Tag Archives: Brabham

Brabham BMW BT50

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This is a Brabham BMW BT50 and it was – frankly – a bit shit. Powered by a tiny four-cylinder 1.5 litre turbo the BT50 was hugely forward thinking for 1982, but also catastrophically unreliable. The Bernie Ecclestone owned team retired cars from 17 out of 22 race starts in 1982, although the car did prove fast when it worked, securing a race win at Canada.

Not one of Formula 1’s greats then, but nevertheless a car that pioneered the technology that almost all top-flight racing cars use today. This superb recreation of the Brabham BT50 comes from previous bloggee Greg 998, and it includes working steering, suspension, a well-replicated BMW Motorsport engine and a wealth of rather lovely decals. There’s more to see of the build at Greg’s Flickr album or via MOCpages – click the links to make the jump.

British Racing Mean

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The pig-nosed driver of this Ferrari 312 isn’t taking any prisoners with that move. Under Bernie Ecclestone’s helm Formula 1 would see said combatant confined to the pits for ‘causing a collision’, but this is 1967, and rules were for sissies.

The car the Ferrari has swiped has appeared here at TLCB before, a Brabham BT24, and it’s now pictured alongside the latest build by Flickr’s Pixel Junkie in this wonderfully nostalgic Formula 1 scene.

It’s Brabham that went on to win the 1967 Formula 1 World Championship, despite having a slower car than the Lotus of the time, whilst Ferrari finished a lowly fifth. Ferrari may have lost the battle in ’67, but it is they who won the war, with Brabham fading into history whilst the prancing horse has gone on to win almost twice as many titles as any other team.

Being British we prefer the outcome in ’67 though, so we’ll leave this post with a picture of the Brabham BT24 rightfully back in front of the Ferrari 312, and you can us find at Pixel Junkie’s photostream feeling patriotic.

Formula 1 Sucks

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This is the 1978 Brabham BT46, designed by the legendary Gordon Murray and powered by an Alfa Romeo flat-12 engine, and it was amongst the front runners of the 1978 Formula 1 World Championship, securing a Constructors third place for the Brabham team.

The BT46 won two races in the ’78 season, but its win at the Swedish Grand Prix is one of the most unusual in the sport. You see this is the BT46 ‘B’, a design which raced only once, and which won by over half a minute.

Designed to take on the ‘ground effect’ Lotuses, Murray engineered an engine-powered fan to literally suck the car to the ground. Whilst it was claimed at the time the fan was used to cool the Alfa Romeo flat-12, it became obvious what its true purpose was when the drivers revved the engine, as the BT46B visibly squatted down on the track.

Effectively a reverse hovercraft, the Brabham BT46B dominated the field, which of course meant that like other ingenious developments in Formula 1, it was immediately banned. Because Formula 1 sucks.

The BT46B was never allowed to race in Formula 1 again and Brabham were forced to revert to their non fan-assisted variant, however TLCB regular and Master MOCer Luca Rusconi (aka RoscoPC) remembers one of Formula 1’s cleverest designs with his stunning Lego replica of the one-race-wonder.

Added to his ever growing portfolio of historic racing cars on Flickr, Luca’s BT46B includes working steering, suspension, a flat-12 engine, and – of course – a working fan. There’s lots more to see at Luca’s Flickr Album – click this link if you’re a fan.

Brabham BT52 | Picture Special

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This is a 1983 Brabham BT52, one of the most powerful Formula 1 cars of all time, and the first turbo-charged car ever to win a World Championship. Designed by legendary engineer Gordon Murray, the BMW-powered BT52 took Nelson Piquet to his second World Championship, after the earlier BT49 had given him his maiden Championship in 1980.

Brabham won six World Championships in total, four Drivers and two Constructors, and founder Jack Brabham remains the only driver ever to win a Formula 1 World Championship in a car of his own design. However, after two periods of huge success in the 1960s and 1980s, Bernie Ecclestone – who owned the Brabham team in the ’70s and ’80s – sold it to a Japanese investor, and a few years later Brabham collapsed due to financial difficulties.

Sadly Brabham haven’t raced in Formula 1 since, but TLCB has ears, and rumour has it that Formula 1 team Force India, who are currently in good form, need a new owner. With their current billionaire owners on bale for serious fraud offences and Brabham looking to build their own road-cars, we could see the famous Australian-British brand back at the sharp end of Formula 1 very soon. You heard it here first!

Back to the ’80s, and this incredible replica of Brabham’s last Championship-winning car comes from previous bloggee Luca Rosconi aka RoscoPC, who continues to re-publish his huge collection of classic Formula 1 cars to Flickr. There’s more to see of the Brabham BT52, as well as his other stunning replicas, at Luca’s photostream – click the link above to make the jump.

Brick Built Brabham

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This is a Brabham BT24, and it won the 1967 Formula 1 Constructor’s Championship. However, it was not the fastest car of the season – that honour went to Lotus – but it was much more reliable, and thus its consistency meant that it took the overall championship ahead of the faster Lotus design.

This neat mini-figure scale recreation of the championship-winning Brabham is the work of Pixel Junkie of Flickr, and it contains some wonderfully inventive parts usage. See more at Pixel’s photostream via the link above.

Seventies’ Speed

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This particular TLCB writer wasn’t alive in the 1970s, however from what he’s seen of the era on TV everything seemed to be square and of a nasty beige-y brown hue. Everything that is, apart from Formula 1.

Carl Greatrix makes his third appearance of the month here at TLCB with his final incredible 1970s’ Formula 1 racer; the brilliant 1975 Brabham BT44B. Designed by Gordon Murray (who would later go on to design the McLaren F1 road car) and powered by the legendary Ford-Cosworth DVF engine, the BT44 won 5 races taking third in the manufacturer’s championship in 1975.

Brabham also secured sponsorship from perhaps the greatest racing liveried company of all time. There was no beige or brown in Martini’s paintbox, and it’s a scheme that still looks superb 40 years on – as proven by the wonderful current Williams Formula 1 car.

To see more of Carl’s beautiful Brabham, and the two classic racing cars that preceded it, take a trip back in time via his photostream here – we’ll see you there!

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Tag Archives: Brabham

Brabham BMW BT50

British Racing Mean

Formula 1 Sucks

Brabham BT52 | Picture Special

Brick Built Brabham

Seventies’ Speed

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