Archive for the ‘MRD-Brabham-Ralt’ Category

Brabham BT25 Repco 760 by Mark Bisset…

Posted: July 4, 2026 in Features, MRD-Brabham-Ralt
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(AOuld-MBisset-ChatGPT)

Motor Racing Developments’ first monocoque racing car, Brabham BT25-1 Repco Brabham 760 4.2-litre V8 Indianapolis 500 contender, breaks cover circa April 18- 22, 1968, not long before it was a-leavin’-on-a-jet-plane for Indianapolis.

The no-fuss press release comprised popping the car out front of the New Haw factory, backed by some enormous bits of paper (left), to ensure the photos ‘popped’ in MotorSport and Autosport. ‘Would you like a cup of tea, Mr Jenkinson, Mr Bolster? Don’t be too long, we’ve cars to prepare…’

While the first motor race won by a works-Brabham Repco was fitted with Repco Brabham Engines Pty Ltd’s simplest engine, the last was won by its most complex and publicly derided…

(A Lewis)

First and Last…

Peter Revson takes the plaudits of the crowd after winning the second heat of the Indy 200 in his Brabham BT25-2 Repco at Indy Racing Park in July 1969.

It was an important final win for the Motor Racing Developments, Brabham Racing Organisation and Repco Brabham Engines partnership which commenced five years earlier but had had a most troubled season in 1968 with both its 3-litre RBE860 F1 and 4.2-litre RBE760 Indy V8s.

Jack’s BT19 Repco and Denny’s BT22 Climax FPF in the East London pits during the non-championship 1966 South African Grand Prix at East London; the first race for chassis and engine (unatt-MBisset-ChatGPT)

The first race in the partnership was with an RB620 3-litre engine designed by Phil Irving and built in Repco’s Richmond Engine Lab, then fitted aboard Brabham BT19-1, a chassis built over the winter of 1964-65 for the stillborn Coventry Climax FWMW 1.5-litre Flat-16 engine for the 1966 South African Grand Prix at East London.

Whilst a non-championship race it was an important step in blooding the engine before the first 1966 Championship race at Monaco in May.

Ex-RBE engineer Nigel Tait checked the engine build sheets for E3, the 3-litre motor Jack used at Kyalami. Its first dyno runs were on November 12, 1965. Numerous tweaks were undertaken, the best tug being 279bhp @ 7,300rpm with the ignition set at 47 degrees BTDC.

The engine was air-freighted to England on November 16, then fitted to BT19 with exhausts made locally. Tested at Goodwood over 40 laps, Brabham’s best was a 1:17.3 compared to the existing lap record of 1:20.3.

BT19 was then shipped to South Africa, where Jack popped the car on pole and led by a good margin until nine laps from the end, when the metering unit cog belt came off; the lap record was encouraging! Phil Irving then redesigned the location of the metering unit to be within the engine’s Vee and driven from the rear of the jackshaft.

After Kyalami, BT19 was shipped to Melbourne, where the 2.5-litre 620 2.5-litre V8 engine E2 was fitted for the Sandown and Longford Tasman Cup events.

Then the busy chassis returned to the UK before heading to Italy for the non-championship race at Siracuse on April Fools’ Day, DNF after two laps, and then the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone on May 14. Jack put BT19 on pole and won the 165 km race from the works Ferrari 312 of  John Surtees and three Cooper T81 Maserati V12s. The rest of the F1 world was on notice despite a power output at the time that was 300 bhp at best…

(Deviant Art)
BT25-1 looking absolutely shagadelic in its Specialised Mouldings fibreglass bodywork during the car’s launch at New Haw (AOuld-MBisset-ChatGPT)

Brabham BT25 Repco 760 4.2 V8…

Motor Racing and Sportscar (MRS) wrote that the decision was made to build BT25 in April 1967, but that construction didn’t begin until that November.

The chassis of the car is notable as Ron Tauranac’s first monocoque design, as noted above. He built it to comply with USAC rules, which required bag-type fuel tanks enclosed within metal panelling. That was easier to package in an aluminium monocoque rather than one of his trusty spaceframes. Not that they were past their use-by date, Jackie Ickx won two Grands Prix in 1969 with the BT26 Ford DFV, which was so equipped.

The engines are RBE760, that is, a combination of the 700 Series long block with 60 Series gear-driven, twin-cam, four-valve Lucas fuel-injected heads. The engine’s capacity was 4.2 litres, a bore of 96.2 mm and a stroke of 71.9 mm (4120 cc). Using methanol fuel, the engine’s output was quoted as circa 550 bhp @ 8,500 rpm. The gearbox was a Hewland LG600 five-speed transaxle.

Brabham and Cooper were the Indianapolis revolutionaries, of course. They tested one of their Grand Prix T53 Lowlines in October 1960, having been encouraged by Rodger Ward to do so during the 1959 US GP weekend at Sebring, and then returned with a bespoke Cooper T54 Climax the following May.

BT25-1 is well-progressed, BT25-2 at right (AOuld-MBisset-ChatGPT)
Jack Brabham’s Cooper T54 dives underneath Bob Christie’s Kurtis Offy during the 1961 Indy 500 (Twitter)

Leonard Lee was prevailed upon at Coventry Climax to build the biggest possible version of the FPF four-cylinder engine, which swept the F1 boards pretty much in 1959-60. By increasing the bore and stroke of the 2.5 FPF, they created a 251 bhp engine of 2.7 litres, well short of the 4.2 litre limit for normally aspirated engines; the Top Gun Offy of the day gave about 430 bhp.

Despite that, unsuitable Dunlops, and on a steep learning curve in every respect, including pitwork – one crewman cross-threaded a rear nut – Brabham finished ninth amongst the roadster leviathans and commenced the immediate trend to mid-engined cars. The 1964 Brabham BT12 Offy is hereby acknowledged, but is not a tangent for now, see here:https://primotipo.com/2022/12/10/brabham-bt12-offy/

Graham Hill up top in the staggering Lotus 56 Pratt & Whitney, with Jack and RBE mechanics attending to the needs of the 760 V8. Note the throttle linkage and Lucas/RBE slide injection (D Friedman)

Three RBE760 V8s were made for the Indy program: E34, E35 and E36. Rod Wolfe’s diary reveals that engine E34 came off the dyno on April 11, 1968. It seems reasonable to assume that the engine arrived at MRD on or about April 13-15, and that the car was tested at Goodwood about April 17-19, after which MRS reported that ‘Jack Brabham had fun testing the prototype at Goodwood before it was sent across the Atlantic, and found it exhilarating getting up to 170 mph half-way down the straight!’

When Jack and Ron fronted up to the laborious month-long Indy carnival in May 1968, the abject engineering conservatism of 1961 had been replaced with some very edgy technology, the prime example of which was the outrageous Lotus 56 ‘wedge’ powered by a Pratt & Whitney gas turbine engine and putting its power to the road via all four driven wheels.

The utterly conventional Brabham/Repco Brabham Engines response was no disadvantage at all. Bobby Unser won in an Eagle powered by a 2.8-litre turbocharged Offenhauser DOHC four, the first win for a Turbo, whilst Dan Gurney was second in an Eagle 68 powered by a stock-block 5-litre Gurney-Weslake Ford V8, then came Mel Kenyon in a Gerhardt Offy t/c followed by Denny Hulme in the other works Eagle 68 powered by the Ford DOHC Indy 4.2-litre V8.

Nigel Tait’s 3-litre, quad cam diagonal port V8. 16 inlet and 16 exhaust valves and an incredible cacophony of music but not a lotta power. None of these engines found their way into a chassis. Ferrari packaged and tested a diagonal port Dino V6 variant into a car, and it could be done but Ferrari walked away, as did ‘pioneers’ BMW eventually (NTait)

In search of the ‘Unfair Advantage’, with the new, powerful Ford Cosworth DFV V8 in his mind, RBE General Manager Frank Hallam sought to bridge the performance gap with a radial valve head design which used four diagonally opposed valves above each piston.

Way too much time was spent on this direction, Hallam pushed the 850 long after his Chief Engineer, Norman Wilson, told him he was flogging a dead horse. The motor simply did not make sufficient power wherever the plugs were placed and whatever timing was tried. And that, apart from the installation issues of inlets and exhaust pipes at all kinds of angles, presented a difficult challenge for chassis designer Tauranac, who had made his position clear to Hallam.

Finally, in November 1967, with time very much against them, RBE decided to use the conventional four-valve, crossflow ’60 Series heads’ drawn by John Judd with Wilson looking over his shoulders. For F1, 3-litre, use a shorter 800 Series block made from aluminium and magnesium alloy designed by Wilson as their 1968 F1 engine. The 4.2 Indy used the 700 block introduced by RBE in 1967.

Project RPO, one of the distractions…the Repco-Pontiac 5-litre Trans-Am engine intended for the Firebird on the Maidstone dyno. In summary, the design comprised a Repco cast iron block which mimicked the Pontiac original, aluminium SOHC, two-valve heads and fuel injection. The V8 was designed by Norman Wilson; an amazing mighta-been…(BHeard-MBisset-Wordpress)

Loaves and Fishes…

Much time had been lost, too much time, and Repco were stretched ridiculously thin in 1968.

They had a one car Tasman Cup machine to power for Jack in the Australian rounds, a two car F1 program, two car Indy 500 commitment, Australian customer 2.5 and 4.4-litre engines to service, 4.8-litre and 5-litre sportscar engines to build for Frank Matich to race in the Can-Am Series, engine performance kits to construct for the Volvo 120 sedan and a contract with Pontiac to build five Trans-Am V8 prototype engines by 1 January 1969. All of this with a headcount of 59 in May 1968.

Hallam tried to serve too many masters as above, he, and/or the Director to whom he reported, Bob Brown, should have said ‘No Way’ to some of these opportunities. The decision to pursue the radial-valve 850 engine for too long came at the expense of sufficient dyno time for the 860, so the 1968 F1 program was a disaster in every respect.

860 engines went snap, crackle and pop all over Europe and North America, albeit Jochen Rindt proved the Brabham BT26 Repco ‘860’s speed with three front row starts, including one pole, Matich missed the Can-Am completely (not that the SR4 chassis was ready anyway), and Jochen Rindt’s Indy start in BT25-1 was over after five laps with piston failure due to fuel mixture issues and resultant detonation…

Jochen easily qualified with a lap of 164.144 mph set on Sunday, May 19, but he was well shy of Joe Leonard’s Lotus 56 P&W pole time of 171.6 mph.

Ian Lees, Jochen Rindt and BT25-1 (Unatt-MBisset-Wordpress)
Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory in 1968

Jochen’s 1965 Le Mans teammate, Masten Gregory, the pair won the race in a Ferrari 250LM, didn’t make a qualifying attempt in BT25-2 as the car was late (it arrived on May 19) and not best placed to have a crack at that mighty challenge. Jack alternated between the two cars with his vastly experienced onboard computer diagnosing what the cars needed to improve.

No doubt Repco – and Goodyear, who sponsored Brabham’s Indy program – were more than miffed that Jack did not compete, given Indy was one of the ‘commitments which broke the camel’s back’ of the F1 program, which was far and away the most important to both BRO and Repco. Betty Brabham was well aware just how lethal the Indy 500 was at the time and ‘banned’ Jack from the race, albeit the wily character tested BT25 at Indy anyway…

In short, by mutual amicable agreement, the BRO/Repco F1 partnership ended after the 1968 F1 season. In 1969, the final events the two companies agreed to contest were an Australian Gold Star race at Mount Panorama that Easter – Brabham won it in Repco’s Brabham BT31 830 2.5 V8 – and three fixtures in the US: the Indianapolis 500 and the Indy 200 on the road course at Indianapolis, and the Rex Mays 300 at Riverside at end of the season.

Perhaps with an eye to 1969, Brabham contested the very last ’68 USAC Champcar race, the Rex Mays 300 at Riverside, a road circuit he knew well.

He popped the car sixth on the grid and ran well, but smote another car or a bit of the real estate and withdrew due to an oil leak after completing 27 of the 116 laps. Dan Gurney was up front in an Eagle Ford.

Brabham at Riverside in 1968, BT25-1
(G Hartman)

In the Spring of ‘69…

Jack convinced Betty he should drive at Indianapolis in 1969, which would have been an interesting chat over the morning’s toast, Vegemite and Coco Pops, with Jack engaging Peter Revson to drive the other BT25. The two fixtures in the US were the Indianapolis 500 on 30 May and the Indy 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park on 27 July.

At the time, the talented Revlon heir was putting in good performances in Can-Am and USAC cars but was still regarded as somewhat of a dilettante, but after his marvellous fifth place from the rear of the grid at Indianapolis, pit-pundits took note.

Plenty of development at Maidstone turned the under-developed ’68 525-535bhp @ 7600rpm 760 4.2 into a competitive 550-560bhp @ 7800rpm engine in 1969. The focus (see Bibliography) was primarily on four areas: induction and mixture distribution problems, head changes, lubrication and crank, and cooling.

The Indy inlet manifold had uneven runner lengths and uneven mixture distribution at high RPM, with cylinders 2 and 7 running lean at sustained high load. Repco addressed this by reworking the inlet tracts and improving injector placement. More stable combustion allowed more ignition advance, better throttle response and ensured the engine ran reliably at higher RPM.

The heads came in for attention, too. Valve springs had proved marginal over 7000rpm, and the cam profiles were conservative to look after the springs. Improved spring metallurgy allowed more aggressive cams, while revised head castings (from Clisby in Adelaide) incorporated improved oil-return galleries to address slow oil drainage from the heads.

Improved crankshaft counter-weights, revised main bearing oil feed and better torsional damping resulted in less bearing wear and smoother running which gave the drivers the confidence to run the engine harder.

The quad-cams generated more heat than the SOHC Repcos so oil temps crept up. The fix was a mix of oil pump capacity, oil gallery routing, scavenging efficiency and the cooler layout.

Brabham in BT25-2 in 1969. Roy Billington – as always – in close attendance (GCritcherColl-MBisset-ChatGPT)
Jack’s car with the Hewland LG600 removed gives us a good view of the rear chassis bulkhead. The RBE760 was non-load-bearing; it was supported by the rear tubular steel frame, which in turn was attached to the rear of the aluminium monocoque (GCritcherColl-MBisset-ChatGPT)

Ron didn’t let the grass grow under his feet in terms of BT25 chassis development either.

Wider – slightly – fuel tanks were incorporated, and internal baffling was improved to enhance fuel pickup. RT revised the upper nose profile a tad and improved radiator ducting within it. Structurally, the front bulkhead was stiffened to improve steering precision on the ovals.

Front and rear suspension geometry came in for attention, too. Up front, minor changes were made to the upper pick-up points to finesse anti-dive characteristics and afford better stability over bumps. Brabham had diagnosed some flex from the rear, the fixes comprised reinforced rear radius rod mounts and heavier-gauge tubing for the gearbox cradle

In July, he gridded up at Indy Racing Park with a fresh 760′ for the two 100-mile heats, the combined results of which, comprised the Indy 200.

He was third in the first heat behind Dan Gurney’s Eagle Ford and Al Unser in a Lola Ford and won the other from Mario Andretti in a Brawner Ford and George Follmer’s Cheetah Chev. Revvies’ performances were beauts, the field also included AJ Foyt, Gordon Johncock, Lloyd Ruby and Art Pollard, there was no shortage of depth in the field.

These results for the 760 engine in the United States and crushing performances against light opposition by Frank Matich’s 4.8-litre 760-engined Matich SR4 sports-racer in Australia in 1969 were hugely important to the RBE team as they vindicated an engine – the 3-litre 860 – dismissed as a failure.

860 failures documented by Frank Hallam include dropped valve inserts, fuel pump, broken camshaft, centre main bearing, gudgeon pin, conrod, cam-follower, lubrication system and most critically, torsional vibrations in the gear-train of the type Cosworth experienced with the early 3-litre Ford DFV V8s.

All of these problems could have been solved with development; indeed, the fact that Revson completed 500 miles at Indianapolis and another two races of 100 miles suggests the problems were solved. A 3-litre 860 indeed finished two races, both Rindt and Brabham finished at the Nurburgring, a wet race in which gentler throttle applications aided engine longevity.

Finally, some sources write that the 760 did not have torsional cam gear vibration because the engine wasn’t revved as hard as the 860, but the power quoted by Repco for each engine is 500 bhp (760 4.2 litre) and 400 bhp (860 3 litre), in both cases, the outputs were produced at 8,500 rpm…

(D Friedman)

Ron Tauranac and Peter Revson in BT25-1. Note the differences in the nose of the 1969 cars compared with the year before.

(D Friedman)
(D Friedman)

Allen Brown’s Old Racing Cars full chassis by chassis race record of the BT25s is here:https://www.oldracingcars.com/brabham/bt25/

Etcetera…

(D Friedman)

The BT34 was visually challenging, but otherwise Tauranac’s Brabhams were all handsome beasts. Jack during one of the interminable Indy test sessions, in Jochen’s car.

Note the front winglets and knock-on hubs which were also used on the 1970 BT33, MRD’s first F1 monocoque design.

(D Friedman)
(D Friedman)

As you will have gathered from the narrative, a big part of the 1968 challenge was combustion, which seems to be reflected in many of Dave Friedman’s pit shots. The Champion man reads Jack’s plugs.

(D Friedman)
(D Friedman )
(unattributed)

Jochen with Scuderia Veloce boss David McKay keeping a close eye on things, wearing his journo hat.

(D Friedman)
(D Friedman)

Colin Chapman and Jack in 1968. What a tragic and bitter Indy for Team Lotus; Mike Spence dead and Joe Leonard seemingly with the race in the bag, only to suffer a snapped fuel pump driveshaft with only eight laps of the 200 to run.

(D Friedman)

Rindt in 1968. JB and RT were men of few words, but one suspects those that were used counted…and to an extent their level of mutual respect and knowledge of one another perhaps ensured stating the obvious was superfluous.

(D Friedman)

Bibliography…

‘Mr Repco Brabham: Frank Hallam’ Simon Pinder, ‘The Jack Brabham Story’ Jack Brabham with Doug Nye, Nigel Tait, oldracingcars. Com

Copilot for engine development between 1968 and 1969 sourcing USAC Technical Bulletins which corroborate changes to cam profiles, the injection layout and oiling system revisions.

Publications include Autoweek, Road & Track, the Indianapolis Star, Repco Recollections (some of which I have published), MotorSport, Racecar Engineering. Repco technical summaries and SAE style reports by Frank Hallam, Norman Wilson and John Judd covered, inter alia, the mixture distribution problems on the early 760, valve gear and spring metallurgy updates, crankshaft balancing changes and dyno figures 1969/1969. These papers were referenced by Repco’s own 1980s historical technical review and Malcolm Preston’s ‘Maybach to Holden:Repco The Cars, People & Engines’

Other sources include Brabham team notes and interviews, Tauranac’s oral history sessions with the National Library of Australia (note to self to follow up)

Credits…

Alan Ould, Getty Images, Gary Hartman, P Pelham, Deviant Art, Twitter, Brian Heard, Gary Critcher Collection

‘Brabham Cars 1961-1970’

I’ve written a book on Jack’s and Ron’s Brabhams, MRD to BT33, the publishers tell me the imaginatively titled publication will be on the market by Fathers Day, Christmas is realistic at worst I figure, pre-order here:https://autoactionmagazine.myshopify.com/products/brabham-cars-1961-1970

Tailpiece…

Brabham was full of joy and optimism after the first of many wins in the partnership between Motor Racing Developments, Brabham Racing Organisation and Repco Ltd. BRDC International Trophy, Silverstone 1966.

Finito…

Brabham BT7 Climax…

Posted: November 26, 2023 in F1, MRD-Brabham-Ralt
Tags: , , ,
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(MotorSport)

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)

Credits…

MotorSport Images, LAT Photographic, oldracingcars.com: https://www.oldracingcars.com/brabham/bt7/

Tailpiece…

(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.

Finito…

Pau Grand Prix 1970 and the Brabham BT30 by Mark Bisset…

Posted: October 3, 2023 in MRD-Brabham-Ralt, Who,What,Where & When...?
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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(MotorSport)

Jack Brabham negotiates the tight confines of Pau during the April 5 weekend. Got his Jet Jackson helmet on too, hasn’t he, see here; https://primotipo.com/2020/07/11/jack-piers-and-helmets/

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 were 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 the 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.

Chassis fetishests should check out Allen Brown’s detailed review of all BT30s built on oldracingcars.com, here; https://www.oldracingcars.com/brabham/bt30/

Etcetera…

(MotorSport)

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.

Credits…

MotorSport Images

Tailpiece…

(MotorSport)

The ‘guvnor keeps an eye on his protege during the Rouen weekend. Brabham and John Coombs, who bought his share of Brabhams over the years. See here for a MotorSport interview with John: https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-2009/71/lunch-john-coombs/

Finito…

Brabham BT12 Offy by Mark Bisset…

Posted: December 10, 2022 in Features, MRD-Brabham-Ralt
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
11

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 V8
Andretti 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 Ford
Shit 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.

Finito…

Brabham BT24 Streamliner by Mark Bisset…

Posted: January 22, 2022 in F1, MRD-Brabham-Ralt
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2

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 were 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 on 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 overheating, 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 driver’s 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 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.

Finito…

Brabham Hondas BT16 & BT18…

Posted: December 17, 2021 in MRD-Brabham-Ralt, Who,What,Where & When...?
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(S Van den Bergh )

It’s an interesting car badge, don’t you reckon?

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.

Honda entered F2 with Brabham that year, see here for an earlier piece I wrote about this topic; ‘XXXII Grand Prix de Reims’ F2 3 July 1966: 1 Litre Brabham Honda’s… | primotipo…

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 circuit
Ron 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.

Finito…

Brabham BT5 Ford by Mark Bisset…

Posted: July 22, 2019 in Fotos, MRD-Brabham-Ralt, Sports Racers
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2
(B D’Olivo)

Frank Gardner, Brabham BT5 Lotus-Ford, during the Times Grand Prix at Riverside on September 30, 1963.

Ron Tauranac’s two Brabham BT5 Lotus-Ford twin-cams were built in 1963. The Ian Walker Racing car, chassis SC-1-63, achieved plenty of success in the hands of both Frank Gardner and Paul Hawkins.

The car used a typical Tauranac multi-tubular spaceframe chassis with upper and lower wishbones at the front and lower links, an inverted top wishbone and two radius rods- coil spring/shocks front and rear. Rack and pinion steering, disc brakes all around, a Hewland 4-speed gearbox and a Cosworth-tuned Lotus-Ford Twin-Cam of 1596cc giving circa 140 bhp completed the package.

(G Bruce)

The photograph below is a BT5 test session at Goodwood early in 1963 with the Aussies out in force, oh, and a Kiwi.

From left in the nice, warm ‘jumper’ are Paul Hawkins, lanky Frank Gardner, the Guvnor and Denny Hulme. All rather handy at the wheel of a motorcar, and on the end of a ‘spanner’.

(unattributed)

Credits…

Bob D’Olivo, Gordon Bruce, frankgardnermotorsport.com

Tailpiece…

(FGM)

Gardner, BT5 Ford, Mallory Park.

Finito…

Denny Power, Brabham BT22 Repco by Mark Bisset…

Posted: August 26, 2018 in F1, Fotos, MRD-Brabham-Ralt, Obscurities
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4
(R Goldfinch)

Denny Hulme acknowledges the plaudits of the crowd upon his retirement from the February 1967 Australian Grand Prix at Warwick Farm…

The ‘Creek Corner Mob’ were a notoriously loud, knowledgeable group of spectators, ‘the bugler’ in particular always comes up in conversations about the place with Sydney enthusiasts even now.

Denny’s Brabham BT22 Repco ‘640’ V8 retired on lap 41 of the 45-lap race with a burst radiator hose; the race was won by Jackie Stewart’s BRM P261 2.1 V8. In a troubled weekend, the Brabham Repco lads started raceday further out west at Sydney’s Oran Park, attempting to sort fuel injection and handling dramas before heading back to the ‘farm for the race. Jack was fourth aboard BT23A Repco ‘640’.

Love this Bruce Wells portrait of Denny on the ’67 WF grid. Note the ducting used in the hotter races of that year to get cool air into the centre of the 640 and 740 Repco’s, aimed at the fuel metering unit (B Wells/TRS)
Stewart, Clark, Hill- BRM P261, Lotus 33 Climax, Lotus 48 Ford FVA, then Jack and Leo Geoghegan- Brabham BT23A Repco and Lotus 39 Climax with Denny alongside the pit counter on the row behind, Brabham BT22 Repco (B Wells/TRS)

Its weird the way your brain works, or mine does anyway?!

The first thing that popped into my mind when I saw Denny’s salute was the famous post-200-metre Mexico ’68 Olympics medal award ceremony, brave ‘Black Power’ medal presentation dais salutes of gold and bronze medallists Tommie Smith and John Carlos.

It was ‘big news’ in Australia as Peter Norman, a great Australian athlete, was the silver medallist who bravely stood with, and in support of, the Americans and their cause. Norman was punished for his actions by the Australian Olympic Committee’s ‘forces of conservative darkness’ for the rest of his life.

Denny’s pose and actions are in an entirely different context (to say the least) but its funny the stuff which sticks in a childs mind only to pop out fifty years later. The Olympics scene resonated with me at the time, no doubt meeting Norman at a school holidays athletics training camp in the early seventies added to the potency of the moment, times of great social upheaval and progress as they were.

Peter Norman’s obituary; https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/oct/05/guardianobituaries.australia

Credits…

Roger Goldfinch, Bruce Wells/The Roaring Season

Tailpiece…

Peter Norman, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Mexico 1968…

Finito…

Give Us a Cuddle Sweetie: Brabham BT24 Repco by Mark Bisset…

Posted: December 28, 2017 in F1, Features, MRD-Brabham-Ralt, Rodways Repco Recollections
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19
(Ron Laymon)

Denny Hulme caresses his Repco Brabham ‘RB740’ V8 in the Mosport pits during the Canadian GP weekend, August 1967…

As well, he should too; it was this engine which powered his Brabham BT24 to victory in that year’s drivers’ championship. Mind you, that statement is not entirely correct, as Denny used the ’66 engine, ‘RB620’, early in the season as Jack raced the 740; that engine was only used by the Kiwi after Jack deemed it available and raceworthy to him.

In the meantime, Denny scored 4th in South Africa and won at Monaco using RB620 V8’s- those results won Denny the title, really, Jack was 6th and failed to finish in the same two races. Denny’s 51 points took the title from Jack’s 46 points and Jim Clark’s 41.

Clark from Hill during the 1967 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Lotus 49 one-two for a while at least, GH retired with engine failure on lap 64 to end a dismal weekend; he crashed after suspension failure on Saturday. Clark won from Hulme’s BT24 and Chris Amon’s Ferrari 312 (Sutton)

Clark’s 4 wins shaded Jack and Denny with two apiece in the epochal Lotus 49 Ford Cosworth. Any design which is competitive over four seasons, inclusive of drivers and manufacturers title wins (Hill in 1968 and Rindt in 1970) is ‘up there’ in the pantheon of great GP cars. The 49’s first win was Clark’s victory at Zandvoort in ’67 upon the car’s debut; its last the result of Jochen Rindt’s stunning tiger drive at Monaco in 1970- at his friend Jack Brabham’s expense; the great Aussie was pressured into a famous last-lap error by the storming Austrian.

Without doubt, the Lotus 49 was the car of 1967, it’s always said it would have won the title with more reliability than it had as a brand new car.

But that simple analysis fails to give credit to the Aussies.

The Brabham BT24 was a ‘brand-spankers’ design as well. Tauranac says that it was only his second ‘clean sheet’ GP design; his first was the BT3 Climax, which raced from mid-1962. The GeePee Brabhams that followed were evolutions of that design.

Love these close-up shots. It’s Denny’s BT24 and RB740 engine, the cam cover of which has been removed to give us a better look. The car’s spaceframe chassis is clear- small car for the era. Based on Tauranac’s BT23 F2 design, the engine was tightly proportioned and economical of fuel, so the package around it could also be tight. From the bottom, you can see the distinctive ribs of the 700 block below the top suspension radius rod. To its right is an ally tank held in place by a rubber bungee cord, a fuel collector which picks up from the two, one on each side, fuel tanks. SOHC, 2-valve V8, circa 330 bhp in period. Cams are chain-driven. Note the rail carrying coolant behind and above the camshaft. Fuel injection is the ubiquitous, excellent Lucas product. To the left is the top of the Bosch twin-point distributor. In the centre of the Vee is a hornets nest of carefully fabricated exhausts- wonderful examples of tube bending art. Ferrari fitted 12 within the Vee of its engine in a trend common at the time. The idea was to get the pipes outta the breeze and away from suspension members. What a wonderful bit of kit it is (Laymon)

The ‘RB740’ SOHC, 2-valve, ‘between the Vee’ exhaust engine was also a new design. Both the Repco-designed, Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation-cast ‘700 Series’ block and the ’40 Series’ heads (the heads were cast by Kevin Drage at Clisby Industries in Adelaide) were new. They were completely different to RB620, albeit the 700 block could and was bolted to 20 Series heads and ancillaries when 620’s were rebuilt and its modified Oldsmobile F85 block cast aside as no longer fit for purpose.

Jack and Repco ‘blooded’ or tested the head design in the early 1967 Tasman races, but the block was not ready then- the 2.5-litre 1967 Tasman engines were ‘640 Series’, a combination of the ’67 heads and the 1966 modified by Repco, Olds F85 blocks. The first 700 blocks were used in F1, not the Tasman Series. In fact, the early ’67 F1 engines used by Jack were 640s as well. Denny used 620s early on in ’67, as mentioned above, just to add to the confusion!

My point is that the all-new Brabham BT24 Repco won 4 races and took the ’67 drivers and manufacturers titles, beating the all-new Lotus 49 Ford, which also won 4 GPs- Graham Hill was winless in the other 49 that year. (I’ve ignored the 49’s guest drivers in this analysis)

BT24 sans Hewland DG300 during the German GP weekend. The elegant simplicity of the design is laid bare. Spaceframe chassis, rear suspension comprising single top link, inverted lower wishbone, coil spring/damper, twin radius rods and an adjustable roll bar. Eagle-eyed Aussies may note the ‘Lukey Muffler’ tipped exhausts (unattributed)

It could also be said that the 49 chassis design was not really all new- the 1966 Lotus 43 is identical in layout, inclusive of suspension and uses the BRM H16 engine as a stressed member, as the Ford DFV was.

So whaddam I saying?

That the spaceframe Brabham BT24 Repco combination was ‘newer’ than the monocoque Lotus 49 Ford, which was really the 43 chassis design, suitably lightened and modified to carry the DFV, a much lighter and fuel-efficient moteur than the sensational but corpulent, complex BRM engine. Let the correspondence begin! Here is a link to my Lotus 43 BRM article, form a view yourselves.

Jim Clark taking a Deep Breath! Lotus 43 BRM…

Tell me, in a conceptual sense, how the 49 chassis and suspension differ from the 43? There was plenty of Ford-funded PR hoopla around the Lotus 49; we have all seen the footage. It was hardly going to be the case that Chapman said of the Lotus 49 chassis ‘we needed a known platform to bolt the new engine to, so we used the BRM-engined 43 chassis design with minor mods to suit the much lighter, smaller DFV’. Much better to tout the whole lot as ‘all new’- no drama in that, it’s all fair in a corporate bullshit sense, it’s just not quite true and largely a myth perpetuated by many over time. Time after time!

Lotus were not the first to use the engine as a stressed part of the car either, although that is widely attributed to Chapman. Jano did it with the D50 Lancia, Ferrari with the 1512 and BRM with the P83 H16.

In any event, lets give the Brabham BT24 Repco ‘740’ V8 the respect it deserves but seldom gets.

Clark in the Mosport paddock 1967, his eyes well focused on the fashionably attired young Canadian missy, despite having just bagged pole. Lotus 49 Ford (unattributed)

Canadian GP Mosport- 27 August 1967…

This first Canadian F1 GP was in many ways an exemplar of the words above. Clark and Hill qualified 1-2 with Denny sharing the front row on Q3.

Clark led from the start, to be passed by Hulme. Denny’s flat, fat Repco torque curve was more suited to the slippery wet conditions than the DFV, which was notoriously abrupt in its power delivery early in its development. Bruce McLaren’s BRM V12-engined M5A was up to 3rd at one point. As the track dried, Clark worked his way into the lead, which he kept after rain started again until lap 68 when the engine cut out. Jack won from Denny with Hill in the other 49 4th and Canadian driver Eppie Wietzes a DNF during a Lotus 49 guest drive with the same ignition dramas as Clark.

Maybe the truth is that the difference between the Lotus 49 and Brabham BT24 in 1967 was that Clark sat aboard a Lotus not a Brabham? For sure, Jimmy would have been lightning fast in the light, chuckable BT24. Faster than Jack and Denny for sure.

Graham Hill quizzing Jack about the pace of his BT20 ‘640’ at the Silverstone BRDC International trophy in April 1967, Mike Parkes Ferrari 312 took the win from Jack. The red car is Bruce McLaren’s McLaren M4B BRM (Schlegelmilch)

A further point is around car preparation. The 1962/68 World Champion, Hill G, still at the peak of his powers, was effectively neutered from the time the 49 appeared by the unreliability of the chassis he drove- of his 9 Lotus 49 starts, he retired 7 times. Three of those were engine failures, the others due to driveshaft, suspension, gearbox and clutch problems. Clark retired 3 times in the same 9 races with ignition, suspension and ZF tranny dramas.

Brabham Racing Organisation prepared beautifully consistent cars in 1967, powered by very reliable Repco engines. Factory Brabham took the championship F1 startline 22 times in 1967 for 4 DNF’s, all due to 740 Series engine failures- Jack’s broken rod at Monaco, both drivers at Spa and Denny’s overheating at Monza.

Clark was far and away the quicker of the two Lotus men- Jim started from pole in 6 of those 9 races, Hill from pole in 3 of them. As I have said before, ‘if yer aunty had balls she’d be yer uncle’- but IF Hill had won a race or two that Clark did not, the manufacturers title would have been Lotuses not Brabhams. Because the lads from Hethel did not prepare two equally reliable cars, the title was Brabham’s, not Lotus’s- surely a fair outcome?!

Denny Hulme in his ‘brand spankers’ Brabham BT24 Repco ahead of Chris Amon’s Ferrari 312 during the 1967 French Grand Prix, Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans. Jack won from Denny, Chris retired on lap 47 with a throttle linkage problem. The Ferrari 312 was a big car, the sheer ‘economy’ of the little, light, BT23 F2 derived BT24 shown to good effect in this shot. Note the air-scoop used to cool the fuel metering unit in the Tasman and some of the ‘hot’ races in the GP season (unattributed)

Denny’s 1967…

Didn’t he have a ripper season! In addition to the F1 driver’s title, he could easily have won the Can-Am Series in Bruce McLaren’s M6A Chev, the first of the wonderful ‘papaya’ cars too. He went back to Mosport a month after the Canadian GP and won the Can-Am race in addition to wins at Road America and Bridgehampton. Bruce just won the title with a smidge more reliability than his Kiwi buddy, 30 points to 27.

Denny didn’t have great reliability in the Tasman Series at 1967’s outset but then again, the Brabham main game was engine development in advance of the GP season’s commencement. The cars were match fit for the World Championship partially due to development work done in Australasia by Jack, Denny and Repco in January and February whilst Tauranac beavered away on his new BT24 chassis design back in the UK, which is about where we came in!

Michael Gasking in grey coat and Roy Billington in shirtsleeves fitting a 2.5 litre RB640 V8 at Repco Maidstone during the 1967 Tasman. Cars raced in the ’67 Tasman were BT22 ‘F1-1-64’ for Denny and BT23A ‘1’ for Jack. The latter car is very much the F1 ‘BT24 prototype’ being a modified F2 BT23 frame to which the RB640 engine was adapted. Not sure which car is being fettled in this photo. It looks as tho they are about to fire her up- you can just see the end of a white ‘Varley’ battery by Roy’s foot and a red slave battery alongside. The motors Bosch distributor cap is missing but not a big deal to fit. The sound of those engines is oh-so-sweet! Not sure who the other two dudes in shot are, intrigued to know (Gasking)

Who Says Ron Tauranac designed the Brabham BT24?…

The BRO lads based themselves at Repco’s Maidstone headquarters in Melbourne’s western suburbs during the Tasman Series to fit engines before the Kiwi rounds and before/between the Sandown and Longford rounds in Melbourne and Tasmania each year. These two events were traditionally the season-enders.

During these trips, Jack, Denny, Roy Billington and others from the UK operated from Maidstone, both preparing the cars and spending time with the guys who built their engines. The Repco fellas all have incredibly strong, happy memories of these times.

The sketch below was made by Jack and Denny in the Maidstone lunchroom during a break in the day’s proceedings on the ‘1967 tour’.

Michael Gasking recalls that in between tea and bikkies, the ‘guys were explaining to us what the ’67 F1 car would look like and its key dimensions’- so there you have it, Jack and Denny’s conceptual thoughts on the ’67 F1 car! The funny thing is, at that time, early March 1967, Ron Tauranac may not have been too far advanced with the ’67 chassis; the first didn’t appear until Jack raced BT24/1 at Spa on 18 June.

In the interim, Ron was busy at Motor Racing Developments pushing F2 Brabham BT23s out the door- far more profitable work than knocking together a few F1 cars for Brabham Racing Organisation!

In any event, what a wonderful historical document! JB’s rendering of the RB740 engine is sub-optimal, mind you, but it’s clear the guys have taken the time to carefully draw the car in pencil and then add the dimensions in ink, or ‘biro’, I should say!

(Gasking)

Its hard to compare all of the BT24’s publicly reported dimensions with Jack’s sketches’ level of detail, but the total height of the car at 34 inches tallies, whereas Ron’s final wheelbase was 94 inches rather than Jack’s 91.5 inches.

Re-engineering Jack’s total width from tyre to tyre outside extremities at the rear of 69 inches to a rear track dimension, using his 12-inch-wide tyres, gives a rear track calculation of 57 inches for Jack, whereas Ron’s was 55 inches.

The little air ducts either side of the nose and in front of the driver didn’t make it; the steering wheel diameter agrees at 13 inches mind you; these were trending down to what became the 10-inch norm. The outboard suspension layout all around is spot on, of course, as is the use of a V8 engine…

At the end of the lunch, Michael scooped up the drawing, which is now, 50 years later, shared with us. Many thanks, Michael! Wonderful this internet thingy, isn’t it?

(Max Millar)

Related Articles…

On the Repco RB740 engine

‘RB740’ Repco’s 1967 F1 Championship Winning V8…

The 1967 Repco Brabham season

Life Magazine – The Big Wheels of Car Racing : Brabham and Hulme – 30 October 1967…

Hulmes 1967

1967: Hulme, Stewart and Clark: Levin, New Zealand Tasman and beyond…

Tailpiece: 1967 wasn’t all plain sailing, Brabham, Monaco…

(Getty)

Jack looking intently at the sight of his RB740’s Laystall steel crankshaft. He can see it through the side of the engine’s block, an errant connecting rod has punched a hole in its aluminium casing! Dennis Jenkinson’s MotorSport Monaco ’67 race report records that JB started the weekend with an RB640 engine fitted and popped a new 740 in- which had circa 20bhp more- which he ran in on Saturday and then qualified with, on pole.

Bandini got the jump at the start with the rod failing on the journey to Mirabeau, whereupon Jack spun on his own oil, travelling backwards all the way to the Station Hairpin, in the middle of the jostling pack. But the robust engine continued to run on 7 cylinders for the journey back to the pits, where this photo was taken, the great Aussie inadvertently trailing oil all the way around the course, the lubricant having an easy path out of the moteur via a not insignificant hole!

The rod problem was quickly fixed by Repco, who fitted Carrillo’s- drama solved. The chassis is BT19, Jack’s ’66 Championship-winning frame. Brabham first raced a BT24 at Spa on 18 June; Denny did not get his until Le Mans on 2 July. So you might accurately say the ’67 drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles were won with a mix of 1966 and 1967 chassis and engines!

Bibliography…

 ‘Brabham, Ralt, Honda: The Ron Tauranac Story’ Mike Lawrence, GP Encyclopaedia, Michael Gasking, ‘History of The GP Car’ Doug Nye, Garry Simkin

Photo Credits…

 Ron Laymon, Michael Gasking Collection, Sutton, Getty Images, Max Millar, Vittorio Del Basso

Postscript…

Jochen Rindt driving the ring off the BT24 at Kyalami, South Africa on 1 January 1968- he was third behind a Clark, Hill Lotus 49 1-2. Clark’s last F1 win, sadly.

Finito…

 

 

 

 

Brabham BT28: ‘Jonesey’ and ‘Hunt the Shunt’ by Mark Bisset…

Posted: August 18, 2016 in F1, Fotos, MRD-Brabham-Ralt, Who,What,Where & When...?
Tags: , , , , ,
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James Hunt dives for the inside line in his March 713S Ford, AJ and his Brabham BT28 Ford has left a gap way bigger than he ever did when they slugged it out in GP racing…

It’s 1971, the BRSCC MCD Shell Super Oil British F3 Championship at Brands Hatch on 1 March 1971 and both drivers are trying hard to jump up to the next level, the road for Hunt would be easier than Jones, James a coming star with the Hesketh March 731 in 1973 and Jones an F1 ‘occasional’ from 1974.

The ‘facts’ are from the photo caption, the cars and drivers are correct but the date/Brands event don’t accord with the ‘F2 Register’ record of that event, my F3 race resource. It appears AJ didn’t race with #69, a number with obvious appeal to him at all during ’71.

One for the British F3 historians amongst you!

(DLuff-MBisset-Copilot)

The 1969 spec Brabham BT28 Ford breaks cover near MRD’s Weylock factory on a date unknown, complete with wing kit, which was fitted, or not! depending upon the circuit and driver preference.

Credit…

Grand Prix Photos, David Luff

Finito…

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