BRM's dying days

Sir,

Through the mists of time comes the BRM P207. I fondly remember seeing this car at Mallory Park in 1978 with Teddy Pilette gamely wrestling it in an Aurora AFX British Formula One event. Having become interested in motorsport through buying your magazine as a lad, I could never understand why BRM could never qualify for a grand prix in 1977. I was under the impression they were a top team.

Further investigation revealed they had been in decline for some time and the ’78 season was to be their last That Mallory race may have been the end. I remember the car made a glorious ‘zing’ noise from its V12, which seemed much more civilised than its DFV-powered rivals. I also remember Pilette made several trips to the pits before eventually retiring, even though the car sounded fine. Perhaps the ‘Stanley Steamer’ was overheating. I The ground-effect car which was built and briefly ran at Donington Park was the P230. This car was pictured in the press around 1979 and featured a nose-mount

ed oil cooler and looked considerably better than the P207. A gentleman by the name of John Jordan was its owner and he intended to race the car, with Neil Betteridge as the driver, under the Jordan-BRM banner in the Aurora AFX series. Jordan said he intended to revive the BRM name in grand prix racing but, as far as I am aware, the car did not race.

Does the P230, truly the last BRM, still exist?

I AM, YOURS ETC,

David Claridge, Walsall, Staffs