How F1's greatest sound has returned to the track

“We were approached by the Owen family because John remembered as a lad the three BRM V16s on the grid at Goodwood,” says ace historic preparer and former BRM mechanic Rick Hall. “No one was running the original ones because they were very tired, very old and had not had a lot of money spent on them for many years. His dream was to hear three V16s at Goodwood and race.”

The final part of that dream should become a reality this weekend when Hall’s son Rob contests the Goodwood Trophy for grand prix and Voiturette racers from either side of the Second World War in BRM V16 chassis IV, the first of three new cars. It will be the first race for a car only completed last year, but the idea has been to stay as close as possible to the originals and show what the much-maligned but also romantically remembered machine can really do.

Too many problems

A glorious failure or technical folly. Depending on how charitable the commentator, those two summaries were often used to describe the BRM Type 15, or V16 as it is better known. Famously, British Racing Motors arrived with big national enthusiasm shortly after the Second World War, became a laughing stock, rose to win both the Formula 1 drivers’ and constructors’ world titles in 1962, and then had a rollercoaster ride in the late 1960s and early 1970s before finally closing its doors.

Designer Peter Berthon’s 135-degree V16 Mk1, BRM’s first car aimed at providing an all-British challenger to take on Italian might in grand prix racing, had a troubled life that is often used to summarise some of the team’s early strife. Although the project was started in 1947, problems in getting materials during post-war austerity and organising the many suppliers and partners from the British engineering industry caused huge delays.

The car didn’t run in public until December 1949 and, under intense pressure, was forced into its competition debut before it was ready. The result was an embarrassing disaster when the back axle output shaft failed and left the car stranded as French ace Raymond Sommer let in the clutch at the start of the 1950 BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone. Pennies were thrown at the car in disgust.

Part of the problem was the complexity of the 1.5-litre, two-stage supercharged engine, capable of producing well in excess of 500bhp (on some occasions more like 600bhp), significantly more than any of its rivals and a remarkable figure from such a small engine. When it worked. With 584 individual parts in the supercharger alone, there was a lot that could go wrong, and having well-made parts to exact specifications was essential. Think watch engineering.

The complexity of the V16 meant there was a lot that could and did go wrong. Here BRM mechanics work on Reg Parnell's machine at the 1951 British GP

Photo by: Motorsport Images

“On the broad basis of the more cylinders the more power, Peter had set out originally with a 12-cylinder conception and ended with a 16, each cylinder smaller than that of an Austin Seven,” explained Raymond Mays in BRM, written with Peter Roberts.

But the team led by Mays, the originator of the project following his pre-war ERA (English Racing Automobiles) success with Berthon, never seemed to have enough time or money to get on top of the car. At least, not in time for it to achieve its goal of world domination.

“The original budget was too low,” wrote motorsport historian and BRM expert Doug Nye in Autosport in 1976. “The planners had not allowed for anything going wrong. When it did go bad, there was no time to recover before the next disaster. From the word go, the ambitious team management were fighting a losing battle. They were always one step behind.”

Its successes were mainly in minor events and the car is largely remembered for its world championship failure rather than its eventual refinement. The point is that BRM did get it working, eventually…

When Alfa Romeo withdrew from F1 at the end of 1951 – Ferrari had finally proved that the legendary 158/159 needed replacing – and BRM still seemed incapable of consistent and reliable entries, the world championship was switched to F2 regulations. BRM had no interest in developing a two-litre unsupercharged car, so continued with the V16 in non-championship Formula 1 and Libre events, largely in the United Kingdom.

Finally proving the concept

After the Silverstone debacle in 1950, Reg Parnell had won two short races at Goodwood – the Woodcote Cup and the Goodwood Trophy – but things had not improved much in 1951. Parnell scored the V16’s only world championship points in the 1951 British GP, five laps behind the winning Ferrari of Jose Froilan Gonzalez. And then gearbox issues forced the team’s withdrawal from the Italian GP.

Problems and developments continued throughout 1952, with Juan Manuel Fangio and Gonzalez joining the driver strength. In September, Gonzalez led a BRM 1-2-3 in the Goodwood Trophy, but it was too late. With many of its supporters gone (including from the BRM Association itself) and the world championship switching to F2, the Board of BRM Ltd recommended the sale of the company, only British buyers considered.

Its future hung in the balance but Sir Alfred Owen, head of the Rubery Owen Group that was one of BRM’s first supporters, stepped in. His backing, with Mays and Berthon kept on and engineer Tony Rudd becoming an ever-more important figure, gave the project a much-needed boost.

After its chaotic world championship career, the P15 went on to have success outside it, Ken Wharton winning the Goodwood Glover Trophy race in 1954 ahead of Roy Salvador's 250F Maserati

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Reliability was improved and in May 1953 came the non-championship Albi GP. At Albi, where separate heats for F1 and F2 cars then produced a combined grid for the main event, BRM had a rare opportunity because Ferrari entered a 375 for Alberto Ascari, then on his way to a world title double. Giuseppe Farina was also present in the Ferrari-based Thin Wall Special (a project started by former BRM supporter Tony Vandervell following frustration with the V16), so all three world champions were present, with the three fastest F1 cars in the world going head to head.

Fangio beat Ascari to pole by 2.9 seconds for their heat and was ahead of his rival when the Ferrari failed. Farina also dropped out, leaving Fangio to lead a BRM 1-2-5 and make himself favourite for the final. Sadly, the BRM’s power and new-found reliability outstripped the rubber technology and all three cars hit tyre trouble, Ken Wharton suffering a major crash and Gonzalez salvaging second behind Louis Rosier’s Ferrari. But for Mays the point had been made.

“This race meant the earth to us,” he wrote. “The BRM had redeemed itself. It was one of the great moments of my life as I listened to the cheering. Albi was the turning point.”

The V16, later in lighter, short-wheelbase Mk2 P30 form, would go on winning into 1955 and proved itself capable of taking on the new generation of 2.5-litre F1 cars. But its successes were mainly in minor events and the car is largely remembered for its world championship failure rather than its eventual refinement. The point is that BRM did get it working, eventually…

Return of a slumbering monster

BRM V16s have made occasional outings at events over the years, but the complexity (and expense) that made them so tricky in the 1950s generally precluded serious running. As nearly 1.5 million views of the V16 YouTube clip on Nick Mason’s Into the Red shows, though, interest in perhaps the greatest-sounding machine humanity has yet produced remains high. And the Owen family now wants to share the joy, which is where we came in.

“The first option was to sort the originals but nobody wanted to spend the money on those,” continues Rick Hall. “So John Owen said, ‘Can we make one?’” The discussions moved swiftly in 2019, and soon Hall & Hall found itself building chassis IV.

There was only ever going to be one partner for the endeavour. Former BRM man Hall was always involved in the discussion and his operation was the obvious team for the job.

The newly-built V16-powered P15 was given a public debut with a demo run at last year's Goodwood Revival with Rob Hall at the wheel

Photo by: BRM

“We certainly didn’t put it to tender,” concedes Paul Owen, grandson of Sir Alfred. “The plans were developed in conjunction with Rick and we talked about building another one, how much it would cost, what we would do with it, and in the end we just got on with it.”

Hall had also been involved in an earlier project to build three new V16 engines for Tom Wheatcroft, only for the initiative to be shelved when the Donington Park impresario died in 2009. But Hall was able to do a deal to pick the project up again – including the blocks, heads and a few internals that had been produced – for the new Owen venture.

"We could have gone to electronic engine management, but we thought it’s got to be as per the original. It’s the fourth chassis that would have been made" Rick Hall

With six cars originally laid down and only three Mk1s built, the momentum for chassis IV was growing. The discovery of the original 1949 body buck, which has inspired the current construction of chassis V to the specification of the first, smooth-bodied V16 prototype, added to the excitement.

The COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 had a mixed impact.

“Because there was no racing we could get stuck in to the V16,” says Hall. “But some of the material we wanted, it was like history repeating itself after the war when materials were short! People were shut down and out of stock.”

But work continued. Hall & Hall and BRM have 22,000 original BRM drawings and manufactured much of the parts in-house, though some specialists – including Laranca Engineering with supercharger internals and Ark Racing manufacturing various parts– also contributed.

The car was ready in 2021 and did appear at September’s Goodwood Revival, demonstrated alongside four original V16s. The originals were beautifully made and the new car follows that tradition. Given the car’s unreliable reputation, you could be forgiven for thinking that Hall’s journey was only just beginning, but things have gone pretty smoothly so far.

“A lot of the problems we’d experienced running the other cars was to do with the magnetos – heat soak because they were so old, and they had laminated armatures and the pins that held them together used to work loose,” he explains.

Hall & Hall has stayed as faithful as possible to the original drawings, with much of the manufacturing done in-house

Photo by: BRM

“We’re still on the original bodies of the magnetos, but we’ve changed the armatures to a Magneti type, which were fitted in the Magneti Marelli magnetos, and Ferraris and Maseratis in period. We’ve also changed the coil – it looks the same but we’ve got more windings and we’ve changed some of the points and condensers.

“We could have gone to electronic engine management, but we thought it’s got to be as per the original. It’s the fourth chassis that would have been made.”

Another issue in period was the aluminium seal for the cylinder heads to the block, so Hall & Hall went to a later BRM P25-period spec with Cooper rings. Stainless steel has been used instead of alloy, so the block and head now fit together better. Other minor glitches, such as an oil leak and a selector fork issue, have been easily solved. Like the originals, the car suffered from brake knock-off but valves have been put in to eliminate that.

“If we’re going to race the car we need it to be reliable,” says Hall. “So far it’s been good. The supercharger is very complex but it’s mainly behaved itself. It’s learning the wrinkles of assembly really.”

Showing the car’s potential

Ahead of Rob Hall’s Goodwood outing, Rick entertained spectators with some lively runs at Shelsley Walsh’s Classic Nostalgia meeting in July. Unsurprisingly, he’s impressed.

“It’s awesome, it’s the power,” enthuses Hall, who has driven all the original and two reconstruction Mk1s and the two Mk2s. “It feels fantastic, really lively and powerful. It’s a pleasure to drive.

“Everything is more precise, the gearchange is a little slicker than the originals, and the supercharger feels more progressive. With Tom’s Mk2 when you were going through a bend it was either on the supercharger or off it – when it came in it went from 150bhp to about 500bhp! This is more progressive and powerful all the way through.”

The BRM V16 thrilled onlookers when it was put through its paces at the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb

Photo by: BRM

Testing at Silverstone revealed that the BRM needed higher gearing, and Hall Sr estimates that the V16 will be able to hit 160mph down the Lavant Straight at Goodwood. In period, on a fast track the cars were capable of 190-200mph.

Somewhat ironically, the main opposition this weekend is likely to be the quickest of the ERAs rather than the foreign opposition Mays had been so keen to beat, but it will still be fascinating to see (and hear) how the car goes. As well as the impressive engine, the V16 was the first GP car to race with disc brakes, though handling and traction were always issues.

"It’s a truly spectacular sound that can hopefully inspire the next generation of engineers and bring back memories for those who heard it in period" Paul Owen

“It should have the power, but it’s got a long wheelbase and you can’t adjust much,” explains Hall Jr. “The other cars have been modified over the years, but we don’t think we’ll disgrace ourselves and be at the back.

“I don’t want to repeat history. It wasn’t ready to go. I want it to be right.”

The sound of inspiration

The V16 powered the first BRM. And it was also the only BRM engine that didn’t win a world championship grand prix (albeit the H16 won in the back of a Lotus) so it could be regarded somewhat as unfinished business. But there was another reason the Owen family decided the Type 15 needed to be a key part of the BRM celebration story.

“Going through my grandfather’s papers, we found Car Development Committee minutes that said the plan was to build six Mk1 V16s,” says Paul Owen. “They built three, then the regulations changed, so they didn’t build the other three.”

With John Owen wanting to see, hear and share the remarkable V16, discussions moved swiftly.

“The only truly original Mk1 V16 is owned by Beaulieu and is considered by Beaulieu to be too old and too valuable to be driven in earnest,” says Paul.

The discovery of the original body buck hastened plans to reproduce the BRM

Photo by: BRM

“Part of the reawakening project is to tell the story, introduce it to a new audience and go racing. We thought what better way to do that than build another one? It’s a truly spectacular sound that can hopefully inspire the next generation of engineers and bring back memories for those who heard it in period.

“The plan was always for it to be raced. It’s a sound we wanted others to hear.”

There was an enthusiastic reception for the car at the Shelsley Walsh Classic Nostalgia meeting, and Owen has an open mind about which other events the car could attend after the Goodwood Revival.

“Since Shelsley Walsh we’ve had various approaches from venues,” he says. “It does put bums on seats – it always did.

“We don’t want to overuse it – once or twice a year it’ll go out in anger. We want to tell the story and introduce it to new audiences, so we don’t want to always be preaching to the choir. A V16, for example, has never been to the States and it’s not got to Europe much either. Our plans are pretty fluid at the moment, but we want to do things that stimulate, things that people find interesting – that’s all part of the DNA of BRM.”

The engines have been lovingly reproduced to kick out the authentic V16 growl

Photo by: BRM