Page 1 of 2 Next >> Ahead of the 1970 season, BRM hired experienced designer Tony Southgate in an attempt to make up the ground lost in Formula 1 during the second half of the 1960s. The personnel changes yielded immediate results and Pedro Rodriguez won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps with the new P153. This was BRM's first Grand Prix win since 1966.
Before joining BRM, Southgate's most successful designs were not single seaters but sports cars. This notion was not wasted on BRM and he was also commissioned to develop the British manufacturer's very first sports car. The plan was to enter the very lucrative Canadian-American Challenge Cup or 'Can-Am', which was conveniently run in the second half of the year when the Formula 1 season was already almost finished.
For the new BRM Can-Am car, Southgate developed a very conventional aluminium monocoque chassis with independent suspension on all four corners. While BRM, like Ferrari, usually produced all major components in-house, the specific needs of Can-Am racing prompted the manufacturer to use a third-party drivetrain. This consisted of a big-block Chevrolet V8 engine and a Hewland four-speed gearbox.
Known as the P154, the new BRM was clothed in a lightweight fibreglass body. Tony Southgate believed sufficient downforce could be created by a wedge-shaped body, so no separate rear wing was fitted. Instead the rear body-work boasted a 'ducktail'. The broad nose featured a low-mounted radiator intake with the hot air exiting ahead of the cockpit. The P154 was finished in white with red and green stripes courtesy of sponsor Castrol. Page 1 of 2 Next >>
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Ahead of the 1970 season, BRM hired experienced designer Tony Southgate in an attempt to make up the ground lost in Formula 1 during the second half of the 1960s. The personnel changes yielded immediate results and Pedro Rodriguez won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps with the new P153. This was BRM's first Grand Prix win since 1966.