Greatest Racecar? Howden Ganley’s BRM P167 Chevrolet

It’s always difficult to look back and decide what was your greatest race, circuit, moment, or any other of those things, and selecting a greatest racecar is no different. For obvious reasons, the Maki isn’t at the top of my list; it’s a little way down! At heart, I would say that I was more of a single-seater guy, and the BRM P180 was a wonderful car, a lot lighter than the P160. The last time I drove one was at Brands Hatch; I had to interrupt practice for a sports car race elsewhere, but my times were comparable with Emerson Fittipaldi’s. I thought, “Boy, has this come right!” If you put the P160 on full opposite lock, it would take forever to get back. They sorted that out with the P180, and I was right on the pace in that car.

However, I did have a good run in sports cars. I really enjoyed racing the Chevron B15; it was a wonderful car, as all Chevrons are. Similarly, the BRM Can-Am car was fantastic—in fact, any Tony Southgate–designed car is fantastic. Technically, I would say, one of the strongest and most interesting was the Matra 670. I drove that quite a bit as I did most of the test driving and, of course, raced it at Le Mans, in 1972, finishing 2nd with François Cevert. That was fun, and a really top team to work with.