British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula 1 motor racing team. Founded in 1945, it raced from 1950 to 1977, competing in 197 Grands Prix and winning 17. While BRM certainly created more successful F1 cars, the most astonishing has to be the BRM Type 15 with its inconceivable 1.5 litre V16 engine.
The first post-war set of rules for Formula One allowed 1.5 litre supercharged or 4.5 litre naturally aspirated engines so BRM’s first engine design was an extremely ambitious 1.5 litre supercharged V16. The design concept of the V16 had not been used extensively on automobiles before so that design problems were many and the engine did not fire for the first time until June 1949. While it proved to be outstandingly powerful, its output was produced over a very limited range of engine speed and it was ultimately unreliable and difficult to develop.
The BRM V16 reportedly produced an amazing 600 hp, or 400 hp per liter, with pistons smaller than two inches in diameter! We’d love to get our hands (or two fingers) on a minuscule piston.
The Type 15, which was the designation for the V16 car, won the first two races it actually started, the Formula Libre and Formula One events at Goodwood in September 1950, driven by Reg Parnell. However, it was never to be so successful again and the team’s development efforts were not up to the task of improving the situation. A string of failures caused much embarrassment, and the problems were still unsolved when the governing CSI announced that for 1954, a new engine formula of 2.5 litres naturally aspirated or 750 cc supercharged would take effect.
While the video does contain a picture gallery, it is audio only with no footage of the BRM V16 on the track. The reverberation was obviously recorded while on a track, as the racket comes and goes depending upon its proximity to the recording device. What a sound…enjoy!
[Source: Wikipedia]
Good gracious, what a racket!
I had a major case of goosebumps when it flies by at 2:00 – 2:15.
I’m sure my mum would of agreed with you saying what a racket as she grew up over the road from the BRM factory in Bourne Linclonshire England. I remember her saying she got sick of the noise. A very proud achievement for our small market town when BRM won the drivers and constructors formula 1 world championships in 1962 with Graham Hill as the driver. We’ve had 2 special event days where the BRM and ERA cars have been driven through our towns streets. To celebrate 50 years since winning the F1 world championships and what would of been Raymond Mays 100th birthday. (Founder of ERA/BRM) English Racing Automobiles / British Racing Motors. If your interested to see the cars in our town search for BRM Day. There is also a DVD of the day available. I’m my opinion you can’t beat the sound of the V16. And also the H16.
Re: your wish to get your hands on a BRM V16 piston:
The Canadian Racing Drivers Assn formed in Toronto late 1957, has a trophy for the most improved Canadian racing driver sometimes construed as the best driver. This trophy features a piston and rod from a V16 BRM. The tropy has been won by a who’s who of Canadian drivers over the years. I don’t know who the most recent winner was or where the Trophy might be today. I suggest you take up Canadian residence and start racing in Canada so you might get to hold this trophy for a year.
Perfect! Barring one ending up on eBay or our front door, we now have a plan to work on to get that little piston.
Very funny – thanks for sharing.
The audio on the clip is from the CD that comes with the Nick Mason & Mark Hales book “Into The Red”. Thought you should acknowledge that.
Go and buy the book and play this track on your stereo extremely loud.
I knew I recognized that song. Great book and song. Thanks for mentioning it.
O.K., nice story, but where is the video and the sound? I just got the icon indicating something was supposed to be there and didn’t download.
I have several photos of the actual “Into the Red” BRM V16 engine (out of the chassis) and the bare chassis on my Flickr Photostream – http://www.flickr.com/photos/36111778@N08/sets/72157615807706609/. The photos were taken during a trip to Nick Mason’s Ten Tenths car collection in 2000. It’s a long story how that trip came about, so best to check the photos and accompanying captions.
great link einstein