The first Brabham Formula 1 and sports cars, and the vey slippery CD Panhard ...

Three-time World Champion, Sir Jack Brabham has turned 88 today. To mark the occasion, we have taken a detailed look at some of the earliest cars he designed and built together with Ron Tauranac during the 1960s. The earliest of these is the BT3 Climax, which was the very first Brabham Formula 1 car. It was introduced halfway through the 1962 season and was raced by Jack Brabham himself in a handful of events. It eventually ended up in the Donington Grand Prix Collection where it remained for many years until it was acquired by the current owner. He had the car completely restored and as can be seen in this 27-shot gallery, he has returned it to the track. The next outing will be the Monaco Historic Grand Prix next month.
In addition to single seaters, Brabham also produced sports cars. The first of these was the BT5 Ford, which was effectively a Formula Junior with two seats and an all-enveloping body. After two examples were built in 1963, it was replaced in 1964 by the BT8. This came with a choice of engines, including the BRM V8 that powers the featured example.
Aerodynamic efficiency has always been key in racing but no car was as slippery as the CD Panhard LM64. Created by Charles Deutsch on Panhard running gear, it not only has a Cx figure of just 0.12, the LM64 also features ground effect aerodynamics. Despite sporting a 848 cc flat twin engine, it was capable of 221 km/h down the Mulsanne straight. Sadly, the pair LM64s were not quite as reliable as they were slippery and neither made it to the finish at Le Mans in 1964. They were not raced again but both cars have survived and are regularly raced and demonstrated as can be seen in our 23-shot gallery.

Enjoy the links:

[url="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/5846/Brabham-BT8-BRM.html"]1964 Brabham BT8 BRM - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]

[url="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/5844/Brabham-BT5-Ford.html"]1963 Brabham BT5 Ford - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]

[url="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/63/Brabham-BT3-Climax.html"]1962 Brabham BT3 Climax - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]

[url="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/5854/CD-Panhard-LM64.html"]1964 CD Panhard LM64 - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]