1972 Chevron B24

This car was originally purchased by Bobby Brown and raced in the European F5000 Series by Brown and Tony Dean during 1973 and 1974. Peter Gethin also drove the car at Oulton Park in May 1973. It was brought to the United States and raced by Roger Bighouse in the Inaugural Long Beach Grand Prix in September 1975.

Todd Gerstenberger acquired the car in 1986 and restored it in 1998 to 2001. It has been raced extensively in western U.S. histroic events.

Chevron's first F5000 racer was the B24. It was given an aluminum monocoque chassis with a Chevrolet powerplant as a fully stressed engine. The five-liter, fuel-injected V8 engine was married to a Hewland five-speed gearbox and disc brakes were placed at all four corners. In the front was a double-wishbone suspension with a multi-link layout in the rear.

The Chevron B24 made its racing debut at the 1972 Oulton Park Gold Cup where Brian Redman piloted the Chevy-powered car to a victory. The Chevron would score several more victories throughout the 1972 season. In 1973, several customer cars were built and actively raced throughout the world. It is believed that approximately ten examples were built before they were replaced with the B28 in 1974.

The Chevron B24 was successful in Formula F5000 competition, including winning the European F5000 Championship (won by Teddy Pilette in the Team VDS B24). However, its greatest accomplishment was not in Formula 5000 competition, but in F1 competition. F5000 cars were often used to fill the grid of non-World Championship Formula 1 races during the 1970s. Only once did an F5000 car outpace a field of F1 cars, and that was at the 1973 Race of Champions. A Chevron B24, driven by Peter Gethin, took home that noble victory.

By Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2016