Good ol Tyrell P34

I love it, not only was it a cool car it was certainly different for it's day and now. It certainly was in probably F1's best era though, check out this great video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dchPW55k6pk

I had an AFX G-plus slot car of that thing. It was my favorite slotty and I drove the wheels off it. I would actually wear holes through the shoes.

That was always one of my favorite "well, the rules don't say we can't... racecars.

Wow. The slip angle on the front tires was amazing. Cool vid!

Yeah, the rules didn't! That's pretty good I want to get a 1/32 of it.

They sometimes ran, when it rained, on the front, rain tires up front then slicks on the back ones, because the front tires would just push and move the water out of the way and then there would be a clear spot for the rback ones.

Kinda cool but wouldn't it be more of a problem, time wise in the pits? Like changing 6 tires instead of just 4.

well, as long as you can have more tire changers. changing one set takes just as long as changing two, doesnt it? so why not 3 sets?

Smokey Yunick no doubt approved.

yup! Let's see some of the new F1 drivers drive this!

The six tires are neat. Did they have to ban that idea out of F1, or did the extra tires not really grip that much better after all?

The thing that really strikes me from that video, though, is how the driver was hanging right out in the wind, and how small the car seems compared to modern F1. He looked like he was sitting on a 6 wheeled turbocharged skateboard, kinda.

Banned.

I think for that vid some body fairing was removed.

In Allen Staniforth's rambling but interesting book "Race and rally car source book : the guide to building or modifying a competition car" he talks about the P34.

It worked beautifully. The problem was tire development. By the end of the season the tire development on the regular F1 tires allowed them to exceed the grip of the dual front tires which did not get the same level of development since there was only one buyer. In the end, it was the economy of scale that killed the advantage of the six wheel car. Had the small tires been developed to the extent of the larger tires, they would have maintained their advantage.

It's pretty crazy that he really has no headrest what so ever.

In modern cars their helmet rests against the rear of the cockpit...I couldn't imagine doing a whole race and having to keep my head up like that.

i thought the advantage was primarily aerodynamic?

Wow, that in-car overhead view makes it just look like a slightly oversized go kart! And I agree, those drivers must have had killer back and neck muscles!

It definitely had bodywork removed, maybe to make room for the camera rig.

http://www.project34.co.uk/pictures/p34archive/34archive.htm

They went to the six tire arrangement to reduce frontal area to help aerodynamics. The problem was as the only team with those little wheels/tires (10" from memory) there was no feedback from other teams to develop them and the 'normal' tires soon improved. They ran in both 76 and 77 I think.

Yes six wheels were eventually banned, but it was the speed that killed this car. Williams also produces a 6 wheel car in the early 80's but with four rear wheels not front. It used 6 'front' tries all round. Again that was for frontal area and aero. That car was never raced and I've seen conflicting reports as to how developed it ever really was.

I seem to recall March also dabbled with a 6 wheel but I don't know if it was ever even built.

What I find amazing is the complete lack of upper body driver protection, running without bodywork you can really see that, there was absolutely nothing to protect the drivers upper body and just the fuel tanks for his lower!!!

Some one mentioned tires changes, they didn't change tires in the 70's. The one time I remember a tire change back then was in the rain shortened 76 Japanese GP where James Hunt clinched the championship. It was a disaster and tire changes frequently took 30 plus seconds if needed. Brabham started fuel stops in the early 80's as a strategic advantage to start a race light, then came tires later.

"6 wheeled turbocharged skateboard" is basically right! This was a big car though, long.They had to ban this, like the article said tires just weren't that great and much different than they are now, like above, especailly to change and it wasn't getting much of an advantage. It was a brilliant idea and the cars were sweet looking. I heard from my freind that they had a video of it running without the faring and I wanted to find it. Yeah they had to withstand all the torture, I don't think it was as bad as we think but they had to moving around a good bit.

Tim Baxter wrote: It definitely had bodywork removed, maybe to make room for the camera rig. http://www.project34.co.uk/pictures/p34archive/34archive.htm

Remember, video equipment was pretty primitive back then. Looking at the vid, I think it's actually film, rather than tape. And even video units back then had separate cameras, recording units, microphones, and battery pack. A decent film camera would be even bigger.

There's a reason films like "Le Mans" and "Grand Prix" had such an impact back then..not many people had ever seen what it looked like from inside the car.

You can still get Tamiya's great 1/12th scale model of this car:

http://www.f1specialties.com/main/tamiya/12021.php

They look great straight out of the box, and museum quality with a little work.

http://www.modelersite.com/Sep2003/English/TyrrellP34_Over_Eng.htm

FindlaySpeedMan wrote: The thing that really strikes me from that video, though, is how the driver was hanging right out in the wind, and how small the car seems compared to modern F1. He looked like he was sitting on a 6 wheeled turbocharged skateboard, kinda.

Thats exactly what I was thinking

NickF40 wrote: I love it, not only was it a cool car it was certainly different for it's day and now. It certainly was in probably F1's best era though, check out this great video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dchPW55k6pk

Here's another video, showing the camera gear mounted in different locations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvLM2K-DEn8

The original video is an excerpt from a documentary-style film named "Lap of the Gods", narrated by Murray Walker.

If you can find a copy of the film, watch it as it's state of the art stuff, vintage 1977-78 style. I've found segments one and two on YouTube and saved them to a hard drive so they can be enjoyed at will.

BTW, KeepVid.com is a great tool to convert YouTube clips to an MP4 format. Use the VLC media player and you're good to go.

friedgreencorrado wrote: You can still get Tamiya's great 1/12th scale model of this car: http://www.f1specialties.com/main/tamiya/12021.php They look great straight out of the box, and museum quality with a little work. http://www.modelersite.com/Sep2003/English/TyrrellP34_Over_Eng.htm

I prefer the Lego version myself...

Gallery - http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=199607

HappyAndy wrote:

FindlaySpeedMan wrote: The thing that really strikes me from that video, though, is how the driver was hanging right out in the wind, and how small the car seems compared to modern F1. He looked like he was sitting on a 6 wheeled turbocharged skateboard, kinda.

Thats exactly what I was thinking

Except it wasn't turbocharged, back then was the 'English kit car' era. Most teams were using off the shelf Ford/Cosworth DFV's 3.0L NA

friedgreencorrado wrote: You can still get Tamiya's great 1/12th scale model of this car: http://www.f1specialties.com/main/tamiya/12021.php

Or, for another option, print your own 1/30th scale to build:

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/paper-m/yasu/2art_w/e_top_hist.htm

I remember seeing a Tamiya RC model of this car

HO-LY CRAP! My irrational LEGO lust just kicked in. Tell us more about it.