Accelerator pedal

In respect of SCM at Maserati, I read somewhere that Behra insisted on a central accelerator to ensure that SCM would not take over his car. Given the 'musical chairs' played by the sports car team, I assume that all cars had accelerator pedals on the right.

I hadn't heard that, but a central accelerator was Maserati's standard. Perdisa's car was fitted with a central brake pedal so that Moss could take it over.

This doesn't add much to the discussion, but it's the original source of my misinformation, and is relevant in that it mentions both the Moss Maserati, and the prospective shark-nose Ferrari.



I've read that book twice now, and didn't notice the Ferrari reference the first time, a recent discussion on Sir Stirling's aborted 1962 Ferrari plans made me pay more attention this time. It just goes to show that some motoring writers are more trustworthy than others, thanks for the clarification Doug.

There are a number of cutaways of the Sharknose in the cutaways thread, but none of them shows the pedal layout clearly. This one is the best:

I put a bit more time into a couple of pieces from my to-be-completed files, both by Cavara from the Italian Automobile Club publication that I have worked with previously. They are related pieces, starting with the 1961 Ferrari 156, with the 120° V6 engine.
Tom West


Cavara-Ferrari156-120VFormula1-1961

but it's still not possible to see exactly what the right-hand pedal does. It does seem to me however that the centre pedal is connected to a rod going into a master cylinder, hence operating the brakes.

I have always braked with the ball of the foot, whether heel-and-toeing or not. I would expect that braking with the heel would remove any of the easy ankle movement that would allow the foot articulation necessary for operating the throttle. In a double-declutched change, delecate throttle use is not involved, as it's more of a quick (but precisely timed!) jab.

On Allan's point when I have raced my vintage Bentley the centre throttle is brilliant: brake hard with the right foot and double declutch using only the left: clutch with left foot into neutral blip throttle with left foot and then into gear. Admiittedly Bentley pedals are agricultural to say the least and rod brakes with large travel makes heel and toe with right foot an anatomically difficult manoeuvre: perhaps using right foot only may be easier with more modern machinery with centre throttle.

Nigel b