1966 Brabham BT8

Motor Racing Developments (MRD) burst onto the scene in the early 1960s with a one-off Formula Junior, that would ignite a passion that would include over 500 Brabham single-seaters. Designer Ron Tauranac and then two-time Formula 1 World Champion, Jack Brabham founded MRD in 1960, and accolades achieved by Brabham cars during its racing career would include two Formula 1 World Championships and countless races and series in lesser formulae. In the summer of 1961, following the creation of the mid-engine Formula Junior, the name was changed to Brabham, with type numbers prefixed 'BT' for 'Brabham Tauranac'. By the close of the decade, Brabham had become the world's largest manufacturer of open-wheel formula racing monopostos. Thanks in part to its sound engineering, conservative designs, ease of use, and inter-changeability of spare parts, they dominated nearly every class for which they were eligible.

Jack Brabham secured the second of his Formula 1 World Championships with Cooper in 1960. He left Cooper at the close of the 1961 season, and by the summer of 1962, the first Brabham Formula 1 car was ready - the BT3. Dan Gurney brought Brabham its first Championship Grand Prix win in 1964 but additional World Championships would elude Brabham during the 1½-litre Formula 1 era.

Unlike its rivals Lotus, Cooper and Elva, the firm developed very few sports racers - just fourteen sports racers - twelve BT8 and two BT5. The BT5 of 1963 was designed by Tauranac, based on the BT2 Formula Junior, and could accommodate the 1,600cc Lotus-Ford twin-cam engine.

Ian Walker Racing received the first of the two Brabham BT5 racers (chassis SC-1-63) and entrusted it to driver Frank Gardner, who also raced for Brabham's Formula Junior works team. In Gardner's capable control, the BT5 was highly competitive, with class victories at Silverstone and Snetterton, and an outright victory at the Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch. Peter Sachs acquired it towards the close of 1963 and had it exported to the United States where it continued to race at local events for several years, setting a lap record at Lime Rock and winning the SCCA Northeast Division F Modified Championship in 1964.

When racing regulations switched to the 3-litre Formula in 1966, Brabham was one of the few constructors who were ready for this change. Although it was nowhere near as powerful as some of its rivals, it was lightweight, simple, and reliable. Jack earned four mid-season victories that led to the Driver's Championship at the year's end by a margin of 14 points from John Surtees. His team-mate, New Zealander Denny Hulme, finished 4th and would go on to bring Brabham back-to-back Drivers' and Manufacturers' World Championships the following year.

The birth of the 'Cosworth Era' in 1968 led to Brabham forsaking its Australian Repco engines and switching to the Northampton-made powerplants. The World Drivers' Championship would elude the Brabham team for many years until Nelson Picquet's two successes in the early 1980s. Additionally, he would earn the team's last-ever Formula 1 victory in 1986. By this point in history, neither Jack Brabham nor Ron Tauranac had any connections with the company.

The Brabham BT8
During the 1964 season, the Brabham team built 53 cars for Formulas 1, 2, and 3, sports car racing, the Tasman series and Indycar. Nine examples of the BT8 sports racers were built for the season, and an additional three during 1965/1966. They were developments of the company's first sports racer, the BT5 of 1963, and easily its most successful two-seater design. The BT8's successor, the BT17, was a one-off sports prototype racer built to Group 7 regulations. Only a single example was built and it did not win any podiums, pole positions, or points. The BT8 won four races and 10 podium finishes.

The BT8 used a multi-tubular steel spaceframe chassis with a double wishbone suspension. Disc brakes were all round and its engine bay could accommodate several engines including the two-liter version of the BRM Formula 1 V8 engine. The typical configuration included four-cylinder Climax engines of 2- or 2.5-liter configuration.

The inaugural racing debut of the Brabham BT8 was in January of 1964 at the London Racing Car Show. Arguably the greatest achievement of the BT8 was when Denny Hulme beat a field of larger-engined competitors to win the 1965 Tourist Trophy at Oulton Park.

by Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2022