BRM historic recording - 1955

No grand prix car in motor racing history has caused more controversy than has the V16 BRM. Conceived in 1947 by Raymond Mays and Peter Berthon, the V16 was designed to compete under the Formula I rules in existence from 1947 to 1953 which limited engine capacity to 4½ litres unsupercharged or 1½ litres with supercharger.

Not until two years later, in December 1949, was the first car demonstrated at Folkingham airfield near the BRM works at Bourne in Lincolnshire.

In 1950, the BRM won two short distance events and in 1951, their sole success with fifth and seventh in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone against the forces of Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. It was feared that the very advanced and complicated design of the car needed far greater resources than those available and it was an irony of fate that their comparative success in the 1951 British Grand Prix was obtained in the very race that was to mark the end of the supremacy of the 1½ litre supercharged engine over the unknown 4½ litre. When Gonzales on the big Ferrari defeated his compatriot Fangio on Alfa Romeo, he withdrew from racing at the season’s end.

Promoters in 1952 turned to Formula grouping and few races were run in which the BRM was eligible to compete. Nevertheless, the V16 gained a one, two, three win at Goodwood in September to end the 1952 season upon a note as triumphant as that of the car itself.

This success came too late and soon afterwards the BRM project passed into the hands of Alfred Owen, one of the original supporters of the trust. Few Formula I events were run in 1953, for a new Formula I was due to start in 1954, but in three Formula events, the V16 gained six wins, five seconds and three thirds, and their running battle with Tony Vandervell’s 4½ litre Ferrari Thinwall Special throughout the season made it a most exciting one.

1954 saw the V16 engines mounted in a shortened and lightened chassis known as the Type 15 Mark II. Four victories were scored in as many races in the early part of the season to encourage the loyal supporters whose faith in the marque had never wavered.

The Mark II BRM made its final racing appearance at the Aintree circuit in October 1954 when two cars competed in the 17-lap Free Formula event. The front row of the grid consisted of the two BRMs, Moss on the new Formula I Maserati and Collins on the Thinwall Special. There were 23 starters awaiting the fall of the starter’s flag and above the thunderous roar of racing engines could be heard the distinctive note of the V16.

But once more, and for the last time, the BRM flattered only the distance and with one car out, the other could only finish third to the Maseratis.

The V16 BRM had run its final race. So ended a gallant but unavailing effort to challenge the Italian Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, the two marques which dominated the grand prix scene in the immediate post war years. Nevertheless, the V16 BRM has its place in motor racing history for the engine produced more horse power than any orthodox engine yet built. Nor can one forget the faith of the men behind it, or the skill and the courage of those that drove it, Moss, Fangio, Gonzales, Wharton, Parnell, Flockhart and many others. Unforgettable too, was the sound of the V16 in full song.