1964 Brabham BT8

Jack Brabham founded the Brabham Racing Company and was joined by fellow countryman and design engineer Ron Tauranac. The duo received support from the Australian Repco (Replacement Parts) Company, so they added this brand name to the title, creating the 'Repco Brabham' marque.

In 1963, the Brabham produced their first sports-racing Repco Brabham, the BT5, as campaigned for Ian Walker Racing for Australian drivers Frank Gardner and Paul Hawkins. A second BT5 soon followed, and in January 1964, the company introduced the BT8 at the London Racing Car Show. A total of nine of these cars were built that first year, and another two BT8s constructed in 1965. The final example was built in 1966 for the British John Willment Automobiles team.

The bodies were designed by Tauranc with power from a 2.5-liter Coventry-Climax FPF engine.

by Dan Vaughan

Sports Racer
Chassis number: SC-6-64

Sold originally to 'Team Elite' and then to Sid Taylor, the car was white with green trim and was powered by a 2.0-liter Climax. Denny Hulme was first in the 2.0 Liter class at the 'Guards International Trophy' race at Brands Hatch on August 3, 1964. Frank Gardner sat on the pole and won the 'Anerly Trophy' race at Crystal Palace with the cars on September 5, 1964. Gardner put the car on the pole with a record qualifying lap for the Snetterton Three Hours' on September and finished fourth overall. At the Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca on October 18, 1964, Gardner had a mechanical failure. Hulme placed the car first in the 2.0-liter class at the 'Lavant Cup' race at Goodwood on Easter Monday of 1965. He followed with a significant win in the 'Tourist Trophy' at Oulton Park on May 2, 1965. Hulme won the 'Minilite Trophy' at Brands Hatch on June 20, 1965. On July 10, 1965 Tony Lanfranchi subbed for Hulme in the sport car support race for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and won the race outright. Hulme set a lap record and was forth overall and first in the 2.0L class in the 'Guards Trophy' race at Brands Hatch on August 30, 1965. In 1976, Bill Warner found the car in a junkyard in South Carolina. Warner restored the car and kept it for 12 years. After several different owners over the next many years, the car was purchased in 2004 and it has been racing with General Racing and HMSA.

Sports Racer
Chassis number: SC-2-65

Forming one of the last chassis built of the 12 built between 1964 and 1966, the Brabham BT8 was a development of the earlier BT5 of 1963.

Chassis SC-2-65 was built for the 1965 season and supplied to Bill Kay of Kay Racing for Peter Revson to drive. Revson had considerable success with the car in 1965, winning his class (and 2nd overall) at the Martinin Trophy, Silverstone on July 24th, and at the Guards International Trophy at Brands Hatch on August 30th - he was 2nd in class to Denny Hulme in another BT8. Revson was 2nd at Crystal Palace, won the Stardust GP at Las Vegas, and won his class at Mosport and Pacific International and 2nd at Riverside in the LA Times GP before heading to the Bahamas where he finished 3rd in the Nassau Trophy Race during Bahamas Speed Week.

For the 1966 season the car was driven by Skip Barber with further success, setting two new lap records at Virginia International Raceway and finishing 2nd overall in the SCCA National Championships.

The car subsequently went to Bill Mitchell who ran very successfully during the 1968 season winning the SCCA Divisional Championship, and was 7th at Daytona using an Alfa Romeo engine in place of the original Coventry Climax FPF. Success was repeated in the 1970 season when Mitchell again won the SCCA Championship. The car passed to Dave Headlay in 1973 when Toyota engine was fitted and the car became known as 'Brabota Mark I.' The car subsequently went to the United Kingdom with Robs Lamplough who in turn sold the car to Mike Harrison who had a fresh Climax FPF 2.7 liter built by Climax Engine Services in 1984 and the car was then driven in competition by Mike Littlewood.

In the early nineties the car went back to the United States where it was acquired by Bruce McCaw and prepared by Thor Thorsen of Vintage Racing Services. The car returned to the United Kingdom when John Beasley acquired the car in 1999.

In 2005 a fresh new Coventry Climax 2.5 liter FPF was built by Climax Engine Services. The Hewland HD5 gearbox was rebuilt by Hewland experts PDS Racing. The car ran in the Whitsun Trophy at Goodwood in 2005 driven by Bill Wykeham.

Bob Gett of Boston, MA purchased the car in 2010 in the United Kingdom. He ran the car there in several events including the 2011 Goodwood Revival. He then shipped the car to the United States where it is currently actively campaigned.

Sports Racer
Chassis number: SC1-64

This example is a revival of the original SC1-64 which was constructed new for 1964 and put on display at the BRSCC Racing Car Show in London. It was campaigned by former Cooper exponents Bill Knight and Arthur Owen during the 1964 season. Power was from a 2-liter four-cylinder Coventry Climax FPF engine driven through a five-speed Hewland HD5 transaxle gearbox.

The next owner was racer/dealer Robs Lamplough who brought it to North America and drove it to finish 15th in the Canadian Grand Prix race at Mosport Park. He finished 16th overall at the LA Times Grand Prix at Riverside on October 11. He then raced it at the Monterey Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca on October 18th of that year.

The car without the engine was then sold to American girl racer Judy Kondratieff. The Kondratieff had the car modified to accept a 289 cubic-inch Ford V8 powerplant. In this form, it was raced by driver Bart Martin at Scokton, CA in June of 1965. Sadly, the car crashed at Candlestick Park and claimed the life of Martin. The car was destroyed - later, Kondratieff authorized American-domiciled French ex-racing motorcyclist Phillipe de l'Espinay to recreate this sports-racing car in its original Climax 4-cylinder engined form.

In 2009, this recently restored racer was offered for sale by Bonhams Auction at the Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia sale in Carmel, CA. It was estimated to sell for $260,000 - $295,000 , but would leave the auction unsold.

by Dan Vaughan

Sports Racer
Chassis number: SC-2-64

The Brabham BT8 debuted at the London Racing Car Show in January of 1964. This is the second of just 12 BT-8s built and is Motor Racing Development's most successful sports/racing car.

This BT-8 is powered by the potent double F1 World Championship-winning 2.5 liter Coventry-Climax FPF four-cylinder engine. It was purchased and raced by BOAC pilot H.P.K. Hugh Dibley for the Stirling Moss Automobile Racing Team. Dibley campaigned SC-2-64 throughout the 1964 season, running at Goodwood, Oulton Park, Aintree, and the Silverstone International Trophy. He scored five wins and four-lap records.

It was sold and raced at the BRSCC meeting at Castle Combe where it placed second behind the SC-2-64's sister, SC-4-64. The following month this BT8 won at both the BRSCC Mallory Park and Brands Hatch.

Brabham built over 500 racing cars. The marque is unique as the only F1 World Champion to wear the name of its World Championship driver.

Sports Racer
Chassis number: SC-5-64

Brabham holds the distinction of being the only constructor to win the Formula 1 Drivers' World Championship with a car bearing the driver's own name. Beginning its existence as Motor Racing Developments (MRD), the company was founded in 1960 by driver Jack Brabham and designer Ron Tauranac. Sale to customers commenced in 1961. Although both Brabham and Tauranac were Australians, MRD's premises were based in Surbiton, Surrey - a suburban area of south-west London.

The inaugural car built by MRD in the summer of 1961 was a mid-engined Formula Junior designed by Tauranac. The MRD name was soon dropped, replaced by Brabham and type numbers were prefixed 'BT' for 'Brabham Tauranac'.

Jack Brabham won his second Formula 1 World Championship with Cooper in 1960 but left them at the close of the 1961 season to pursue the development of his own F1 car, the BT3. By the summer of 1962, the BT3 was ready competition. The Brabham marque would secure its first Championship Grand Prix in 1964, with Dan Gurney at the wheel, but there would be no World Championships for Brabham during the 1½-litre Formula 1 era. When the 3-liter Formula was introduced for the 1966 season, Brabham was ready for the change.

What the 3-liter Brabham cars lacked in power, it made up for in lightweight construction and reliability. By mid-season, the Brabham cars were in top form, and Jack would take four victories and eventually secure the Driver's Championship at the year's end by a margin of 14 points from John Surtees. New Zealander Denny Hulme (Jack's team-mate) finished 4th and, the following year, would earn Brabham back-to-back Drivers' and Manufacturers' World Championships.

Brabham was the world's largest manufacturer of open-wheel formula racing monopostos by the end of the 1960s, and approximately 500 examples of all types were sold. Brabham-built automobiles raced and won in virtually every class for which they were eligible. The formula for this success relied on conservative yet sound engineering, interchangeable parts, and durability. The spaceframe chassis received outboard suspension, which was easy to maintain and repair and were adaptable to a variety of circuits.

Eventually, Brabham would drop the Australian Repco engines in favor of the Cosworth powerplants as they grew in popularity, but success remained elusive, with the team having to wait until the early 1980s to secure another World Drivers' Championship. It was won by Nelson Picquet who also earned the team's final Formula 1 victory in 1985.

Brabham-BRM BT8 Sports-racing Prototype chassis number SC-5-64

Brabham built nine examples of the BT8 sports-racing prototype for the 1964 season, one of 53 vehicles built by MRD for sports car racing, IndyCar, Tasman, and Formula 1, 2, and 3. An additional three BT8s were built during 1965 and 1966.

Brabham built three sports racing models, the first being the BT5 of 1963 and a total of two examples were built. The BT8 followed in 1964 and was a development of its predecessor and would be the company's most successful sports racer. Most of the twelve examples were built in 1964 but a few were built in 1965 and 1966. A single BT17 was built in 1966, the company's final sports racer. After the BT17, Brabham concentrated on its single-seaters.

This particular Brabham BT8 is the fifth of the twelve examples built. It was built to the special order of Texan Tom O'Connor's Team Rosebud. The car's inaugural outing was in 1964 at the Goodwood Easter Monday meeting, where it was piloted by 'Black Jack' himself in the Lavant Cup race, winning its class and finishing 3rd overall.

This BT8 was outfitted with a 1,880cc BRM V8 engine and a BRM designed and manufactured six-speed gearbox.

After the Goodwood Easter Monday meeting, the Brabham was sent to Team Rosebud in Texas and driven by Ex-Works Team Lotus Grand Prix driver Trevor Taylor, mostly in the USA. It then passed to the Victoria, Texas Technical School under whose auspices it was driven by Boyd Grice and Paul Scott. The latter became the car's next owner, followed by Darryl Johnson in 1973 and Dee Johnson a year later.

Around this time, the BRM V8 engine was removed and replaced by a Lotus Twin-Cam engine. In this guise, the BT8 continued to race in the U.S. until 1982. Steve Pike acquired the Brabham in 1989 and continued to expand its racing resume in Australia. It returned to the United States in the mid-1990s when it was purchased by Steve Tillack.

The BT8's next owner, Duncan Dayton, treated it to a complete overhaul by the UK-based specialist Sid Hoole in 2002. At this time, marque specialists Hall & Hall installed a new 2.0-liter BRM V8 engine.

In 2004, Mr. Dayton drove the BT8 at the Goodwood Revival meeting. Its next owner, Bobby Rahal, also raced it before selling it to the current owner.

by Dan Vaughan