March 2-4-0
Encyclopedia
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racing car built by the March Engineering
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
company of Bicester
Bicester
Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...
, UK. It was constructed in late 1976 and tested in early 1977.
The car followed on from a the successful use by Tyrrell Racing
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
of a six-wheeled car, named the Tyrrell P34
Tyrrell P34
The Tyrrell P34 , otherwise known as the "six-wheeler", was a Formula One race car designed by Derek Gardner, Tyrrell's chief designer....
, to Formula One racing. However, the engineering concept behind the 2-4-0 was quite different.
The Tyrrell P34: four wheels at the front
The front wheels of an open-wheeled F1 car generate aerodynamic drag. The thinking behind the Tyrrell P34Tyrrell P34
The Tyrrell P34 , otherwise known as the "six-wheeler", was a Formula One race car designed by Derek Gardner, Tyrrell's chief designer....
was that this drag effect could be reduced by using smaller diameter tyres at the front. At the time, conventional F1 front wheels would measure around 16" (40 cm) diameter but Tyrrell planned to use just 10" (25 cm) diameter wheels. The corresponding loss of front-end grip was overcome by incorporating two front wheels per side thus actually increasing grip as well as decreasing drag. The design incorporated a system whereby all four front wheels could steer the car.
The P34 was reasonably successful with the two cars taking a memorable 1-2 in the Swedish Grand Prix in 1976. The Tyrrell team also finished 3rd and 4th overall in the championship. The car was less successful in 1977 however and the idea was dropped. Reasons given were that although Goodyear had manufactured special tyres for the car, the tyre company had failed to match the development work on them compared to the normal sized tyres used by other teams. With all four front wheels steering the car, Tyrrell also found that the P34's complex four-wheel front suspension assembly added a lot of weight to the car.
An alternative six-wheel F1 concept: four wheels at the rear
At March Engineering in Bicester, designer Robin Herd had watched the P34 experiment closely and, by late 1976, had come to the conclusion that the 'four front wheels' concept might have been a blind alley. In his assessment, the improved aerodynamics at the front were largely negated by the rear tyres which at 24" (60 cm) diameter would still have accounted for 30 to 40% of the car's total drag. He also felt that with a modern rear wheel drive F1 car, the extra grip could be employed more usefully for the driven wheels.With this in mind, Herd drew up plans for a six-wheeled car with four driven wheels at the rear and all of the wheels the same 16" diameter. His theory was that with all six tyres the same size as the regular F1 front tyre, the car would not only be slimmer than normal F1 cars but would possess improved aerodynamic performance at the rear with much cleaner air passing over the wing. Four driven wheels would also mean better traction and, unlike the Tyrrell, there would be no problem with tyre development since the car would use exactly the same rubber as a conventional F1 car.
Herd called this concept '2-4-0
2-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels....
', following the Whyte notation
Whyte notation
The Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and came into use in the early twentieth century encouraged by an editorial in American Engineer and Railroad Journal...
used to describe railway rolling stock: two wheels leading, four driven wheels, zero trailing wheels.
Design, construction & development
With the apparent technical advantages of this concept laid out, Max MosleyMax Mosley
Max Rufus Mosley is the former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile , a non-profit association that represents the interests of motoring organisations and car users worldwide...
(Herd's partner at March Cars) gave the go-ahead for a prototype to be built. Mosley noted that the P34 had generated a lot of additional publicity for Tyrrell and, aside from the technical merits, believed a March six-wheeler would be an attractive package to present to potential sponsors.
Unfortunately, the March team was at something of a low point financially during 1976/77 and the development costs of an all-new six-wheel car would be high. As a compromise measure, a 1976-design Cosworth DFV
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...
-powered March 761 was adapted by team engineer Wayne Eckersley in a quiet corner of the Bicester factory. Existing parts from the factory stores were used wherever possible.
A key feature of a car with four driven wheels at the rear would be the transmission. An ingenious gearbox design was required to minimise any frictional power losses. It would also have to be stronger (and hence heavier) to counteract the higher torsional and flexural stresses that the close-coupled four-wheel-drive system would generate.
Herd's original design for the gearbox casing recognised these factors and specified a series of strengthening ribs to counteract the additional loading. However, at some point in development it was decided that the casting would be very complex and expensive to produce. By way of a cost-cutting measure, some of the ribs were duly removed from the drawing.
In fact, the design utilised a standard Hewland F1 gearbox for the first axle. To this, the new casing, gears and an extended pinion for the second axle were fitted. Practically, this meant that any 761 chassis could be easily adapted should the concept prove workable.
Once the 2-4-0 was partially built, the press were invited to the factory in late November 1976 for a viewing of the hitherto 'secret' project. The unveiling generated a huge amount of interest with articles in several motor sport magazines plus a photograph on the cover of the following week's Autosport
Autosport
Autosport is a weekly magazine covering motorsport, published in the United Kingdom every Thursday by Haymarket Consumer Media. It was first published on 25 August 1950 by Gregor Grant, immediately prior to the Silverstone International Trophy meeting of that year...
magazine (dated 2nd December 1976).
Simultaneously, the company also outlined plans for a full running demonstration and developmental testing at Silverstone circuit scheduled for a fortnight later.
Testing
The first test took place at Silverstone in late 1976. Unfortunately, on the initial lap the gearbox casing flexed and the gears became unmeshed. No immediate solution could be found and so the rear crown wheel and pinion were removed for the rest of the day's testing. Effectively the 2-4-0 had become a two-wheel drive car again. Fortunately for March, it was a wet day at the circuit and the driver Howden Ganley could not push the car too fast. Consequently, the test was reported as a success by the media.The problems on the first lap highlighted the fact that the car needed a new, stronger gearbox casing and a serious development program. Unable to afford the time and resources that this would require, the 2-4-0 project was de-prioritised by the company.
In February 1977, the car — now fitted with a stronger gearbox — ran again at Silverstone with driver Ian Scheckter
Ian Scheckter
Ian Scheckter is a former racing driver. He participated in 20 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on March 30, 1974...
at the wheel. Although it was another wet day, the car was run up and down the Hangar Straight and, with four driven wheels, Scheckter reported that the traction was 'incredible'. Additionally, the events of the day again made Autosport magazine's front page (dated 10th February 1977).
But this was the end of 2-4-0's F1 development history. On its reappearance at the Belgium GP in June, the converted 761 chassis had been reconfigured as a conventional four wheeler.
The myth of the Brazilian GP appearance
In August 2002 an article appeared on the 8W website that claimed, on the basis of an incorrectly identified photograph, that the 2-4-0 may have appeared in practice for the 1977 Brazilian Grand Prix1977 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 1977 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on January 23, 1977.-Report:James Hunt took pole again with Carlos Reutemann second and Mario Andretti third on the grid. Home hero Carlos Pace took the lead at the start, with Hunt dropping behind Reutemann as well but...
at the end of January. The photograph in question actually showed the car testing at Silverstone in February 1977 and it is clear from contemporary reports of the Grand Prix that the 2-4-0 was not present. The author of this article has now corrected the article but not before it was used as a source for a number of other websites.
Hill climbing
In 1979 the 2-4-0 concept was revived by British Hillclimb specialist Roy LaneRoy Lane
Roy Lane was a British racing driver. He is best known for his great success in hillclimbing, having won the British Hillclimb Championship on four occasions in a career spanning more than three decades...
. Lane had bought a March 771 chassis and with Robin Herd's blessing was loaned the improved 2-4-0 transmission unit. The fact that the 2-4-0 was originally an inexpensive workshop conversion of the standard March F1 chassis meant that Lane was easily able to fit the unit to his car.
Taking advantage of four-wheel traction, Lane won several British hill-climbing events in the 771/2-4-0 that year with the first win at Wiscombe Park in May. However, over the season the car proved troublesome and Lane eventually switched back to the four-wheel configuration.
Legacy
Despite only limited success in short duration racing events, the 2-4-0 concept was never disproven. It is possible that if a weight-shedding program had been pursued (possibly using stronger and lighter materials) and the car's suspect handling improved, the 2-4-0 could have proved successful in F1. The concept would certainly have adapted well to ground effectGround effect in cars
Ground effect is term applied to a series of aerodynamic effects used in car design, which has been exploited to create downforce, particularly in racing cars. This has been the successor to the earlier dominant aerodynamic theory of streamlining...
which was the coming technology in grand prix racing.
The WilliamsF1
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
team seem to have agreed with Herd's theory because in 1982 they built and tested a '2-4-0' style six-wheeler - designated the FW08B. However, any hopes of seeing a '2-4-0' race car compete in a grand prix were dashed when the FIA banned all four-wheel drive systems in this category. The FW08B remains on display in the Williams' factory museum.
The March 2-4-0 story was not without a silver lining for the company that built it. As Max Mosley had surmised, the car was indeed a huge publicity magnet. Additionally, significant income was generated for the team when the Scalextric
Scalextric
Scalextric is a toy brand for a range of slot car racing sets which first appeared in the late 1950s, as a creation of British firm Minimodels. The brand is currently owned and distributed by Hornby.-History:...
company purchased the rights to produce and market a best-selling 1/32 scale slot-racing replica.