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VINTAGE: The First Winning Car For BRM
Historic Type 25 will run at Goodwood Revival as British event honors BRM as featured marque.
Wouter Melissen  | http://www.ultimatecarpage.com  |  Posted September 10, 2010   Goodwood (GB)
The sole-surviving BRM Type 25 was driven by Jo Bonnier to the marque's first Grand Prix victory in 1959. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
The featured marque for this year’s Goodwood Revival is BRM, or British Racing Motors, which scored its first victory 60 years ago in a non-championship event on the Goodwood track after struggling to compete in international racing.

Among the 40 or so BRM cars that will take to the track at the Revival, Sept. 17-19, is the sole-surviving Type 25, the very car that Jo Bonnier drove in BRM’s first official Grand Prix win in 1959. Unfortunately, BRM’s mastery of front-engine race cars came just when Cooper had launched the mid-engine revolution in F1.

The Type 25 was debuted by BRM in September 1955, but the car was held back by reliability and handling problems. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
BRM's first attempt to bring Grand Prix success to Great Britain failed miserably due to the complexity of V16-engined racing car, but also its equally complex management structure. It had all started with high hopes in the late 1940s when rich entrepreneurs and talented engineers joined forces to form British Racing Motors. There was not one supremo, but instead all decisions were made by commissions, which was definitely not the most effective way.

The engineers came up with a very advanced 1.5-liter V16-powered single seater, which never lived up to its 550-horsepower potential. The team struggled on for a few years until one of the founders, Alfred Owen, stepped up and bought the team in its entirety late in 1952.

By this time, the V16 BRM was no longer eligible for Grands Prix, but it continued to be campaigned in Formula Libre events. It was also further developed and several victories were scored, but all in minor races.

Five years after the V16's debut, work was finally started on a new Formula 1 car. This time simplicity was the keyword, but the team still persevered with their founding principle of having every major part designed in-house. There were a few bits ordered from specialized suppliers – specialized British suppliers of course.

Chassis 258 has been raced extensively in vintage events by private owners. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
At first glance, the resulting BRM Type 25 (not P25 as it is often erroneously called) was certainly a simpler affair, but there were again some unique features that not necessarily improved the car's chances for success.

The biggest contrast to the high revving V16 of the previous BRM was the twin-cam 2.5-liter four cylinder that was designed from scratch by Stuart Tressillian. He opted for an unusual big bore to allow for very big valves to be fitted. The nationalistic principles were set aside for the two twin-choke Webers.

The engine was installed in a straightforward steel ladder-frame chassis with wishbone and coil spring suspension at the front and a DeDion axle at the rear with a transverse leaf spring. The four-speed transaxle sported another oddity: a single disc brake used to slow down both rear wheels. At the front, a conventional setup was chosen with Lockheed discs. Cast-alloy wheels were used instead of the still-popular wire wheels.

In September 1955, the Type 25 debuted at a local race at Aintree. It was relatively quick straight away, but there were handling and reliability problems that would dog the car throughout its career. The big valves were a weak spot, and oil and dirt build-up on the single rear brake was another major issue.

The BRM is powered by a twin-cam 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine fed by a pair of twin-choke Weber carburetors. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
Drivers Mike Hawthorn and Tony Brooks were hired for 1956, but other than some spectacular crashes, they did not manage to grab attention. At the end of the season, Brooks took off; he did not want anything to do with the horrible BRM anymore. There were some revisions carried through for the 1957 season, but BRM again failed to impress. To add insult to injury, Vanwall scored the first British Grand Prix win in 30 years.

Still determined, BRM carried on into 1958 with some fundamental changes. A more sophisticated space-frame chassis was introduced and the suspension was modified. Following suggestions made by Colin Chapman of Lotus, the single rear leaf spring was replaced by coil springs on each corner.

But by now, the Type 25's reputation was so bad that even the one-handed Archie Scott Brown refused to drive the car, even though he was desperate to get a break in F1.

The changes did improve the handling, but the results were again poor because the engine suffered from overheating after changing from alcohol-based fuels to pump gas. For 1959, the cooling system was improved and the Lockheed discs were replaced by Dunlop brakes, but the single rear disc was retained.

Three years of development had finally turned the Type 25 into, by BRM standards, a fast and reliable racing car. The car's first victories were scored in non-championship events. Jo Bonnier finally added that elusive first Grand Prix win to BRM's tally at Zandvoort in the Spring of 1959.
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Wouter Melissen

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