Rick: I was involved in a small way with the V16 and later more conventional BRMs.
The V16 story is a good example of "what might have been." The post-WWII Formula 1 was set at 4.5 litres unsupercharged and 1.5 litres supercharged. Virtually every race-car manufacturer like Maseratii, Ferrari and Vanwall went the large-capacity conventional non-boosted way, as engines could be easily designed as developments of pre-war designs. However, in those days 400 bhp was about the limit for an unblown 4.5 litre engine, and the starting point for a 1.5 liter supercharged one, which theoretically could reach 700 bhp. A group of British engineers, led by 1930s race driver Raymond Mays, decided that, with the depth of knowledge in supercharging learned during the war (that allowed the Merlin to go from 950hp in 1936 to over 2000 in 1944, for example), there was more potential in the 1.5 L supercharged method.
Also based on the war experience, where many manufacturers cooperated to build aero engines and airframes, it was thought that a cooperative effort in the same way could build Britain a winner for the next 10 years. Finance was originally obtained from Alfred Owen, chairman of the Owen Organization, and Oliver Lucas, of Joseph Lucas. Peter Berthon, who had designed the very successful ERA racers of the 1930s (which Mays, among others, drove) was in charge of design of a very advanced engine. Two banks of eight cylinders, set at 135 degrees to reduce height, with wet liners, and a two-stage centrifugal supercharger were incorporated.
The choice of the centrifugal type of blower raised some eyebrows. Although this design works fine in aero engines, which run at largely constant speeds, and affords much greater boost potential, in automobiles the Roots type is generally preferred as it gives more boost at lower rpms and a much smoother boost over a large rpm range. However, to realize the volume of charge they were looking for, a two stage Roots blower would be needed, with each stage some 10 X 10 inches. Also, even then only about 35 psi would have been reached, and the designers were aiming for the unprecedented pressure of 55 psi. The two-stage centrifugal blower offered a compact design able to produce both the volume and pressure needed.
By 1949 a prototype car had been built, and demonstrated to the press. Bench testing gave outputs of over 450 bhp. at around 10,000 rpm. (Later increases in blower size gave consistent 525 bhp, with one engine reaching 585 bhp at over 11,000 rpm. Pretty amazing figures for 60 years ago, considering the engine was smaller than a Pinto's, the use of single-grade oil running at almost 300 deg. F and the lack of materials in use today.) Also bear in mind that the pistons are no larger than the ones in your lawn mower, and at full engine speed, in each second the magnetos have to provide 1,600 sparks and the cams have to lift the valves, and the springs return them to their seats, a hundred times.
My first contact with the BRM was at the start of the 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. My dad, also a car enthusiast, drove us down to see it, and we got seats in the grandstand to see the start. All Britain was eagerly anticipating a sweeping victory for the new "Super Car." The flag went down, Raymond Sommer let in the clutch ... and both drive shafts broke. In fact, mechanical problems dogged the car throughout its F1 career. When it ran, it was
fast, and broke several lap records at different tracks. It took a very skilled driver to harness the power and torque characteristics, particularly on twisting tracks. Juan Manuel Fangio said that if one gave it too much "loud pedal" when accelerating away from a corner, the experience was exactly the same as driving on black ice. There was so much torque on tap that a driver who floored it at 140 mph could easily break the rear tires away and spin. Stirling Moss drove the V16 once and said thanks but no thanks to joining the team.
The inherent problem was that postwar Britain was broke, much of its infrastructure destroyed or damaged, and British industry, still converting from war production, was under under strictures characterised by an
Export or Die slogan. There was little time or money to spare on the necessary development of the components involved in the V16 BRM, and reliability suffered, not just in the engine but also ancilliaries and suspension. In fact, it never realized its potential, and never won a Grand Prix. More than anything, there was never enough money to do what was needed.
In 1953, to get the needed cash to continue the V16's development, Alfred Owen started the Owen Racing Motor Association, an enthusiast's club of BRM supporters, and I joined. One of the benefits was beng able to go to the BRM headquarters at the old WWII airfield at Bourne, Lincolnshire, and meet not only the design staff but also some of the current drivers. I never met World Champion Fangio, which I would have loved, but I did meet his fellow-Argentinian Froilan Gonzalez, who must have weighed 300 pounds, and other drivers.
By the end of 1953, most of the problems had been ironed out. The BRM was winning several sprint races in England, and we all anticipated some long-delayed Grand Prix wins. Then the FIA (Federation International Automobile) changed the F1 engine requirements to 2.5 litres unsupercharged, eliminating the 1.5 litre supercharged eligibility and disqualifying the BRM V16. Cynics noted that the new French GP car exactly fitted the new engine formula. The French said they were shocked -
shocked! - at the suggestion that they had changed the 4.5/1.5 formula prematurely just because their new car was ready.
The V16, in a new MK.II version, continued to race in Formula Libre events in Europe, but the BRM concern concentrated on developing an entirely new, more conventional car to the new GP formula. With this they went on to secure many GP wins, and in the end Graham Hill won the World Championship for BRM (in later years he would be runner-up to John Surtees and Jim Clark).
TOP: The 1954 Mk. II V16 at Bourne. Peter Berthon is 2nd. from the left, driver Ron Flockhart at the wheel. BOTTOM: Fangio at the wheel of the Mk.I.
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TOP: Raymond Mays (L) with Mike Hawthorne. I had the chance to talk to him this day. BOTTOM: Hawthorne in the new 1955 (non-supercharged) BRM. I got a bollocking from Hawthorne later for straying too close to the track to take this one with my non-telephoto lens camera.
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TOP: The first of the new nonsupercharged BRMs that won many GP races. Mike Hawthorne 2nd. from left, Peter Brooks (another driver) to his left. Mays 2nd. from right. BOTTOM: Peter Brooks in the new car. Brooks retired in the 1960s after seeing many of his contemporaries killed (including Hawthorne, in a dumb road accident in 1959) and became a dentist.
Can I go back to selling Trucks? Oh Joy!
