Electrical

A quick look over the Electrical system indicates it is generally as expected although there are a few items that reflect the 1973 originality of this particular car. 

Nice that they installed a crystal radio for the driver to listen to the BBC during the race. 

Ok, not true, it is a rectifier.

Unfortunately the wires are all the same colour. Fortunately every wire has a letter code. 

Must record these during dis-assembly. 

The oil coating is to prevent water shorting the circuits I presume.

Connectors for quick engine changes! 

Not that this will be needed of course - after Rodney and Phil have rebuilt it!

However if anyone has a spare BRM Type 142 V12 please call.

Original Magneti Marelli Dinoplex F spark box - made in Italy

It still works but I notice it is mounted via quick release connect pins.

Original military style jump plug connector. To keep with the originality Rick Hall advises he is able to supply a corresponding terminal to connect to the jump battery.  

Restoration Preparation

Taking one's time has never been a forte of mine. So, preparatory action on a few fronts;

Engine - Hall and Hall did get the engine started and sent me a video prior to the purchase being concluded so I know it has all the bits inside! We will not really know the condition until it is stripped down by Rodney Gibbs of Superior Automotive and all components crack tested. So until then there is no merit in ordering new parts. I suspect that all new internals will be needed (but hopefully not the crank). I have however ordered a new electronic ignition system from Hall and Hall as I know from my prior Surtees TS9B ownership that it is very disappointing to spend 12 hours towing a race car trailer from Sydney to Phillip Island with Garry Simkin, only for the spark box to fail and then pack up and drive home again without having completed a single lap. Bad words were spoken exiting the circuit gates.

Gearbox - I acquired four Dog Rings plus a Ring and Pinion from Hall and Hall when I acquired the car (they do have a small collection of BRM components available) however until the box is stripped down with Garry Simkin we will not know what is in store. I have done some initial calculations on gear ratios for Eastern Creek and Phillip Island and have sent this to Hall and Hall to check, they have in stock possibly 4 of the 8 gears and I will arrange for he remainder to be made here in Australia. I suspect the existing gears in the box will have seen better days - paper weights anyone (oh, that's right, we are all paperless now). Every few meetings they need to be replaced so I will also need some spares.........

Fuel Bladders - These need replacing, the original 1973 units will be inside. This could be messy, they have probably disintegrated by now.

Wheels - Lovely magnesium. Light, polishes to a sublime almost iridescent shine and very soft. Unfortunately the LH front appears to have hairline cracks. Dave Mawer may be able to repair, we will see. Anyway for safety's sake I have ordered four new wheels from Hall and Hall, who have the original BRM patterns and they are waiting on the UK foundry to do a Magnesium pour which they do when they have sufficient orders for Mag items. 10 weeks delivery time likely I am told.

Drawings and Specifications - I have asked Hall and Hall (who hold the BRM drawings, a consortium of six actually own the majority of them) for copies however accessibility to the plans is not available although Rick Hall has offered to supply a copy of the Gearbox assembly drawing and a wiring diagram. Phil Reilly of California USA has generously sent Rodney Gibbs some original specification information on the V12 engine, Phil rebuilt the cylinder heads for the DFV motor from my Surtees. Rodney assembled and setup this motor with great Dyno results and Phil has also recently rebuilt a BRM V12 engine in his California shop. I envisage Rodney and I will somewhat reliant on advice or suggestions from Phil Reilly for this engine rebuild.

New Home and New Custodian

Into the workshop, new home. 

Flatting with the ex Niki Lauda March 722-5. The March works Formula 2 car which Lauda drove throughout 1972 and in it won the John Player F2 Championship.

Restoration will not start until 9 June 2015 as the car will be on display at the HSRCA historic race meeting at Eastern Creek (Sydney Motorsport Park) in early June.

A lot of the signage on the car is hand painted. 

This includes the Phillip Morris logo (owner of the Marlboro brand in 1973).

Serious front brakes. Rotors weigh a few kilo's I suspect.

A light dab of degreaser can do wonders.

And reveal titanium, Which is used extensively in the P160E's apparently.

And reveal cadmium plating under silver paint (with red undercoat). 

Apparently finances at BRM were getting pretty tight by 1974.   

And also reveal that all part items, even down to washers and spacers have individual etched BRM part numbers. To facilitate on-line ordering from Amazon perhaps?

Now what normal sane person would not consider the above to be beautiful. 

To quote Rick Hall, "Very few people realise how special these (BRM) cars are" 

The underside - water pipes running to the front mounted radiator and flat sump.
A bit grubby but it will look beautiful after a bit of cleaning and attention.
There is evidence of repairs to the block on the LH side in the top photo, just above the oil pipe fitting, Rumor has it that there was not a single V12 block that did not suffer from a broken rod poking a hole in the side. Revving to 11,000 rpm on an ongoing basis would be stressful.  

BRM built it's own gearboxes. This one is Model 161 - Box No. 7.
And no, BRM gearbox parts are not available off the shelf like the Hewland gearbox parts are. 

BRM gearbox parts are individually hand made. Slow and nasty expensive.  

Only a very very committed engine builder could love a face like that. 

12 cylinders of pure goodness. 

Aerodynamic oil tank. The oil tank was relocated from under the wing to the RH side in the 'E' version of the P160 in late 1973.

Touchdown, (flying Virgin lower deck!)

BRM P160E-10  Welcome to Australia 

(after customs, quarantine and also payment of import duty plus 10% GST on the purchase price of course).

Pre Purchase Inspection

BRM P160E-10 out for a day's excursion from the Donington Museum, on the floor of the Hall and Hall workshop in Bourne. Lincolnshire England

Historical BRM P160E Photos (plus 1973 Marlboro Grid Girls)

Photo above (and below) is of Niki Lauda driving BRM P160E-10 at the Italian Grand Prix 

at Monza on 9 September 1973. There is a Shadow behind him (photo above)!

Photo below, paddock repairs - no difference to today's F1 pit lane garages really. 

The 1970's and early 80's were a wonderful period of innovation and creativity for F1.
Also tragic however for many drivers and their families. 

Welcome - the story begins

Hello, thank you for viewing my Blog which will chart the progressive restoration of my 1973 Formula 1 British Racing Motors P160E chassis 10 race car. My objective is to complete a sympathetic restoration by early 2016 in order to run the car at the March 2016 Phillip Island historic race meeting.

In essence, this car (chassis 10) was built by BRM in mid 1973, first raced in Niki Lauda in late 1973, raced in early 1974 then retired and was stored by BRM until 22 October 1981 when it and all remaining BRM owned race cars, spares, equipment, tools and drawings were auctioned by Christie's Auctioneers at Earls Court in London. This car plus some others were acquired by Tom Wheatcroft and placed on display at the Donington Museum until early May 2015 when it was acquired by myself (through Rick Hall of Hall and Hall who acted on behalf of the Donington Museum) and it was then air freighted to Australia. It is stunningly original and well, just beautiful generally. Plus it has a V12 engine. It is a Marlboro BRM liveried car which is of course most politically incorrect. 

BRM (actually it should be spelled B.R.M.) built and raced Formula 1 race cars from a factory complex in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. There are an array of great publications that chart the rise and fall of BRM, my favorites all having been written by Doug Nye. Like many others, I am eagerly awaiting Volume 4 of the BRM story which I understand Doug is steadily advancing. A bit of plagiarism here from numerous sources which I will reference later:

Allen Brown of oldracingcars.com which is a reliable source of historical information on historic race cars (and who has prepared a detailed History Dossier on Chassis 10) records that of the ten model P160 cars made by BRM, chassis 1 to 6 inclusive were written off during competition. Allen advises that chassis 7 and 9 were sold by BRM and converted to hill climb cars and chassis 8 was also written off driven by Lauda at the German GP when it 'veered sharply into the barrier and destroyed itself in a shower of fragments'. Chassis 10 was however retained by BRM and stored in it's factory.

"In the history of Formula 1 Grand Prix Motor Racing, B.R.M. (British Racing Motors) and Ferrari are the only constructors to have won the World Championship with a car they built completely themselves including the chassis, engine and gearbox. The B.R.M. P160 model comprises a B.R.M. designed and manufactured chassis, a B.R.M. 3 litre V12 motor and a B.R.M. 5 speed gearbox.

Between 1950 and 1977 the B.R.M. team started in 197 Grand Prix with 17 victories, 11 pole positions, 15 fastest laps, 1 driver’s word championship and 1 constructor’s world championship.

A direct development of the partially successful P153, the P160 model first competed in March 1971 and was to be the most successful of all 3 litre B.R.M. designs, having the longest racing career of any of the rear-engined cars of this marque. Designed by Tony Southgate, a total of ten P160 model chassis were manufactured, with progressive revisions over the 4 year racing career of this design ending with the final car, P160E Chassis 10. When Southgate left B.R.M in late 1972 the P160 was further tweaked by Gordon Cruickshank. 

Compared to it’s predecessor, the P160 semi monocoque chassis was four inches wider, the wheelbase was increased by an inch to 97 inches and the nose and cockpit lowered by 1½ inches. The rear brakes were brought inboard resulting in a gearbox casing redesign and the monocoque now had an alloy skin of 18 gauge thickness in contrast to the 1970’s cars thinner 20 gauge skin. The P160 also incorporated side crash protection, which was designed in a manner that gave the cars their distinctive and hand formed bulbous side pod (Coke bottle) shape. It wasn't revolutionary like the Lotus 25, but it was finely thought out and it was widely adjustable. More importantly, the adjustments made a difference: if you changed the roll bar, it responded, which is an indication that the chassis is quite rigid and the geometry is well worked out.

The P160's structure had fabricated steel bulkheads with folded alloy interior sections and welded alloy exterior, individually hand-formed because of the complex curves. But it was a more difficult engine to package than most. If you had mounted that long V12 like a Cosworth, only bolted at the front, it wouldn't have handled at all. So it had a monocoque extension which carried two mounts part-way back along the engine, then a tubular structure back to the bellhousing, so that it was only partly stressed.

Tweaked once again by engineer Aubrey Woods the model 142 engine was fitted with 4 valve per cylinder heads and the 3 litre V12 engine would now safely rev to 11,000 rpm to develop some 450 bhp. Whilst this kept pace with the power of the Cosworth DFV, the B.R.M. V12 engines were more thirsty. P160E-10 is fitted with engine No. 009 and BRM Bourne quality control records indicate that engines 142-008, 009, 017, 018 , 021 and 022 were prepared for the Nurburgring GP and on 31 July 1974 the BRM's dyno at Folkingham recorded engine 009 as peaking at 444 bhp.

Of the 121 Grand Prix races in which the P160 cars started, they finished 91, with Grand Prix victories in Monaco, Italy and Austria for Beltoise, Gethin and Siffert respectively.

This car, Chassis P160E-10, was not only the last of the P160 series but is considered the last “real” B.R.M. (under the original Owen Racing Organisation) manufactured. The car competed in nine Grand Prix races, it’s first being driven by Niki Lauda at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on 9 September 1973 in Marlboro BRM livery (competition number 21). It’s final race was at the French Grand Prix on 7 July 1974 driven by Francois Migault, where it finished 14^th.

The car’s best placings included a 4^th at Silverstone and two 7^th places at Brands Hatch and Brasilia in a non-championship event and also 9^th at the Argentinian Grand Prix, driven by Henri Pescarolo.

After the French Grand Prix in 1974 the car was retained by Stanley B.R.M. Ltd and stored (for the purposes of driver training) at the B.R.M. works in Bourne, Lincolnshire England. In late 1981 the B.R.M racing marque was closed down and on 22^nd October 1981 the remains of the B.R.M works team (The B.R.M. Collection) were put up for auction by Christies Auctioneers at the Earls Court Motorfair. This auction offered for sale engineering drawings, spare parts, engines, works tools and eleven B.R.M racing cars, some complete and in working order and others not working or offered as kits of parts.

Of the four V12 cylinder 3 litre cars for sale only one was in running order, P160E Chassis 10, which was described in the auction catalogue as having had an “extensive rebuild’ at the B.R.M. workshop in Bourne and presented in the Marlboro B.R.M. livery. This car, as well the other V12 engine cars including a non-running P139, a non-running P153, a P180 ‘needing assembly’ plus a V16 powered race car and number of other items including a V16 engine were purchased by Tom Wheatcroft for display at the Donington Motor Museum in Donington Park, Derbyshire England.

P160E-10 was on static display at the Museum from 1981 onwards however was taken out on two occasions at the Donington Circuit where it was once driven by Prince Michael of Kent as well as being driven once by David Andrews, the Managing Director of Lucas, at a historic race event in April 1984, finishing 5^th.  The car has not been involved in any accidents since it’s purchase by the Donington Museum and is totally original with the chassis, engine, gearbox and suspension componentry as manufactured by the B.R.M. works factory." 

The car was also used in the movie RUSH. 

For those of you interested in some further reading on BRM the sources for the above include:

Doug Nye : BRM - the Saga of British Racing Motors Volumes 1 to 3

Motorsport Magazine : BRM P160 article - February 2001, Page 84 

Christies Sale Catalogue – The B.R.M Collection : Thursday 22 October 1981

MotorSport Magazine, December 1981 – Vol.LVII No.12 : ‘Around and about’ Page 1722

B.R.M. Association website : http://brmassociation.org/index.html

Rick Hall – Hall and Hall : Bourne, Lincolnshire England : http://www.hallandhall.net/

Old Racing Cars : http://www.oldracingcars.com/