The crowd had plenty to cheer about. Bandini’s Ferrari had just won the 1964 Austrian GP and John Surtees took victory before their eyes on the way to his and the Scuderia’s 1964 World Championships. Italian Grand Prix, Monza September 6 1964…
In a thrilling race with slipstreaming battles down the field for which the circuit was famous, Surtees won in his Ferrari 158 from Bruce Mclaren’s Cooper T73 Climax and Bandini’s 158.
(unattributed)
John Surtees and Dan Gurney diced for much of the race until the Climax engine in his Brabham BT7 cried enough. Gurney had a few of these occasions when on the cusp of a win during his Brabham years.
(The Cahier Archive)
The business end of Lorenzo Bandini’s Ferrari 158 during practice.
Grand Prix cars; Ferrari 156/63 F1 1963, red Lotus Climax FPF, at left a Lotus 18 Climax FPF and Lotus 33 Climax FWMV (M Bisset)
The Ferrari 156/63 holds centre-stage at the Musee National de l’Automobile, Mulhouse, France in July 2019…
When I saw it I didn’t recognise the car at all.
The 156 went from 1961 World Champ to 1962 World Chump. Then, to me, along came Ferrari’s ‘Aero-framed’ semi-monocoque 1.5-litre V8 engined 158 with which John Surtees won the 1964 championship in a great battle with Jim Clark’s Lotus 15/33 Climax and Graham Hill’s BRM P261.
Not so fast. Between the 156 and 158 were the T56, 156, 156/62P, 156/63, 156 F1-63 and Aero 156 depending upon your source as to model names, the 156/63 is one of those cars.
Ferrari raced on with the 156 largely unchanged in 1962 given their sudden paucity of team leaders. Mr Ferrari had a mass-departure of top executives, including 156 designer, Carlo Chiti, that winter. Their exodus to Automobili Turismo e Sport (ATS) was an unmitigated disaster, that story is here; ‘Automobili Turismo e Sport’ : A.T.S. F1… | primotipo…
But Ferrari had depth in the ranks, young engineer, Mauro Forghieri set to work on a series of cars more akin to British chassis design orthodoxy, and ultimate success in 1964.
Forghieri (born 13 January 1935) joined Ferrari in 1960 after completing an engineering degree at Bologna University the year before.
The key team which took the Scuderia forward included engineers Rocchi, assisted by Bellei – with oversight provided by Vittorio Jano – on the new V8 (1964). Ing Salvarini looked after gearboxes and suspension with Bussi doing dyno engine testing and development.
The Flat-12 (1964-65) design was Forghieri’s, as was the at circuit role and liasion between the race-team and technical group. In short, he was team-leader.
John Surtees, Ferrari 156/63, 1963 US GP at Watkins Glen. Grid three and DNF valve failure was his haul that weekend (MotorSport)
With time short that winter, there was little time to develop the existing 156s. Before Chiti left, V6 developments included a two-valver with twin-plugs, a two-valver with three-plugs, a three-valver with two-plugs and a four-valver with one-plug (!), for which 210bhp @ 10,000rpm was claimed.
Chassis changes involved a move towards a lower polar moment of inertia which was achieved by moving the masses within the a wheelbase. A new 6-speed gearbox was also available. It could be mounted conventionally, overhung behind the rear axle, or within the wheelbase, albeit the former was preferred.
That year Forghieri tried wide track 156s, but lost top-speed wasn’t exceeded by greater cornering ability. In effect, Ferrari had a stand-still year as Forghieri developed a more competitive ’63 car and established the foundations for mid-term success.
Mauro’s early cars, the spaceframe 1962 156/62P and 1963 156/63, and semi-monocoque 156 Aero, were still powered by the trusty Tipo 178 1.5-litre, twelve-valve V6, by then Bosch direct fuel injected.
This engine was well trumped by the British Coventry Climax FWMV and BRM P56 V8s in 1962, but Forghieri’s chassis’ were much nicer modern affairs than the 1961 156. Gradually Ferrari bridged the opposition’s gap in 1962-63 setting up its driver and manufacturer titles in 1964.
Lorenzo Bandini in Forghieri’s new Ferrari 156/62P #0008 during the German GP, Nurburgring August 1962 (MotorSport)
Ferrari 156/62P…
Ferrari had built nine 156s by the end of 1961, they built another three in 1962; #0007, #0008 and #0009. #0007 was a new 156 of evolved design as mentioned above, while #0008 and #0009 were Forghieri’s new 156/62P experimental machines.
These two cars were smaller, neater small-tube spaceframes with rear suspension practice and geometry akin to the British opposition, albeit the archaic, heavy, and beautiful Borrani wire wheels were retained.
Bandini’s 156/62P in the Nurburgring paddock. Behind him are Phil Hill’s #1, and Giancarlo Baghetti’s #2 normale 156s (MotorSport)
Forghieri’s 156/62P #0008 was finally ready and raced by Lorenzo Bandini in the German GP that August, he qualified 18th but was out after an accident on lap five.
Mauro Forghieri was further empowered late season when John Surtees joined the Scuderia. His engineering knowledge and interest, and fierce determination to effectively use Ferrari’s vast resources ensured significant progress was made that winter and into 1963.
Willy Mairesse at Monza during the 1962 Italian GP weekend in 156/62P #0008. He did well, fourth place. Note the changes to the rear bodywork in the shot below compared with the car as appeared at the Nurburgring a month earlier
Willy Mairesse was given the car at Monza. He qualified 10th, finished fourth and was the best placed of the 156 Dinos on the grid and in terms of race results. Clearly progress was being made.
That weekend Willy also tested #0009, it had only just been completed with its beautiful hand formed aluminium body still unpainted (below)
Apart from differences in the nose of the car compared with its 156/62P sibling #0008, the rear suspension of this car is completely different. Gone is the top link and wide-based lower wishbone, in its place is a multi-link set up more akin to contemporary British practice, viz; single top link, inverted lower wishbone and two radius rods, adjustable roll bar and coil spring/Koni dampers.
Big Ferrari news for 1963 was Surtees recruitment, latterly of the Bowmaker Lola Team. During this period of change, Surtees tested at Modena, including a drive of what appears to be 156/62P #0009, above.
The photograph is dated November 26, 1962 (Getty Images’ dating of shots is often wrong). Note that the rear suspension of the car at this time is different to that over the Italian GP weekend when Mairesse tested it.
Ludovico Scarfiotti, Ferrari 156/63 at Zandvoort, 1963 Dutch Grand Prix. The young Italian was sixth in his first championship GP (MotorSport)
Ferrari 156/63…
Forghieri worked over the winter on the 156/63, another neat multi-tubular spaceframe car of small gauge tubes. An evolution of the existing V6 was bolted to a new six-speed gearbox with lightweight, magnesium alloy Campagnolo wheels part of an attractive package. As stated Mauro was greatly empowered by Surtees arrival, progress was enhanced.
Ferrari 156/63 cutaway, technical specifications as per text (Vic Berris)
Willy Mairesse displaying the beautiful lines of his new Ferrari 156/63 at Monte Carlo in May (MotorSport)
Business end of a 156/63 (MotorSport)
In 1963 spec the two-valve, fuel injected DOHC V6 gave a claimed 205/210bhp. Michael May adapted Bosch direct fuel injection to the motor.
Noteworthy is that by the end of 1963 F1-was-fuel-injected by Lucas and Bosch. There were still downdraft Webers to be seen on customer V8s, but up at front fuel injection was the go.
The gearbox had six speeds, front suspension the usual outboard fare of upper and lower wishbones and coil spring/shocks. At the rear the regime was again period typical, single upper link, a lower inverted wishbone and twin radius rods with coil spring/Koni shocks and adjustable roll bars front and rear. Steering was rack and pinion with Campagnolo magnesium alloy wheels finally replacing the Borrani wires. Brakes were Dunlop disc, inboard at the rear.
Three 156/63 machines were built; chassis #0001, #0002 and #0003, the team missed early season non-championship races to focus on testing at Modena and Monza.
Surtees started the season strongly in Monaco, qualifying third and finishing fourth, Mairesse was Q7 and DNF with a final drive failure. Up front Graham Hill won for BRM.
At Spa Mairesse qualified third at home but failed to finish with fuel injection problems. Surtees qualified 10th, he too had fuel injection problems, a faulty pipe. Jim Clark won and commenced an amazing run in his Lotus 25 Climax which saw him take his first World Championship.
At Zandvoort Surtees was a great third from Q5, and Scarfiotti sixth from Q11. At Reims John was out with a split fuel pipe failure from Q4, a good effort after fuel injection problems in practice which were sorted by Bosch technicians. Scarfiotti didn’t start after a practice crash.
At Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, Surtees qualified fifth and finished in the same spot while Scarfiotti wasn’t entered. Up front, it was Clark’s Lotus all the way.
(MotorSport)
On that most challenging of tracks, the Nurburgring, the teams hard work was vindicated with a dominant win from Surtees from grid two (above), while Willy Mairesse was out with an accident.
A fortnight after the German GP, Ferrari contested the non-championship GP del Mediterraneo at Enna where Surtees took a pole to flag victory.
Then, tails-up, it was off to Monza in September where the Tifosi were ecstatic with anticipation after Surtees plonked his new 156 Aero on pole, sadly he was out with engine failure during the race. Bandini started sixth in a 156/63 but was outted with gearbox failure, Clark’s Lotus 25 won again.
Let’s deal with the specifications of the 156 Aero – an interim model put together with great attention to detail due to the 158’s V8 engine running late – in a little bit.
Surtees shows the massive 1963 Monza crowd his new Ferrari 156 Aero in September 1963, the ultimate expression of the 156 type, or family of cars first tested throughout 1960 (MotorSport)
Beautiful 156 Aero at Monza, key elements as per text but note entirely paradigm rear suspension, injected V6, inboard brakes and long-overhang 6-speed transaxle (MotorSport)
Butt-shot of Surtees’ 156/63 at Watkins Glen (MotorSport)
At Watkins Glen, Surtees qualified a strong third aboard a 156/63 on the fast, challenging Watkins Glen course but had valve failure in the race. Bandini started ninth and finished fifth. In Mexico Surtees 156 Aero was disqualified after receiving outside assistance from grid two, while Bandini had engine failure from seventh on the grid.
John Surtees’ consistently strong performances yielded 22 points, placing him fourth in the 1963 drivers championship behind Clark’s Lotus 25 Climax, then Hill G and Richie Ginther aboard BRM P57s. The Surtees/Scuderia Ferrari combination approached 1964 with plenty of optimism and two new cars, the 158 and 1512.
Bandini on the way to victory on the Zeltweg Airfield circuit, Austrian GP, Ferrari 156 Aero in August 1964. He is passing Trevor Taylor’s abandoned BRP Mk1 BRM, broken suspension. It was the only GP win for the Italian and the 156 Aero Ferrari (MotorSport)
Ferrari 156 Aero…
Despite the arrival of the Aero semi-monocoque chassis 158 and 1512 the venerable 156 still played an important role in 1964.
As we have seen, with development of the new V8 behind schedule, a 120-degree V6 was adapted to Forghieri’s new Type 579 chassis to allow its debut at Monza in September 1963.
The chassis was based on a simple un-triangulated tubular internal frame to which were riveted stress bearing aluminium skins. This hybrid monocoque was unlike that pioneered by Len Terry and Colin Chapman at Lotus, but served Ferrari very well for nearly two decades.
“Two parallel fuel tank pontoons, each of which was fabricated and riveted aircraft style over a sketchy framework of two tube longerons staggered slightly in the vertical plane” wrote Doug Nye.
“These tubes doubled as water and oil feeds between engine and coolers. The completed pontoons were then united laterally throughout their length by a stressed floor panel with angle stiffening plates, and at each end were riveted to transverse bulkheads.”
“That at the front was doubled to sandwich inboard coil spring damper units operated by top rocker arms like Lotus’s, while the entire hybrid monocoque terminated behind the cockpit in a hefty fabricated rear bulkhead.”
Look carefully at Surtees’ 156 Aero chassis at Monza in 1963. You can see the rivet lines where the aluminium skin is attached to the tubes underneath. Visible also is the boom extension to the tub on this side to support the engine, it also carried the V8 which was never a fully stressed part of the chassis as Forghieri originally intended. Note the the twin-plugs and Bosch injection with the metering unit between the Vee, also the inboard Dunlop calipers rotor/disc, and six-speed transaxle (MotorSport)
Ferrari 156 Aero cutaway. It’s not so easy to quickly pick the spaceframe 156 from the semi-monocoque Aero. The most obvious difference in addition to the chassis, is top rocker front suspension on this car as against the wishbones of the earlier 156/63 (James Allington) 156 Aero front detail at Monza in 1963. Top rocker and hat of coil spring/Koni, note the bulkheads on which the rocker pivots, water radiator/cap and oil tank behind, master cylinders for brakes times two, and clutch. Under these is the steering rack and arm attached to a cast magnesium upright.
The design of the V8 and Flat-12 engines was radical in that their blocks were cast to allow them to form stress bearing components of the car, rather than the engine being attached to pontoons or an A-frame in the more traditional manner. That is, the motors bolted to the rear chassis bulkhead and accepted suspension loads.
Using the engine structurally then was rare. Vittorio Jano designed his 2.5-litre, quad-cam V8 as a stress bearing member of his front-engined Lancia D50 in 1954. BRM achieved it with Big-Bertha, the 1966 BRM P83 H16, so too did the similarly engined Lotus 43.
Forghieri and Ferrari team did so in 1964 with their Flat-12 Ferrari 1512. They didn’t persevered long enough with the V8 crankcase/block design to achieve the feat with the 158. Jano was retained by Ferrari as a consultant during this period, this path was perhaps a suggestion he made to Forghieri and the design team?
The new V8 was running late in its development, so, as related, the V6 was adapted to allow testing and racing the Aero chassis.
Support trusses were added to its rear to carry the V6, which had not of course been designed to be a stressed member. Mind you, some references have it as “partially stressed”. The Aero’s front and rear suspension was contemporary standard British design practice.
Lorenzo Bandini aboard his 156 Aero in the Brands Hatch paddock during the 1964 British GP weekend. Note the different wheels to ’63. #1 is Jim Clark’s winning Lotus 25 Climax, #24 is Peter Revson’s Lotus 24 BRM (MotorSport)
The 156 Aero raced into 1964 in Bandini’s hands as the definitive 158 was made competitive and reliable by Surtees and Forghieri. Until then the 156 was reasonably kind to him.
While ‘Il Grande John’ won the German GP in a 158, Bandini popped a 156 Aero on the outside of the front row and finished third. He went two better at Zeltweg winning the race run on the rough-as-guts broken concrete airfield surface as other cars, including Surtees’ 158, were shaken to bits!
It was the last win for a V6 engine in F1 until the turbo-charged Renault V6s a decade or so hence. It was rather a nice last hurrah for engines which had delivered so much for so long since 1957.
Not that it was over yet for this family of Ferrari engines. An engine adapted for the 3-litre F1 Formula, the 246 raced in Bandini’s hands in 1966. Not to forget the 246 Tasman Formula engines for Chris Amon, Derek Bell and Graeme Lawrence fitted in multiple different specifications to 246T chassis from 1968 to 1971…
Chassis numbers…
Doug Nye provided the following explanation of the chassis numbers attributed to the 156/62P, 156/63 and 156 Aero.
“According to the hand-written chassis allocation record which Mr Ferrari’s Lieutenant Dr Franco Gozzi sent me in 1978 when I was compiling the ‘Dino book’ the chassis numbers are as follows.”
“1962 German GP – Bandini – chassis ‘0008’ – which was a number identifying the prototype ‘Sharknose’ chassis in which Baghetti had won at Syracuse and Naples in 1961, then crashed by him in the British GP and quite badly damaged. It was then – by inference – rebuilt into the ‘P’ form (156/62P) in time to reappear at the Nurburgring in 1962.”
“1962 Italian GP – Bandini drove chassis ‘0006’ – which was another 1961-series ‘Sharknose’ serial first identifying the car which Ricard Rodriguez drove in the ’61 Italian GP. Into 1962 it became Willy Mairesse’s Brussels GP winning chassis, then Bandini placed it fifth at Pau and second at Naples. Ricardo Rodriguez was then sixth in the German GP before Lorenzo raced it at Monza…There, ‘Wild Willy’ drove the rebuilt ‘0008’ – or at least a car entered under that identity. Remember this is as prepared from the Ferrari records supplied to me back in ’78.”
“Incidentally, the ‘0008’ serial derives from the preceding front-engined Dino 246 F1/156 F2 family of chassis IDs. They ran from ‘0001’ to ‘0007’ front-engined, with the rear-engined 246MP (‘Motore Posteriore‘) given its sole F1 outing by Ginther at Monaco in 1960, then being converted to 156 F2 form to be raced by Trips, winning the 1960 Solitude GP before finishing fifth overall and as F2 winner in the dual-class 1960 Italian GP at Monza.”
“I believe it is highly likely that the ‘0008’ prototype F1 which ran at the Nurburgring 1962 was a different and brand-new entity probably exploiting the team’s existing old Customs carnet so far as the serial ID is concerned.”
“The 1963 cars launched a whole new chassis number sequence, three 156/63s being built serialled ‘0001’-2-3 (surprisingly enough). The prototype 156/63 ‘Aero’ was given the same-series chassis ID ‘0004’ promptly qualifying on pole at Monza.”
“For the US GP Ferrari works records indicate that Surtees raced ‘0004’. Without checking further I don’t think that’s right. A wishbone mount pulled out of the chassis in practice and John raced the spaceframe car instead (Doug’s conclusion is consistent with race photographs). This was perhaps ‘0003’ rebuilt after Willy’s Ring crash, or entirely replaced under the same serial.”
“In the following 1963 Mexican GP both John and Bandini drove ‘Aero’-chassised cars, with John listed by the works as having been in ‘0003’ and Bandini in ‘0001’. I would lay good money on them having simply used the old spaceframe-series chassis numbers – and Carnets – for those cars, and for this having been dutifully entered in the factory records by the pen-pusher responsible.”
Etcetera: 1963 Ferrari 156/63…
Giulio Borsari tops up the Ferrari 156/63 125-litre fuel tank, with a dose of Shell’s finest Avgas at Monaco in 1963. Oh to have a pair of those overalls!
It looks like Surtees’ car, #21, he was fourth in the race won by Graham Hill’s BRM P57. Note the leather bound steering wheel and chassis cockpit bracing tubes. What sort of Dunlop in 1963, R5 perhaps?
(G Goddard/GP Library)
Graham Hill chasing John Surtees at Monaco in 1963 aboard a Ferrari 156/63 and BRM P57 or P578 depending upon your preference. Graham won from Richie Ginther in the other Owen Racing Organisation entry from Bruce McLaren’s Cooper T66 Climax, then Surtees.
They are such pretty little cars these 1.5-litre GP machines, mighty fast of course.
(unattributed)
Surtees’ 156/63 failed to finish with an inert fuel-pump, perhaps he is seeking to diagnose or rectify the problem, concentration not so easy on this high speed part of Reims.
Clark won from Tony Maggs and Graham Hill aboard Lotus 25 Climax, Cooper T66 Climax and BRM P61.
(LAT)
At first glance I thought it was Surtees at the Nürburgring in 1963. But it’s 1964, he’s aboard a Ferrari 158, he won the German GP in both years. It’s a Cooper T73 Climax behind, either Bruce McLaren or Phil Hill. Surtees won from pole ahead of Graham Hill’s BRM P261, with Lorenzo Bandini’s Ferrari 156 Aero a splendid third. See here for a short piece on the Ferrari 158; N.A.R.T. Ferrari 158’s… | primotipo…
Photo and reference credits…
Getty Images, Sutton Images, GP Library, LAT, Bernard Cahier, Ferrari website, grandprix.com, racing-reference.info, James Allington, ‘The History of The Grand Prix Car’ Doug Nye – special thanks to Doug for his note on the chassis number details
Tailpiece…
(unattributed)
Pretty as a picture at Silverstone, British GP 1963. The driver looks to sit quite far forward, or is it an optical trick?
Surtees’ 156/63 among the Silverstone fields with perhaps not quite the mumbo to really challenge Clark’s winning Lotus 25 Climax. The BRM duo of Graham Hill and Richie Ginther completed John’s V8 sandwich, in P56 V8 engined P57s.
John Surtees races his North American Racing Team Ferrari 158 to second place at Watkins Glen on October 4, keeping alive his ultimately successful 1964 title chances…
Enzo Ferrari was in a spat with the Italian governing body at the time over its refusal, Ferrari having failed to build the minimum number of cars, to homologate the sports/racer Ferrari 250LM as a Sportscar. The result of which forced entrants to race it as a Prototype, a category in which it was not competitive and not designed for; putting aside the lucky, outright 250LM Le Mans win for Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt in 1965!
Test session for the Ferrari 158’s, one of which is in NART colors, on 15 September 1964. John Surtees in drivers overalls, Technical Director Mauro Forghieri to his left, mechanic Giulio Borsari in the white cap. Modena Autodrome (GP Photo)
Not that the Italian autocrat was going to let principle, as he saw it, get in the way of practicality.
There were Grand Prix World Championships to win so rather than race in traditional racing red he ‘relinquished his entrants licence’, the cars, works cars in every way, shape and form being entered by Ferrari’s concessionaire in the US, Luigi Chinetti’s N.A.R.T at both the final two 1964 championship rounds at Watkins Glen, New York State and in Mexico City.
Surtees second placings in both races gave him the Drivers title and Ferrari the Manufacturers from Graham Hill’s BRM P261 by 9 points.
‘Honour’ and title won, the Ferrari’s raced on in Italian Racing Red and the 250LM as a prototype, much to its private entrants chagrin.
Surtees ready for the off, Modena 15 September 1964 (GP Photo)
The Vic Berris cutaway above is terrific in showing the semi-monocoque ‘aero’ construction Ferrari used for years whereby aluminium sheet was riveted and glued to a frame, let’s call it a spaceframe underneath.
Etcetera…
Lorenzo Bandini being attended to in the Spa pits during the June 1964 Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Great shot of the engine and gearbox and bulkhead in between- note also inboard rear discs and calipers. #10 is the nose of the Surtees 158.
It wasn’t a great weekend for the Ferrari boys, both retired with engine dramas, John in the lead after completing only three laps and Lorenzo after eleven- Jim Clark won in a Lotus 25 Climax.
Photo Credits…
For all shots ‘Grand Prix Photo’ except Vic Berris cutaway drawing
Nelson Piquet’s Momo equipped Brabham BT53 BMW in 1984 (unattributed)
Momo was founded in 1964 by Gianpiero Moretti. He commissioned a local craftsman to produce a custom steering wheel for his racer, this first Momo steering wheel had a superior, thicker grip compared to other racing steering wheels of the day.
Other drivers quickly noticed Moretti’s new ’tiller’ and wanted one, so it started to gain fame within the racing community. The new Momo steering wheel caught the attention of Ferrari driver, John Surtees, who wanted one for his Ferrari 158 GP car, the car in which he won the world title in 1964. https://primotipo.com/2014/11/30/john-surtees-world-champion-50-years-ago/
Mauro Forghieri and John Surtees with the Momo equipped 1964 F1 Championship winning Ferrari 158. (unattributed)
Moretti created the company ‘Momo’ short for ‘Moretti Monza’ to make steering wheels commercially. Initially his focus was on racing but in the 1970s, the company developed new product lines.
Momo started production of light alloy wheels and steering wheels for road cars, both for the aftermarket sector and supplying car manufacturers, initially Ferrari but others followed including Aston Martin, Fiat, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Porsche, Peugeot, Renault, Subaru and others.
I reckon the first Momo i saw was in a cockpit shot of an F1 Ferrari 312B. Wow, it looked good! I was a secondary student at the time, it took me a few years to buy a road car, there were not too many other Cortina GT’s in the Monash University carpark with a Momo steering wheel. As one of my mates said the Momo was worth more then the ‘maroon rocket’ itself, which was an accurate call! Three Momo’s over time graced a succession of Alfa’s, a BMW 325is and a Carrera 3.2. My Van Diemen RF86 Formula Ford is fitted with one ex-factory. Things of beauty aren’t they? And function.
Whilst a Momo fan i never knew anything about the company’s history, despite being aware of Moretti’s racing exploits to an extent, its been interesting to do some simple research.
Momo equipped Ferrari 312B in 1971. Clay Regazzoni. (unattributed)
Momo continued its involvement in motor racing with success; in 1983 Brabham won the F1 World Championship, their car Momo equipped with light alloy wheels as well as a suede steering wheel as depicted in the first photo above. In 1998, Moretti won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 6 Hours Watkins Glen driving a Ferrari 333 SP.
Mario Andretti, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, Michele Alboreto, Michael Schumacher and earlier, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart and Clay Regazzoni won races with Momo steering wheels.
In 1993 ‘Momo Corse’ offering specialized fireproof clothing.
The complexity of the Ferrari F2002 steering wheel is a nice contrast with the simplicity of the decades before…(alamy)
In 1995 Gianpiero Moretti sold Momo to Breed Technologies, an American industrial group which produced airbag systems and steering wheels. Breed Technologies, in turn was acquired by the Carlyle Management Group, a private equity fund. Recently, ‘Momo was bought by a group of investors with a passion for the brand, its heritage and its products and a desire to grow the company back to its roots’, the company website says.
Momo is still focused on light alloy road wheels, but has also continued to develop racing products, an example the supply of steering wheels for the GP2 Championships in Europe and Asia.
Momo’s current FWM/02 pro customer steering wheel. (Momo)
Gianpiero Moretti died in 2012 at the age of 71, too young, but the company he founded still makes beautifully designed contemporary products which show the companies ‘racing DNA’…
Gianpiero Moretti and Piero Lardi Ferrari. (unattributed)
Lorenzo Bandini heading for fourth place in his ‘Centro Sud’ Cooper T53 Maserati, ‘Warwick Farm 100’, February 1962…
The race was won by Stirling Moss in Rob Walkers’ Cooper T53 Climax from Bruce McLaren in a similar car.
Lorenzo Bandini 1967. (Unattributed)
Bandini joined Centro Sud in 1961 making his championship debut at Spa having scored 3rd place in the Non-Championship Pau GP earlier in the season.
He raced in the Southern Summer gaining valuable experience in the powerful F Libre cars raced in Australasia at the time against the Worlds best.
Bandini contested the Warwick Farm International, his only race in Australia but competed in New Zealand at the start of the year coming 5th in the NZ GP at Ardmore and retired at Wigrams airfield circuit and at Teretonga with an oil leak and ignition problems respectively.
Born in 1935, he commenced his racing career on motorcycles, progressing into cars with a borrowed Fiat 1100. He came to the attention of ‘Centro Suds’ Mimmo Dei after Formula Junior successes in Stanguellini and Volpini chassis’ in 1960 and 1961.
Have always thought BRM’s and Cooper’s look great in BRG but they look even better in red!? Lorenzo in his ex-works BRM P57 1.5 V8 in the British GP, Silverstone 1963. An excellent 5th in the race won by Jim Clarks’ Lotus 25 Climax. (Unattributed)
Victorious at Le Mans in 1963 in Ferraris’ first V12 mid engined endurance racer the 250P. He shared the car with fellow Italian Ludovico Scarfiotti. (Unattributed)
Bandini drove his first GP for Ferrari in 1962but for 1963 drove in their sports car squad, Centro Sud kept him in GP racing campaigning an ex-works BRM P57…Ferrari did enter him in the last 4 GP’s of the season…he also won Le Mans in’63 partnered by Ludovico Scarfiotti in a Ferrari 250P.
For 1964 he partnered John Surtees in the F1 team winning the Austrian GP at Zeltweg, sadly his only Championship GP win.
First in the Austrian GP at Zeltweg in August 1964 ahead of Richie Ginther in a BRM P261 and Bob Anderson, Brabham BT11 Climax…(Unattributed)
Patiently bleeding the brakes of his Ferrari 158 in practice for the German GP, Nurburgring 1965. 6th in the rcae won by Clarks’ Lotus 33 Climax. (Unattributed)
Disappointment on his face, Bandini pulls to the side of the Reims circuit, 1966 French GP. He was in the lead of the race and pulling away, of all things his throttle cable broke, well before the days of potentionometers! Jack Brabham took the lead in his Brabham BT19 Repco and became the first driver to win a race in a car of his own manufacture and name. (Unattributed)
Always competitive in F1, if not an absolute ‘ace’ Bandini was unlucky not to win the 1966 French and US Grands Prix’ when well in the lead of both races , mechanical problems with his 3 litre V12 Ferrari 312 intervening.
Famous shot first published in Automobile Year. Lorenzo in the Ferrari P2 he shred with local Nino Vaccarella to win the 1965 Targa Florio. (Automobile Year)
Luckier in sports car racing, in addition to the Le Mans victory, he also won the Targa Florio in 1965 and the Daytona 24 Hours and Monza 1000Km in 1967 racing the superb Ferrari P4 partnered with Chris Amon whom he first met at the NZ GP in 1962, Chris campaigning a Maserati 250F before he came to Europe…
Lorenzo died in a gruesome accident at Monaco in 1967, the fire which took his life accelerating improvements to circuit and driver safety, not the least the abolition of hay-bales with which he collided, fuelling the ensuing fire.
He was an immensely popular driver with his colleagues, the media and fans, 100000 of whom were in the streets surrounding the Reggiolo church in which his funeral was held.
Bandini in the gorgeous Ferrari P4 at Monza, 1967 1000Km’s which he won with Chris Amon. The P4 4 litre V12 was outgunned by the 7 litre Fords and Chaparrals that year but still scored some successes. (Unattributed)
Shell ad to celebrate the 1963 Le Mans win. #10 Rodriguez/Penske Ferrari 330LM TRI, #18 P Hill/Bianchi Aston DP215, # 21 victorious Bandini/Scarfiotti Ferrari 250P, # 23 Surtees/Mairesse Ferrari 250P, # 8 McLaren/Ireland Aston Martin DB4 GT
John Surtees clipping the apex in Mexico in his North American Racing Team ‘NART’, factory, Ferrari 158. Ferrari was in dispute with the Italian national automobile club over its refusal to homologate his 250LM sportscar into Group 5 despite having not built the minimum number of cars to do so…the hissy-fit reflected in the cars being entered in the blue/white of Luigi Chinettis’ American NART rather than Italian national red…(Bernard Cahier)
John Surtees pilots his ‘NART’ Ferrari 158 to second place in the 1964 Mexican Grand Prix, clinching the drivers World Championship for him and the Constructors Championship for Ferrari…
On the day that Lewis Hamilton won the 2014 Championship i was flicking through some old magazines and reflected on the remarkably diverse career and achievements of Surtees.
In similar fashion to 2014 the 1964 title was also decided at the last race, in Mexico that year.
Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Surtees were all winners depending upon who finished where. In a race of changing fortunes Clark lead from the start, and was on track for the race win and his second title when his Climax engine started to lose oil and seized seven laps from the end. Surtees’ engine misfired early but sorted itself, teammate Bandini allowed him into second and the points he needed to defeat Hill, who had been given a ‘tap up the chuff’ by Bandini earlier in the race, causing a pitstop and damaged exhausts ruining his chance.
Surtees in his Fazz 158 ahead of teammate Bandini in the flat-12 1512 early in the Mexican GP (unattributed)
Dan Gurney won the race in his Brabham BT7 Climax and Surtees the title. He was to win only six Championship GP’s throughout his long career, 1960-1972, not reflective of his talent but indicative of team choice, he wasn’t always in the right place at the right time.
Gurney, Clark, Surtees, pensive as always and Phil Hill prior to the ’64 Mexican GP. Looks like Brabhams’ haircut behind Clark? (Bernard Cahier)
Famously the only driver to win World Championships on two wheels and four…
He was born into a motor-cycling family and progressed from his fathers’ sidecar to solos and many Norton victories, before too long signed by Count Agusta to MV.
Surtees bump starts his MV350 prior to the start of his run around the daunting Isle of Man, Senior TT 1957 (unattributed)
The departure of Gilera and Moto Guzzi allowed Surtees and MV to dominate the bigger classes, he won 350cc titles in 1958/9/60 and 500cc championships in 1956/8/9/60.
Before too long he wanted to race cars, making his GP debut for Team Lotus at Monaco in 1960, he mixed cars and bikes that year his best result second in the British GP.
Surtees being blown off by a Ford Fairlane…on the way back from Riverside, USGP practice 1960. Lotus 18 Climax. 2.5 FPF Climax an incredibly tractable engine! (Bernard Cahier)
Surtees made his F1 debut with Lotus at Monaco 1960, mixing a season of F1 with winning the 350 & 500 titles on bikes…here at Oporto in the Portuguese GP, he retired on lap 36 having qualified on pole on this challenging road course. Lotus 18 Climax (Bernard Cahier)
He drove a Reg Parnell/Bowmaker racing Cooper in 1961 and a Parnell/Bowmaker Lola in 1962 commencing a relationship with Eric Broadley’s marque which continued for most of his career in categories outside F1…although the F1 Honda of 1967 was famously a ‘Hondola’, being the marriage of in essence the Lola T80/90 chassis with the big, powerful 3 litre Honda V12.
John in the Lola Mk4A Climax enroute to 2nd behind Jack Brabhams’ Brabham BT4, both 2.7 Coventry Climax FPF powered. Australian GP, Warwick Farm, Sydney 1963 (John Ellacott)
The most productive phase of his career was with Ferrari from 1963 to mid 1966, winning in both sports cars and in F1…
The Palace Coup and Purge of key Ferrari staff in late 1962 gave Surtees his Ferrari chance, joining them in early 1963. Arguably he was a good bet for the 1966 Championship won by Jack Brabham but inept, political management by team-manager Eugenio Dragoni resulted in his departure from the team mid season, his talents rewarded with two wins for Cooper that season, he then moved to Honda.
Its ironic that Ferrari intrigue gave him his Ferrari chance, and Ferrari intigue got the better of his sense of fairness in the end, read the MotorSport article below for Surtees’ own version of these events.
Surtees (4th) leads Graham Hill (1st) at Monaco 1963, Ferrari T56 and BRM P57 respectively (unattributed)
Surtees looks typically concerned, there are not too many smiley shots of ‘Big John’, this was a serious business and all too often he was far from happy with his mount! Mauro Forghieri adjusts his ‘wedding tackle’. Ferrari 1512 1965, Nurburgring…look at all those coils trying to spark the high revving 1.5 litre flat 12. Technically interesting car with the 180 degree flat-12 used as a stressed member, years before the much touted Lotus 43/49 deployed the technique in 1966/7 respectively. Look closely and you can see the engine attachment point to the cast rear chassis bulkhead. Chassis still semi-monocoque tho. And lovely V12 still a 2 valve engine, rev limit and higher-frictional losses of the 12 and power developed did not outweigh its complexity and higher fuel consumption relative to the 158 V8 in 1964. By the end of 1965 Surtees considered the car to have a decisive advantage over any other car but time had run out…Ferrari expected the 1.5 F1 to continue on, this engine needed to peak 12 months earlier than it did. Ferrari won no GP’s in 1965, Lotus and BRM had the edge that year. (unattributed)
Surtees 1964 championship winning Ferrari 158. Chassis semi-monocoque, aluminium panels welded to tubular steel frame. IFS front by top rocker, lower wishbone and coil/spring shock unit. Rear by single top link, inverted lower wishbone, twin radius rods and coil spring/damper units.Adjustable roll-bars front and rear. Dunlop disc brakes , 468 Kg total. Engine ‘Tipo 205B’ 1489cc 90 degree all alloy V8. Chain driven DOHC, 2 valves per cylinder. Twin plugs fired by Marelli coils (4) and distributor. Bosch direct fuel injection, 10.5:1 compression ratio, circa 220bhp @ 11000rpm. 5 speed transaxle with ratios to choice,’slippery diff’ (Bruno Betti)
John avoided the multiple spins and accidents caused by the lap 1 deluge of the Belgian GP at Spa in 1966, winning the race. He was shortly to walk out of the team and with that action ended his, and Ferraris’ hopes of a World Championship that year. Camera crew handily placed on the Eau Rouge apex… (unattributed)
Happy JS testing his F1 Ferrari 312 at Monza in 1966 before the Monza 1000Km race. Cars behind are Ferraris’; Dino 206S and P3. The event was in April ’66, Surtees had a win in a P3 partnered by Mike Parkes…Bandini in the drivers overalls and brown sweater ? (unattributed)
1966 was capped with a dominant win in the first CanAm Championshipin his self-run Team Surtees Lola T70Mk2 Chev, defeating Mark Donohue in a similar car and Bruce McLarens’ own M1B Chev, the McLaren CanAm steamroller commenced the following year.
John Surtees in his Lola T70 Mk2 Chev leads the field into turn 1 at ‘Stardust International Raceway’, Las Vegas 1966. The hi-winged Chaparral 2E Chev’s of Jim Hall and Phil Hill stand out. #98 is Parnelli Jones, #18 behind Hill George Follmer, #43 Jackie Stewart and #6 Mark Donohue are all in Lola T70 Chevs. #4, 5 , 88 are McLaren, Amon and Masten Gregory all driving McLaren M1B Chevs…Surtees victorious that year in a field of great depth (unattributed)
The Honda RA273 was a big heavy car, the marriage of Lola chassis and Honda engine, the RA300, was more competitive winning Surtees his sixth and final Championship Grand Prix victory at Monza in 1967, just pipping Jack Brabham in a last corner tactical battle/sprint to the line.
Surtees in his Honda RA300, the big V12 ahead of Graham Hills’ Lotus 49 Ford. Clarks’ Lotus 49 won the race, his last GP victory. Surtees 8th, Hill 2nd Kyalami , South Africa 1968 (unattributed)
Honda withdrew from F1 to reappear in the 1980’s, Surtees F1 season with BRM in 1969 was a poor one, the Tony Southgate designed BRM P153/180 were competitive cars but John was a season too early, his timing again was not quite right.
JS 5th in the 1969 Spanish GP but 6 laps behind winner Stewarts’ Matra Ford in a debacle of a race when Rindt/Hill Lotus 49’s lost their rear wings…hi-wings banned at Monaco several weeks later. BRM P138. (unattributed)
The truly wild Chaparral 2H Chev 1969, Surtees wrestling with the beast at Laguna Seca. An article in itself deserved on this car, composite chassis, low, low driving position, raised at Surtees insistence, De Dion rear suspension and more…here in search of downforce with what, even by Jim Halls’ standards, is a BIG WING! (unattributed)
His 1969 Chapparral CanAm season was even worse.
Jim Halls 2H Chev was an extraordinary car of immense innovation, but was totally uncompetitive, despite the best efforts of development of both Hall and Surtees. The 2J ‘ground effect sucker car’ of 1970 was even more avant garde and competitive but Jim Hall and Surtees was not ‘a marriage made in heaven’, a second season was not going to happen.
Communication breakdown…Jim Hall and Surtees, Edmonton Can Am 1969, John in the seat of the recalcitrant, avant garde Chaparral 2H Chev. Franz Weis looks on (unattributed)
All is forgiven…back in Scuderia Ferrari in the 1970 512S squad…here at the Nurburgring in front of the much more nimble and victorious Porsche 908/3 of Elford/Ahrens. John was teamed with Niño Vaccarella, they finished 3rd. (unattributed)
It was time to control his own destiny, build his own cars which he started to do with the Len Terry designed TS5 F5000 car in 1969…the Surtees TS7 Ford F1 machine made its debut in Johns’ hands in 1970.
Surtees Cars won the European F2 Championship with the works TS10 Ford driven by Mike Hailwood and the 1972 British/European F5000 Championship, Gijs van Lennep driving a TS11 Chev.
Surtees in his own TS8 Chev F5000 car Australian GP 1971, Warwick Farm. He was running second behind Frank Matich’ winning Matich A50 Repco, then had a puncture DNF. Here he is leading Max Stewart’s 2 litre Mildren Waggott DNF engine. (Dick Simpson)
In F1 the cars were competitive over the years, the TS19 ‘Durex franger’ sponsored chassis of 1976-7 perhaps the pick of them albeit results were still not great, John finally gave up due to the difficulty in funding in 1978.
Surtees retired from F1 as a driver after the Italian GP, Monza 1972, fitting as it was the scene of his final championship F1 victory in 1967.
He was competitive to the end winning two F2 races in his Surtees TS10 Ford that year. He continued to test the F1 cars, much to the annoyance of some of his drivers who would have preferred the ‘seat time’ themselves…
He is now 80 years old, happy in retirement and still a respected commentator on the current scene…
John Surtees contesting his final GP, Monza 1972 is his TS14 Ford. He retired on lap 7 with fuel vaporisation problems, teammate and fellow ex-motor cycle champion Mike Hailwood finished second in his Surtees TS9B Ford..his and the marques best ever championship result. Emerson Fittipaldi won the race and the Championship in his Lotus 72 Ford (unattributed)
Etcetera…
Read this fantastic article, John Surtees on working with the ‘Italian Racing Aristocrats’, Count Agusta and Commendatore Ferrari…
Signing on the dotted line for MV, a very youthful JS, 22 years old, with Count Agusta 1956 (unattributed)
Winning the ‘South Pacific International’, Longford, Tasmania, Australia March 1962. The ‘Yeoman Credit’ Cooper T53 Climax 2.7 is exiting the Viaduct. He beat Jack Brabham and Bib Stillwell also in Coopers (Keverell Thompson)
Enzo Ferrari, John Surtees with crossed arms in the driving suit behind him. Surtees grumpy, perhaps early tests of the 158 at Modena are not going well…(Bernard Cahier)
Love this shot of Surtees in his Ferrari 158 chasing teammate Bandini in a 1512 in the 1965 Monaco GP. Bandini 2nd, Surtees 4th and out of fuel, Hill victorious in his BRM P261 (Rainer Schlegelmilch)
Team Surtees 1966 CanAm Champions…the way it was. Racer, truck, mechanics, driver, ‘works car’ and a series win! Surtees supervising @ rear, circuit anyone? (unattributed)
John Surtees ahead of Bruce McLaren, Lola T70 Mk 2 and McLaren M1B, both Chev powered. St Jovite Can Am Canada 1966 (unattributed)
Testing ! the Lola T100 Ford FVA F2 car at the Nurburgring, 1967 (Alexandre Willerding)
Surtees TS7 Ford, JS 1970 & 1971 F1 contender. A well executed ‘Cosworth kit car’ of the period, general layout by JS, detail design by Peter Connew and Shabab Ahmed. Aluminium monocoque chassis, Ford Cosworth DFV 3 litre V8, circa 430bhp @ 10200rpm in 1970. Hewland DG 300 5 speed ‘box. IFS front by top rocker, lower wishbone and coil spring/ damper units and rear by single top link, single top radius rod, twin parallel lower links and coil spring/damper units, F5000 TS8 of the time a variant of this chassis. The car won some championship points and the Non-Championship Oulton Park Gold Cup in 1970 (cutaway by Bill Bennett)
Photo and Other Credits…
The Cahier Archive, Alexandre Willerding, Keverell Thompson Collection, John Ellacott, Dick Simpson, Bruno Betti, Bill Bennett, Rainer Schlegelmilch
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