1971 Chevron B19

The Chevron B19 was the company's third 2-liter car, introduced for the 1971 season. The company was founded in 1965 by Derek Bennett, an engineer turned racing driver. The Chevron B19 followed the highly successful B16, bringing many more podium finishes and race victories, adding to the company's illustrious but short history.

The B16 had a new tubular space-frame chassis, reinforced by duraluminum and steel sheets. It had detachable front and rear subframes, a conventional suspension with double wishbones at the front and reversed lower wishbones with trailing arms and top links in the back. The fiberglass body was by Jim Clark of Specialised Mouldings. The engine was a Ford four-cylinder unit displacing 1760cc and developed by Cosworth. Most B16 models were coupes with a single spyder, built in response to the all-new, open Lola T210.

The B19 was an evolution of the B16, but instead of duraluminum and steel, it was mostly aluminum. To make accidents easier to fix, the front portion of the chassis was comprised of a separate steel spaceframe. In the front were double wishbones, with the back being lower wishbones and top links. Nearly all the customers selected the Cosworth FVC engine, although other engine options were available.

The feather-light B19 had excellent weight distribution, was quick, and handled fantastically. The B19 would finish second in the 1971 European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship behind Helmut Marko's Lola T212. The following season, Chevron introduced the B21, although many B19s were updated to that specification.

by Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2020