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Country of origin:Great Britain
Produced from:1968 - 1970
Numbers built:44 (all engines)
Designed by:Derek Bennett
Predecessor:Chevron B6 BMW
Successor:Chevron B16 Cosworth
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:December 14, 2009
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Click here to download printer friendly versionOrders for more cars came in after the Chevron's successful debut and four additional Clubman racers were constructed along the lines of the first cars. The success of the B1 and B2 as they were later referred also sparked the interest for a 'GT' version to take on Lotus' other dominating circuit racer, the Elan. Instead of modifying the existing design, Bennett played around with the idea of completely new, mid-engined racer. For the time being it only resulted in a small model placed on his office desk to remind him of what could be up next. When a potential customer, Alan Minshaw, visited the factory and saw the model, he became so interested that he put down a 100 Pounds deposit. A few weeks later a phone call from Bennett explaining the cost might be higher than expected gave him second thoughts. After Minshaw told Digby Martland about the new Chevron GT car, the upcoming racer paid the Chevron shop a visit and took over Minshaw's order.

Excited by the prospect of building another new car, Bennett set out to turn his imagination into a race winner again. Apart from the spaceframe chassis, the rear uprights and the wishbones, most of the mechanicals were again sourced from a wide variety of race and road cars. Following the latest trend, Bennett decided to mount the engine between the driver and the rear axle. Two completely different four cylinder engines were considered, the Ford 1.6 litre twin cam lifted from an Elan and the German BMW 2 litre unit of the 2002 road car. Two cars were constructed, the Ford engined B3 for Martland and the BMW powered B4 for Bennett to race himself and to serve as a rolling test bed. An aluminium body was created that was both purposeful and attractive. Peter Gethin shook down the B3 at the local Oulton Park track and although much of the bodywork was not yet fitted he was impressed with Bennett's latest creation. A third car was sold on the spot. A few days later Martland drove the B3 to Chevron's 'traditional' debut victory at the same track.

While the B3 had an impressive debut the BMW engined B4 proved to be frequently troubled. The main problem was keeping the BMW engine properly lubricated. In the road car the engine was installed at a 30 degree angle, but for ease of access Bennett had installed vertically in the Chevron. This upright position prevented the oil from properly draining down. The problem was eventually solved by equipping the engines with a custom dry-sump lubrication system. Happy with the solution, Bennett sent his long time assistant Paul Owens to Munich to broker an engine deal for future cars. A deal was set up where Chevron could buy the BMW Motorsport bits through their main Munich dealer at a discount, but not directly from the works. In the meantime Chevron had built an additional Ford engined B3 and a similar B5 with a BRM 2 litre V8 engine. Both in Great Britain and mainland Europe the four GT cars were proving to be highly effective marketing tools, rapidly increasing the interest in Chevron products.

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  Article Image gallery (208) Chassis (4) Specifications User Comments (2)