1963 - 1964 Brabham BT7 Climax - Images, Specifications and Information

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In 1961 Jack Brabham formed his own racing team together with fellow Australian Ron Tauranac. The 1959 and 1960 Formula 1 World Champion would be responsible for running the team and driving the cars and Tauranac took care of all technical aspects. Their company was briefly known as Motor Racing Developments (MRD), but after Brabham had left Cooper early in 1962 it was renamed to Brabham Racing Developments and the cars simply badged 'Brabham'. Not surprisingly, the first cars produced by the England based team were single seaters. After the one MRD produced in 1961, the BT2 (Brabham Tauranac 2) was the first Brabham production car.

A total of eleven of the very conventional Formula Junior racing cars were produced in 1962, which enabled the newly formed manufacturer to develop their first F1 car. To bridge the gap before the new car was ready, Brabham acquired a Lotus 24 F1 racer and surprisingly not a Cooper. Tauranac hardly threw caution to the wind when he designed the highly conventional BT3. The basis of the new car was an exceptionally stiff steel spaceframe chassis, suspended by double wishbones front and rear. The BT3 was designed to take the newly developed Coventry Climax V8 engine. This was installed in the chassis mated to a Colotti-Francis six speed gearbox.

The very elegant Brabham BT3 seemed outdated even before it first raced as a result of the introduction of the monocoque Lotus 25. However unlike Lotus' Colin Chapman, who was predominantly interested in building the fastest cars, Tauranac was well aware that reliability and safety were also essential ingredients. The daunting Nürburgring track was the scene of the Brabham's Formula 1 debut. It proved to be very disappointing as Jack Brabham managed to qualify no higher than 24th and was subsequently forced to retire in lap 9 of 15 with a throttle linkage issue. He did much better in the American and South African Grands Prix by finishing fourth twice after qualifying fifth and third respectively. The unique BT3 was entered three times in 1963 for Jack with fifth as the best result.

Brabham's debut season had been fairly successful and with renewed confidence Tauranac set about designing three new cars for 1963 including a sports racer and a Formula 1 car. Dubbed the BT7, the 1963 F1 racer was very much a development of the original BT3. The suspension was slightly revised and the fragile Colotti-Francis gearbox was replaced by a five speed Hewland unit. For the body design Tauranac consulted Jaguar's Malcolm Sayer, who was renowned for penning up very slippery designs. Two cars were constructed; one for the new number one driver, Dan Gurney and the second for Jack, who had decided to focus more on managing the team.

Dan Gurney's first outing with the Climax engined BT7 came during the season opener at Monaco. He placed the car sixth on the grid, but a final drive failure put him out of the race early. At the high speed track of Spa Francorchamps, Sayer's aerodynamics helped the young American to qualify second and eventually finish third. Brabham's first podium was followed by a second place at Zandvoort. Gurney and Brabham both scored another second place finish, which was enough to finish the season third in the constructor's championship and ahead of Ferrari. Slightly modified, the BT7s were raced again in 1964 and often were the fastest cars on track. Gurney managed to score two wins, but multiple technical failures put him out of contention for the championship.

Encouraged by the on-track performance of the BT7, Brabham set about developing a customer version to be launched in 1964. Dubbed the BT11, it was the only competitive car available for privateers. It was different in detail only from the BT7, with a wider track as the only major change. Three chassis were sold to the likes of Rob Walker and Jo Siffert, while two were retained for the Works team. All three customer cars were powered by a BRM V8 engine and managed to score the odd podium finish in 1964. In the Works hands the BT11s were only slightly more successful with Gurney clinching three third and then two second place finishes in a row in 1965. It was enough to end the season in third again. Five larger engined BT11As were also produced for the popular Tasman series held 'Down Under' in the off season.

At the end of the season, the 1.5 litre engined Formula 1 cars were left obsolete due to rule changes. Tauranac continued with the basic design principles used in the BT3, BT7 and BT11 during the development of the 1966 contender. Tauranac's emphasis on reliability paid off and Jack Brabham managed to become the first driver to win a World Championhip in a machine bearing his own name. Denny Hulme added another title for Brabham / Tauranac partnership in 1967. With a third, a fourth and a third again, the first three seasons of Brabham in Formula 1 were quite impressive and most importantly they served as a learning curve for the great successes of the second half of the 1960s. Little over a decade after teaming up Tauranac and Brabham parted ways again as both left the Brabham team in quick succession.

Featured is the first of two BT7s built, which was raced by Dan Gurney in 1963 and 1964. In the car's second season the American managed to score Brabham's first two Grand Prix wins. Its final outings came in 1965 in the hands of Denny Hulme. The important racer has survived and is still campaigned at rare occassions. It is seen above at one of those, during the 2006 Monaco Historic Grand Prix.