In 1971, the first headlines appeared of McNally engineering ready to debut in the Formula One. McNally was a company based in Newcastle and famous for their alloy wheels. Gordon McNally told the media already in the late 1960s that he was ready to compete in the Formula One with his own team. Eventually the story kept alive for several years including an involvement with the Hesketh Team and their
Pygmée (Constructions Mechaniques Pygmée), founded in 1960 in Annecy by Marius Dal Bo and was a French manufacturer specialised in racing cars. The company existed for 13 years before they had to close down their doors due to financial difficulties. The team was well known for constructing Junior Formula, Formula 2 and Formula 3 cars in the 1960s and the 1970s. While they gained success there were rumours of pygmée
Did you know that in the Persuaders, a brilliant series from the early 1970s, Brett Sinclair is also a Grand Prix driver? There is even the Sinclair Special featured in the episode “Someone Waiting” an episode about bribing people out of the race at Silverstone, which Brett Sinclair eventually would win. So which car was used for the episode because it is not the March 702 as you would assume.
Everyone deserves a second change. Why are you associating Alpine with this quote? Alpine is not unknown with the Formula One. In the late 1960s, the company actually build their own Formula 1 car the Alpine A350, sadly the team would not appear on the grid with their car. Eventually the car was destroyed. It is a good thing to see Alpine appearing in the Formula 1 next year. Even
In 1976 and 1977, Tyrrell Racing drove with their revolutionary P34. The first, and only, six-wheeler who raced and even won a race! In 1977, it became clear that Goodyear stopped developing the 10-inch front-wheels. Tyrrell came with a conventional car with just four wheels, the Tyrrell 008. What many don’t know is that the Tyrrell 008 was intended to be fitted with a fan on the back of the
Arturo Merzario debuted in 1972 in the Formula One with Scuderia Ferrari. He finished sixth in his first race! Back then, finishing sixth meant one point. After two years with Ferrari and roaming around with Frank Williams Racing Cars, Copersucar-Fittipaldi, March and Walter Wolf Racing Arturo debuted Team Merzario in 1977, his own team. He would race, expect for one race with Shadow, with March 761B the season. Team Merzario
Everything would change in the new 1976 season. Tyrrell would made its debut with their Tyrrell P34, with four small wheels in front, and two normal wheels in the back. Besides the Tyrrell there was some more talk at 75’s year’s end. Simultaneously rumours arose about the March 2-4-0 while the same time BRM designed a similar 2-4-0 concept. If this was not enough, another rumour appeared about a six
Many websites, forums and databases suggest that BRM’s last race was in 1977. That their last car was the BRM P207, and that the team abandoned racing. This info is false. At the end of 1978 the construction started on the unraced BRM P230, the car had many similarities with the successful Lotus 79. It was intended to use the BRM P230 in the Aurora series. Unfortunately, the car would
In 1978, Team Lotus was unstopable. The Lotus 79 was a year ahead on the other teams with its wing car design. Both Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson won races for the team. Team Lotus won the Constructors title, and Mario Andretti won the drivers title. During the season, the news reached the paddock that a Lotus B Team would drive in 1979 with the Lotus 79. Michael Bleekemolen and
John Surtees was one of a kind in the Formula One. After his many successes in the motorcycle racing, he made the decision to move to the Formula one. His first season with Lotus was reasonable with a second place as best result. While driving for Ferrari he became the world champion of 1964. In 1970 he debuted his own “Team Surtees” in the Formula One, the team existed for
