Hulme’s BT24/2 during the British GP weekend (MotorSport)Feel the noise…Monza pit action. Brabham and Denny behind him in the distance. The queue by the Armco is headed by Mike Spence’ BRM P83 H16, Chris Amon’s Ferrari 312, perhaps then one of the Cooper Maseratis (MotorSport)
BT24/1 debuted at the same race meeting, Zandvoort 1967, as the Lotus 49 Ford DFV, albeit Jack raced BT19, his ’66 championship winning chassis. Jim Clark won famously on the debut of an engine which set the standard for a decade and a half, more if you include its many derivatives.
Denny’s BT24/2 was ready at Le Mans, when Brabham and Hulme delivered the old one-two, with The Boss in front. Clark won at Silverstone, before another BT24 one-two with Denny ahead of Jack. At Mosport Jack won from Denny. Hulme won at Monaco in May (his first championship GP win), so led the championship by nine points from Jack, with Jim further back. Clark dominated the balance of the season, winning at Watkins Glen and Mexico City, but Denny’s two third placings won him the drivers title and
Those with F2 knowledge will recall that Frank Costin’s Protos Ford FVA raced with a cockpit canopy akin to Brabham’s in 1967. BT24/1 here, again at Monza. Whatever the straight-line benefits, Jack simply couldn’t place the car as he wanted given the difficulty of seeing thru the canopy (MotorSport)If I knew how to use Photoshop I’d get rid of ‘boots’, but I don’t…BT24/1, ain’t-she-sweet (MotorSport)
BRO sold the cars to South Africans, Basil van Rooyen (BT24/1) and Sam Tingle (BT24/2) after the end of the season. When it became clear that Jochen Rindt’s 1968 BT26 was running late, he raced BT24/3 – which first appeared at in practice, at Monza in September 1967, carrying #16T – in some of the early races of 1968. He raced BT24/2 at Kyalami (Q4 and third), and BT24/3 at Jarama (Q9 and DNF oil pressure) and Monaco (Q5 and DNF accident), before Dan Gurney had a steer at Zandvoort (Q12 and DNF throttle).
The final works-gallop of a BT24 was Jochen’s use of BT24/3 during practice over the British GP weekend at Brands Hatch in July. Before you pedants have a crack at me, for the sake of completion, German ace, Kurt Ahrens, raced the BRO tended, Caltex Racing Team entered, BT24/3 to Q17 and 12th place at the Nurburgring in 1968. Brabham BT24 chassis anoraks should click here; Brabham BT24 car-by-car histories | OldRacingCars.com
Threatening in an elegant kinda way. You can see what is being sought, ignoring the inherent streamlining difficulties of fully outboard suspension front and rear. Ron went to front inboard springs and rockers with the ’68 Indy BT25 Repco and ’70 F1 BT33 Ford (MotorSport)
Credits…
Magnificent MotorSport Images, Getty Images, Allen Brown’s oldracingcars.com
Tailpiece…
(MotorSport)
Easy-peasy, two hands are for schmucks!
Denis Clive Hulme shows us how it’s done at the Parabolica; Denny’s elegant, sublime prowess for all to see. BT24/2 Monza 1967, ‘standard’ bodywork.
One of our friends in Belgium, Stef Van den Bergh, bought it recently and wants to know more about it. ” I am curious who made it. I suppose it was Honda since Brabham isn’t even mentioned on the badge. How many were made and were they sold, or given as a present?”
So there is the challenge folks. Was it made by Honda, the Albi GP organisers or their merchandise people, or perhaps a ‘renegade’ wanting to cash in on Honda’s presence in F2 as well as Grand Prix racing?
The real McCoy – and below fitted to the nose of Denny Hulme’s Brabham BT18 at Montlhery in September 1966. That weekend Jack Brabham won from Jim Clark’s Lotus 44 Cosworth SCA with Denny third, having started from pole. That season, many races were Brabham-Hulme one-two’s
When Richie Ginther won the 1965 season – and 1.5-litre formula – ending Mexican Grand Prix, Honda bagged it’s first of many F1 successes.
Brabham raced a BT16 powered by S800 Honda engines at four meetings in March and April 1965; Silverstone, Oulton Park, Snetterton and at Pau with poor results. Honda set to work to produce an engine which wasn’t so peaky from May to August, then Brabham reappeared at the Oulton Park Gold Cup and the GP Albi later in September. He retired with clutch dramas at Oulton but was right on the pace at Albi, finishing second to Clark’s Lotus 35 Cosworth SCA by six-tenths of a second after nearly two-hours, and 309km of racing…Honda were in town!
1965 Honda RA300E F2 engine in a Brabham BT16 chassis : 1-litre (72×61.2mm – 996cc) all alloy, DOHC, four-valve, fuel injected circa 135bhp @ 10000rpm (1965 RA302E 150bhp @ 11000rpm) four cylinder engine. Weight 145kg (Brabham Family Archive) Jack from Denny at Goodwood during the Sunday Mirror Trophy on April 11, 1966. Brabham BT18 Hondas one-two (Honda Racing)
The calibre and depth of F2 grids then is shown by looking at the Albi field, in order of finishing (or not); Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme, Jochen Rindt, Alan Rees, Mike Spence, Frank Gardner, Bob Bondurant, Jo Schlesser, Jean Vinatier, Brian Hart, Trevor Taylor, Silvio Moser, Guy Ligier, Mike Beckwith, Graham Hill, Geki Russo, Peter Revson, Henry Grandshire, Eric Offenstadt, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Paul Hawkins and Richard Attwood. Five world champs, a couple of Indy winners, three Le Mans victors and two Can-Am Cup champions.
Ron Tauranac and Jack Brabham had plenty of balls in the air during 1965, apart from the usual manufacture of production racing cars and the running of works teams (Motor Racing Developments and Brabham Racing Organisation) in F2 and F1. They had nascent engine programs with Honda (F2) and Repco Brabham Engines (Tasman and F1), and in addition were helping Goodyear develop tyres which were critical to Brabham, MRD, BRO and RBE’s two 1966 F1 championship wins; the manufacturers and drivers championships.
Jack Brabham, Brabham BT16 Honda during practice for the cancelled BARC Senior Service Trophy at Silverstone on March 20, 1965. The race was cancelled due to excessive amounts of water – visible – on the circuitRon Tauranac at left with stopwatch board, and Jack attend to changes during practice at Montlhery during the September 11, 1966 weekend. Brabham BT21 Honda. Brabham won by three seconds from Jim Clark’s Lotus 44 Ford SCA with Hulme two seconds behind Jim
The European F2 Championship commenced in 1967, the first year of the 1.6-litre F2. Despite the lack of a title in 1966 (although Brabham won the six round French F2 Championship) Brabham Honda were absolutely dominant. Of 16 major races held in Europe, Brabham won 10; Goodwood, Pau GP, GP Barcelona, GP Limborg, the London Trophy at Crystal Palace, GP Reims, the Kanonloppet at Karlskoga, Finland GP, GP de L’ille France at Montlhery, and the GP Albi. Six of these events were Brabham Honda one-twos, with Denny bringing his car home behind his team-leader. Hulme won two races as well, the GP Rouen and Trophee Craven A on the Le Mans, Bugatti circuit.
Credits…
Stef Van den Bergh, F2 Index, Getty Images, Brabham Family Archive, Honda Racing, MotorSport
Tailpiece…
(MotorSport)
A couple of happy-chappies after the conclusion of the Pau GP on April 17, 1966. Jack and Denny finished in line astern aboard Brabham BT18 Hondas, with five-tenths of a second between them. Back in third, nearly 1 1/2 minutes adrift was Graham Hill in John Coombs’ Brabham BT16 BRM P80. Brabhams filled six of the top ten placings.
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