Alan Henry

When ]ack Brabham left Cooper at the end of the 1961 season the practical, down-to-earth Australian had it in mind to start his own Grand Prix team, but it is unlikely that he could have ever anticipated the quite remarkable future awaiting the cars which bore his name. In l966_]ack made history by becoming the first man ever to win a World Championship (his third) at the wheel of a car bearing his own name and, at the age 44, was a strong contender for the 1970 Championship before retiring from active participation at the end of that year. Custody of Brabham Grand Prix fortunes passed into Ron Tauranac’s hands, but the taciturn Australian engineer eventually sold out his interests to wealthy businessman Bernie Ecclestone by the start of the 1972 season. It was a turning point in the team’s history. This book charts the Brabham Grand Prix car history from those early, pioneering days of the Brabham/Tauranac partnership, through the Tauranac era into the initially uncertain fledgling days of Ecclestone’s control. It continues to recount how Ecclestone’s team, under the design guidance of the talented Gordon Murray, produced a whole succession of technically ambitious Formula l contenders, driven throughout the 19705 by a galaxy of stars such as Carlos Reutemann, Carlos Pace, Niki Lauda, John Watson, Nelson Piquet and Riccardo Patrese, including the cars which propelled Piquet to his World Championship titles in 1981 and ’83. 

Front Cover- Carrying number one as befits his status as reigning World Champion, Nelson Piquet is seen here in smooth action during the 1984 Dutch Grand Prix at the wheel of his Brabham- BMW BT53. The Brazilian led the race in typically commanding style until an oil leak caused his retirement.