A conversation that changed motor racing
Discussion
occured at a race circuit in NSW, Oz, in the 50s.
The owner driver of a Cooper Bristol, was talking to the owner, builder, driver of a 500. [You know, those motor cycle engined things, that Cooper & others, built, & even Stirling Moss drove]
500 driver "How's it going"?
Cooper Bristol driver "not too good, the tail's all over the place"
500 driver "I'm not suprised, your rear roll center looks to be about 5" under ground".
Cooper Bristol driver "hay"?
After some discussion, they took the car to the 500 drivers workshop, cut the suspension pick up points off, & welded new ones on, in new positions. This was a fairly brave thing for the Cooper owner to do, but it paid off, the car was much improved.
Not a big deal? The same thing has happened a hundred times, all over the world. Well not quite.
You see, the the 500 bloke was Ron Tauranac, who was to design, & build, some pretty good cars for the other bloke. His name was Jack Brabham.
The owner driver of a Cooper Bristol, was talking to the owner, builder, driver of a 500. [You know, those motor cycle engined things, that Cooper & others, built, & even Stirling Moss drove]
500 driver "How's it going"?
Cooper Bristol driver "not too good, the tail's all over the place"
500 driver "I'm not suprised, your rear roll center looks to be about 5" under ground".
Cooper Bristol driver "hay"?
After some discussion, they took the car to the 500 drivers workshop, cut the suspension pick up points off, & welded new ones on, in new positions. This was a fairly brave thing for the Cooper owner to do, but it paid off, the car was much improved.
Not a big deal? The same thing has happened a hundred times, all over the world. Well not quite.
You see, the the 500 bloke was Ron Tauranac, who was to design, & build, some pretty good cars for the other bloke. His name was Jack Brabham.
The bloke who was to be my racing mentor, & engineer, was a party to the conversation. When he told me about it, I had the same reaction, "hay'? It had never occurred to me that you might change the roll center of a car.
I think it was only Tauranac, & Chapman, who were even starting to understand how a car suspension worked, at that time. The handling of some of the road cars of the time, prove that most of the manufacturers had no idea.
Yes it was real racing, but we realy were a bit "Dads Army" in the way we went about it, at least here in Oz. Even the top teams were low budget, low tech, here & in Europe.
I think it was only Tauranac, & Chapman, who were even starting to understand how a car suspension worked, at that time. The handling of some of the road cars of the time, prove that most of the manufacturers had no idea.
Yes it was real racing, but we realy were a bit "Dads Army" in the way we went about it, at least here in Oz. Even the top teams were low budget, low tech, here & in Europe.
Hasbeen said:
Yes it was real racing, but we realy were a bit "Dads Army" in the way we went about it, at least here in Oz. Even the top teams were low budget, low tech, here & in Europe.
I think it was much the same into the 70's, though things were getting a little more complex due to sponsor commitments. I remember driving up the M1 to Northampton (either 1974 or 1975) with a cheque for a little over 24 grand in my pocket to pay for the first 2 new DFVs for that year. I think there were 5 by the end of the season. Maybe 6.
Mind you that was a large percentage of the budget and really only affordable because the previous year's engines could be sold on.
And of course aerodynamics were mostly down to theory and guess work.
Interesting days.
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