Tyrrell-Ford P34

Tyrrell-Ford P34

Car: Tyrrell-Ford P34/ Engine: V-8 Ford-Cosworth DFV / Maker: Tyrrell / Bore X Stroke: 85.7 mm X 64.8 mm / Year: 1976 / Capacity: 2,993 cc / Class: Formula 1 / Power: 485 bhp at 10,600 rpm / Wheelbase: 96.6 inches / Track: 48.6 inches Front, 58 inches Rear / Weight: 1311.8 lbs

When “uncle” Ken Tyrrell rings you up and says : “Can you come over, I’ve got something to show you”, you don’t ask: “What?” or “Why?”. One thing about Ken, and I have known him for 40 years, is he never called a spade shovel; you know exactly where you stand with him, right or wrong. So one morning in September 1975, having just got back from Monza, I got on my motorcycle and rode over to Ken’s house in West Clandon, and after a welcoming cup of coffee he said: “Come out into the garden”. Totally unprepared for what to expect, I followed him out to the lawn and my mouth fell open, and a look of total disbelief came upon my face. Ken roared with laughter as I stood there speechless, and to this day he still has a chuckle at the memory of “Jenks speechless”. Denis Jenkinson describing the first time he laid eyes on the Tyrrell P34.

Members only$29 / year

Keep going. This is where it gets good.

Sports Car Digest Membership is for people who'd rather spend an hour with one chassis number than skim ten headlines. The rest of this story — and every other one like it — is a few seconds away.

  • 5,000+ members-only stories

    Concours, auctions, race history, driven classics and the full archive.

  • No ads. None.

    The whole site reads like a magazine, on every device.

  • The market, every week

    Auction results and classic-car values from the people who were there.

  • 30% off the shop

    Every Sports Car Digest shirt and piece of merch, all year.

Join Sports Car Digest — Keep Reading

$29 a year. Cancel anytime, no hoops.
Already a member? Sign in

BY CAR PEOPLE, NOT A NAMELESS MEDIA COMPANY. Your membership keeps a small independent team of historians, photojournalists and racing drivers doing this.

Join — Keep Reading $29/yr