When its cars turned white, BRM enjoyed another short period of success in Formula 1. The P153 and P160 models designed by Tony Southgate and backed by Yardley won three Grands Prix across 1970 and 1971, taking second in the constructors’ standings in ’71. However, the on-track success was overshadowed by tragic accidents for top drivers Pedro Rodríguez and Jo Siffert.

By the beginning of the 1970s, BRM’s glory days were behind them. During the 1.5-litre era, Graham Hill had won his first title in a V8-powered BRM in 1962 and then finished runner-up the following three seasons. The British driver, famous for his thin moustache, took a total of 10 Grand Prix wins in BRMs between 1962 and 1965. Future World Champion Jackie Stewart also contributed with a win at Monza in 1965. Together, it all helped BRM become the second-most successful constructor in the 1.5-litre era behind Lotus.

Stewart also won the first Grand Prix of the new three-litre era at Monaco in 1966, in a car from the previous year fitted with a V8 that had been increased from a two-litre unit. That was the last success for a works BRM in the 1960s. In the autumn of 1966, Jim Clark won the US Grand Prix with the new H16 three-litre engine, but it was fitted to a Lotus chassis.

The works team struggled in 1966 and 1967 with the 16-cylinder H engine, a Boxer-type engine with two crankshafts one above the other and two times 8 cylinders. At the same time BRM also built a three-litre V12, but it was originally destined for sports car use, not Formula 1. In the search for a competitive three-litre engine, meanwhile, F1 teams such as McLaren (from autumn 1967 onwards) and Cooper (from 1968) came up with the idea of running the off-the-shelf Ford Cosworth unit.

BRM also made a switch, from the H16 to the V12 during the 1968 season. However, having been built for long-distance racing, the engine didn’t have the same performance as the Cosworth. With its two valves per cylinder, its maximum output was 380 to 390 horsepower at 10,000 rpm. Even a four-valve version for 1969 made no great difference. The best finishes for BRM in ’68 were a pair of seconds for Richard Attwood in Monaco and Rodríguez in Belgium, and a third for John Surtees in the US in 1969…

More in the current issue!

by Harold Schwarz

Photographs: The Cahier Archive, Klemantaski, Motorsportimages, Ferdi Kräling

It was 1972 when a Formula 1 car was first painted fully in the colours of cigarette brand Marlboro. And it was the BRMs that first appeared with the iconic paintwork. But during its two-year partnership with Philip Morris, the British squad failed to deliver the success expected from the lavish backing. One last win at the end of ’72 was a flash in the pan, before the demise set in.

Following Jo Siffert’s funeral in Fribourg, Switzerland, on 29 October in 1971, Louis Stanley continued his journey to Lausanne, 75 kilometres down the road. Stanley was married to Jean, née Owen, who along with her brother Alfred owned the Rubery Owen Group, including the BRM racing team. While Alfred was fully occupied with managing the group, Jean and Louis took care of the race team and were a constant presence at each and every Grand Prix.

Stanley’s final destination at the city on Lake Geneva was the European HQ of American cigarette brand Marlboro. There, he explained to Ronnie Thomson, Philip Morris European President, and Albert Bellow, Vice President of Marketing, why they should sponsor BRM. For Thomson, Formula 1 provided a unique stage that would quickly and effectively market the Marlboro brand in Europe. And being involved in an international sport would also help the company circumnavigate the restrictions for tobacco advertising, which varied from country to country. BRM was seen as the perfect partner as it was the only British team building its cars, engines, and gearboxes in-house, making it a more substantial prospect than the so-called garagistes and promising the best value for the planned expenditure.

BRM, meanwhile, was no longer happy with sponsor Yardley, which was not prepared to boost its backing to help pay for badly-needed engine developments. So, in November 1971, Stanley and Thomson signed a two-year deal in London, which secured over £100,000 plus win bonuses for the team. Given that an annual budget for a Formula 1 team at the time was £100,000 to £150,000, this was a top deal. It also meant the BRMs would become the first F1 cars to run the iconic red-and-white Marlboro colours. In order to make those colours as visible as possible, it was decided that there would be not three, but five cars, split into an A and a B team.

The A team was Howden Ganley, Peter Gethin, and Jean-Pierre Beltoise, the latter taking over the place left by Jo Siffert. Helmut Marko and Swede Reine Wisell, joined from time to time by Àlex Soler-Roig (Spain), Jackie Oliver (UK), Bill Brack (Canada) and Brian Redman (UK), would make up the B team. A total of nine drivers were used, a strategy focussed on quantity instead of quality that quickly led to problems which not even the Marlboro dollars could solve…

More in the current issue!

by Harold Schwarz

Photographs: Motorsportimages, The Cahier Archive, Michael Keyser, Toni Temburg

The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most important motor race in the world, have always been the big stage for car brands like Bentley, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Ford, Porsche, Audi and Toyota. French car makers have always been keen on success on home soil, too, such as the victories for Bugatti in the 1930s, Matra-Simca from 1972 to 1974, Alpine Renault in 1978 and Peugeot in 1992 and 1993. But there have also been smaller companies run by motorsport enthusiasts that have looked to Le Mans for a challenge, like Rondeau or Inaltera. That final group also includes WM-Peugeot, which brought a unique approach to the long-distance classic between 1976 and 1989.

Until 1990, the six-kilometre-long Hunaudières straight was a defining feature at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The two chicanes didn’t exist yet, and despite fading to the right, it was flat-out all the way. That part of the track was a normal road for the rest of the year, used by countless motorists to get to and from Tours. When in race track mode, National Road 138 was considered the fastest straight in motorsport. Even in the early 1970s, the long-tail version of the Porsche 917 reached speeds of over 360 km/h. When it began its Le Mans journey, WM-Peugeot just wanted to be a respected privateer competitor. Over time, however, the team from Thorigny in France shifted its aim to breaking the 400 km/h barrier on the ‘ligne droite des Hunaudières’.

The driving force behind WM-Peugeot was Gérard Welter. He and Michel Meunier, both from Peugeot, started out at races at Magny-Cours and Montlhéry in 1968 with a coupé based on the Peugeot 204. The cars bore the designation ‘WM P’, made up of the names Welter, Meunier and Peugeot, as well as the respective year. The WM P68 was followed by the WM P70, with a transverse 1.3-litre engine from the Peugeot 304. After appearing at the Le Mans test in April 1971, the car was used at Clermont-Ferrand and Zandvoort before Welter and Meunier ran out of money.

However, the two Frenchmen didn’t give up, and after a long break – and thanks to new sources of finance – they were able to implement their plan to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in 1976. From the outset the engineers were focussed on an aerodynamically sophisticated body that could produce high speed even with a relatively weak engine. The WM P76 ran in the GTP category – two-seater coupés weighing less than 850 kg and less than 110 cm tall, with a maximum consumption of 25 litres per 100 kilometres. The car was fitted with a more powerful version of the naturally-aspirated 2.7-litre ZNS4 V6 from the Peugeot/Renault/Volvo family. There was an all-French driver line-up of Guy Chasseuil, Claude Ballot-Léna and Xavier Mathiot. After qualifying 38th, the team’s debut race was over after 125 laps thanks to an irreparable leak in the fuel tank…

More in the current issue!

by Thomas Nehlert

Photographs: Jean-Marc Teissedre, Motorsportimages, McKlein