1970 Chevron B16

The Chevron Company was founded by Derek Bennett and within a short period of time had become very successful, with much of the accolades gained with the B8 sports racer of 1967. A prototype racer followed to contest the European 2-Liter Championship, but only after the customer cars had been built. Once work was underway near the close of the 1969 season, it soon became apparent that the single-cam, two-valve head, 2-liter BMW four-cylinder engine used in the B8 was nearing the end of its usable life. A suitable replacement was needed.

Weslake and Cosworth were asked to build a replacement head for the BMW engine, but due to other complications, neither company took on the work. Instead, Cosworth developed an engine called the FVC which had the 116E block similar to the FVA but with a larger bore, displacing 1,790cc and offering 235 horsepower.

The chassis for the new prototype racer was inspired by the existing design and continued the use of a tubular space frame, with steel and duraluminum sheet for extra support. The subframes in the front and back could be removed to help speed up repairs. The suspension was comprised of doubles wishbones in the front. In the back were reversed lower wishbones, trailing arms, and top links. The fiberglass body was created by Specialised Mouldings to a design by stylist Jim Clark.

The new B16 prototype racer made its racing debut with the FVA engine at the Nürburgring 500 km race where it was driven by Brian Redman to pole position and victory. This impressive accomplishment, followed by many other victories, made the B16 popular with privateers, with approximately 23 examples produced. It was able to homologate for Group 5 GT competition, despite not officially achieving the 25 minimum number produced.

During the 1970 European 2-Liter Championship season, the B16's main competition was from the new Lola T210 with open coachwork which was 70 kg lighter than the coupe bodies. Redman and John Burton were the B16 Work's drivers for the season, with Redman winning the first round at Paul Richard. The Lola and Chevron battled all season, with the championship being decided with the final event at Spa.

Redman had Bennett build an open version of the B16 with a design mirrored from the Porsche 908/3 which Redman had driven that year at the Targa Florio. The B16 coupe and Spyder had the same mechanical components, with the only difference being the body configuration. An unsuccessful debut at the Nürburgring 500 km was followed by a victory at Spa, earning Chevron enough points to win the Championship.

For the following season, Chevron introduced the production version of the B16 Spyder called the B19.

by Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2020