Page 1 of 1 Introduced at the start of the 1967 season, the Brabham BT23 was a remarkably versatile and successful machine. It was used as a Formula 2 car in two evolutions but also in Formula B and Tasman guise, powered by a variety of engines.
A very conventional design, the BT23 was built around a tubular space-frame chassis, which used some of the body-panels as reinforcements. In its original Formula 2 guise, the BT23 was powered by a Cosworth FVA engine, mated to a Hewland FT200 gearbox. Subsequent versions also featured Coventry Climax four-cylinder as well as Repco and even Alfa Romeo V8 engines.
Jochen Rindt proved particularly successful with the BT23 fielded by Winkelmann with works support. He won nine F2 races out of 15 attempts in 1967. In an upgraded BT23C, the talented Austrian won a further six races from twelve starts the next year. Other drivers that successfully raced BT23s were Derek Bell, Kurt Ahrens, Piers Courage and Peter Gethin.
In less than two years over 30 BT23s of all versions were built by Brabham. While Rindt excelled in the straightforward Brabham, a sad side note of the car's history was Chris Lambert's fatal crash at Zandvoort in 1968 with a BT23C. Page 1 of 1