P57/P578

Main

HistoryIn 1961 the regulations for Formula 1 changed unexpectedly, catching the BRM and the other British teams unawares. With restrictions now in place limiting all engines to 1.5 Litres, it threw a hitch into the plans for the season. BRM did have a plan for a new 1.5L V8 engine on the drawing board, but it wasn't ready and wouldn't see completion until the end of the season at least.

The team chose to compromise, installing an admittedly underpowered Coventry Climax 4- cylinder unit that Cooper and Lotus already used. They used the same spaceframe chassis that had seen use in the P48 of 1960, though lighter, with the same 2 disc rear brake system that had been implemented at the end of the P48's performance lifespan. The front suspension had been improved from the P48's design by moving the coil-spring and damper assemblies closer to the hub. Lucas fuel injection fed and naturally aspirated, the P57 generated 185bhp at 10,250 RPM. The P57 weighed approximately 495 kilos.

P578 was a lot of adjustments onto this formula. The angle of the driver's seating had been altered to sit at 45 degrees instead of the P57's 35 degrees. The spaceframe chassis had been designed with far thinner tubes than any other BRM model to date and the rubber bag style fuel tanks were equipped to handle 26.5 imperial gallons compared to the 24 of P57. Using the traditional drive shafts of BRM's own design, and at the start of P578's career, Colotti-Francis six-speed gearboxes would have been used due to the considerable weight difference than the heavier BRM set up. This would be changed later on in it's lifespan, however, after several problems with the reliability they reverted to the older 5 speed unit by which they were more accustomed. The eight exhausts that featured on the P578 started life vertically stacked but were adjusted to the more traditional horizontal position when they became more prone to being loosened by the drive.

When tested at Monza, the Italian press nicknamed the sleek P578 as "little miss Elegance" and with Graham Hill and Richie Ginther behind the wheels for the immensely successful 1962 series, with Hill finishing every race and winning 3 out of the 4 final races of the season at Italy, Germany and South Africa.

Hill's P578 would come to be known as 'old faithful' because of it's successes, and would not only race for the Works team and for Scuderia Centro-Sud in 1963, with Maurice Trintignant in '64 and once again for Centro-Sud in 1965. It clocked over 20,000 miles in it's lifespan.

Notable Victories

1962- Graham Hill won the International 100 at Goodwood, and the International Trophy at Silverstone.
He would then go on to win the Grand Prix at Zandvoort, Nurburgring, Monza and East London

1963- Hill would claim victory at the Lombank Trophy in Snetterton, as well as the Aintree 200.
He would then go on to win the Grand Prix of Monte Carlo and Watkins Glen.

Connections

DriversMaurice TrintignantGraham HillBruce JohnstoneRichie GintherTony MarshTony BrooksOrganisationBRMCollectionData CollectionBRM in the 1960'sThe BRM Car CollectionRelated itemsTrophies from 1960-65