I've been wanting to produce a video dedicated to this legendary V16 engine for a while now, but it took a bit longer than it should have. I'd been saving the clips in the hope of recording more and better material in the future, but I don't see any other opportunities available on the horizon at the moment, so I've put together everything I have from the various Festival of Speed I've attended over the last few years. In this video you can see two different BRM Type 15s:
- the one with the clean body, without numbers, is the very first Type 15 V16 (chassis 01), which should be in the hands of the British National Motor Museum. I recorded it during the 2018 and 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, always driven with caution
- the one sporting the number 5 and being driven properly is one of the three exact, brand-new examples of the Continuation Series. These cars use authentic, unused chassis from 1950 and are meticulously crafted by historic restoration specialists Hall and Hall using thousands of original technical drawings
Founded in 1945 by Raymond Mays and Peter Berthon, British Racing Motors (BRM) was born out of a grand patriotic dream: to build an all-British Grand Prix car capable of dethroning the dominant Italian teams like Alfa Romeo and Ferrari in the post-WWII era. Backed by a consortium of British engineering companies, BRM set out to prove that British ingenuity could conquer the pinnacle of motorsport. Due to slow progress and disappointing early results, some investors left. Consequently, Alfred Owen - whose company, Rubery Owen, made car parts - took full control of the team. From 1954 to 1970, BRM competed in Formula 1 under the official name 'Owen Racing Organisation'.
The first post-war rules for the top level of motor racing allowed 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre normally aspirated engines. BRM's first engine design was an extremely ambitious 135° 1.5-litre supercharged V16. It was conceived as basically two 750cc V8 engines back-to-back with cam drives and gears in the centre of the engine. The pistons were incredibly tiny, roughly the size of a small espresso cup, but that ultra-short stroke was thought to allow the engine to rev up to 12,000rpm (and it was tested up to 14,000rpm on benches), a number unheard of in the 1950s. By the end of its development in 1953, the engine was credited with producing 585 bhp at 11,800 rpm with the supercharged set at 72 psi (4.9 bar) of boost.
Components were manufactured by various British companies including Rolls-Royce, which was contracted to produce a two-stage centrifugal supercharger, rather than the more commonly used Roots type, utilizing technology derived from the legendary Merlin aero engines. The chassis designed for the engine was made by Rubery Owen and called Type 15. It wasn't particularly advanced but much attention was paid to keeping the centre of gravity low.
After many delays due to the particularity (and issues) of the engine, the youth of the project and the number of different suppliers producing the parts, the completed car was first run on the aerodrome at RAF Folkingham in December 1949, driven by Raymond Mays. It had been intended to debut the car at the 1950 Formula One Grand Prix race at Silverstone, but problems with the engine led to its postponement. BRM instead had to settle for displaying the car on the track after the BRM mechanics had worked all the previous night to get the car ready, managing to drove the car for several laps and making a good impression.
Despite its jaw-dropping engineering, the BRM Type 15 had one of the most notoriously troubled and dramatic careers in motorsport history. It was a classic case of a car that was simply too advanced for its time. Just as the engineers were finally fixing the reliability issues, tragedy struck the project. For the 1952 and 1953 seasons, the World Championship governing body suddenly changed the rules to Formula 2 specifications. This meant the magnificent V16 was banned from official Grand Prix racing before it ever got the chance to prove its true potential, being relegated to minor Formule Libre races.
Enjoy the the scream of the V16 engine in action on the Goodwood hillclimb course!
0:00 Intro
0:20 Close ups
1:21 Heading to the start line
3:38 In action on the hillclimb
8:40 Back to the paddock
#BRMV16 #V16Engine #Formula1
I have to thank my friends and youtubers @Italiansupercarvideo and @NM2255 for the amazing collaboration done during the event. Don't forget to subscribe to their channels!!
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- Camcorders: Canon Legria HF G30 & GX10 + Canon DM-100 Microphone, Sony AX-53 + Audio Technica Microphone, Sony FDR AX700 with Audio-Technica Microphone
- Event: Festival of Speed 20218, 2023 & 2024
- Where: Goodwood, England
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