25 replies to this topic

[rainern]

When digging for some details for racedriver cum Safety Equipment guru Bill Simpson, I stumbled across this poor quality image of him in an interesting vehicle.
Followers of 8W might have seen the car previously..
So who is first out with the right answer in this mini-game.....???




Rainer

[Dave Ware]

A Brabham BT38 Formula B.

[Gerr]

Berta BA3....chevy engine?...Long Beach?....1976?
Gerr

[Flicker]

http://www.racer.dem...8w/8w-1299.html

(by Hans Swart) National fervour prompted the establishment of two South American GP constructors in the mid-70's, and while Brazil's Copersucar-Fittipaldi went on to become well-known, the Argentine Berta effort remains veiled in obscurity. Oreste Berta had had some technical training when he joined Renault's Argentinian subsidiary in 1962. He made a name preparing the 4-litre 6-cylinder Tornado engines for modified saloon car racing, gaining many competition successes. This so impressed the de Tomaso concern that they made him an offer to develop their racing cars. Renault weren't keen on losing him, and made a counteroffer: they would set him up on his own in Argentina, while he would still run their competition department. Berta established a modern factory not far from the Cordoba circuit where his main business remained the modification and preparation of Renault engines, but he started out as a racing car constructor as well at the beginning of the seventies. It started with a number of sports prototypes powered by developments of the 4-litre engine. Berta claimed that European technology and competition bits were hard to come by; but when he did get his hands on it, he would set out to experiment and "improve" these components. Thus was born the Berta V8 engine, based on a DFV. Although Berta stated that it wasn't a copy of the DFV, it's hard to believe otherwise. His claims for the engine were also rather humorous: "20kg's lighter than a DFV, 420 bhp in sports car trim, power from 5000rpm to 10500rpm and revs up to 11600 without a hint of trouble". It was also hinted that Berta's engine could replace the V8 Alpine engines, through the Renault connection.The same for the gearbox: he had examined a Hewland, found it unsuitable and designed his own "which is lighter and more robust". Makes one wonder why Cosworth and Hewland bothered at all! Although Berta's efforts shouldn't be belittled, his promised forays into international competition failed to materialize: nothing came of a two-car team for the 1972 sports car championship, and talk of F1 and F5000 cars in 1974 was also premature. These no-shows were usually blamed on material suppliers. But eventually, towards the end of 1974, a F1 single seater did see the light, the car pictured. It seems to have been based on a Brabham BT34, after all, Berta did have contacts with Brabham, having previously bought a BT23. The car was tested by one Nestor Jesus Garcia Veiga, a local driver linked to Berta in national competitions. There were problems with the engine, apparently the American supplier of the pistons machined the piston skirts incorrectly, and the Berta was withdrawn before its home GP, not even featuring on the entry lists. That was the end of Berta's F1 involvement, although a Berta (this car fitted with a F5000 engine?) showed up at the Laguna Seca F5000 in 1975. Nothing further was heard of this perhaps overly ambitious venture, which must have cost Renault Argentina a fair packet over the years. [p][Edited by Flicker on 10-31-2000]

[Jonathan]

My guess ?

Thats an early/mid-1970ies F1 Brabham "Lobster-claw" Ford that had been adapted for use in the United States "CART" series... I am guessing maybe circa 1983/84.

In place of the Ford Double-four-valve, the then popular Cosworth Turbo (basically the exact same block, slightly less displacement, with the turbo-charger running on methanol) was substituted.

With very minimal development this car could have been competive in that era. Considering that Lola, Penske and March were the primary chassis designers that isn't saying much.

[p][Edited by Jonathan on 11-01-2000]

[rainern]

Well, Gerr and Flicker you are on the right track.
It is Oreste Berta's car seen at Long Beach in 1975. It was also seen at Laguna Seca and Riverside in 1975.
Some Ford advertisements on the car suggests some kind of Ford power....GA V6? Cleveland V8? Could be a Chevy too of course.
The 8W didn´t mention Bill Simpson, but noted di Palma who also drove it.

Rainer

[island]

Simpson qualified the BA 3 37th (10 seconds behind poleman Mario Andretti)for the 1975 Long Beach F5000 race.
However, he DNS.
At Laguna Seca two weeks later he was 28th in qualifying.
Again he DNS.
According to Paul Sheldon`s F5000 Fact book, the BA 3
had an Chevrolet engine.

[fines]

Are you joking, Jonathan?????

The BT34 "lobster claw" Brabham (there was only one ever built) competitive in the 1984 CART World Series (the first year they raced in Long Beach)? That must be the most outlandish claim ever voiced in TNF, even far outshining my own Damon Hill remark in the Senna thread!

Why, the BT34 does not even remotely look like the car on the photo, even the nose cone is rather different! And where would be the intercooler for the turbocharger? Why would it have an airbox at all?

And for its claimed competitiveness, not even an adapted 1978 F1 March was able to qualify at Indy the following year, let alone 13 years on! Also, the Longhorn, a copy of the 1979/80 state-of-the-art F1 Williams FW07 was unable to qualify as early as 1983, and that was a "ground-effects" car! By 1984 March had swept the board with their 84C, completely eclipsing the fleet of successful American Indycars such as the Wildcat, the Penske, the Eagle and the Chaparral, each of them comfortably more advanced racing cars than the BT34! :laughing my socks off:

[Rainer Nyberg]

Here is the Williams FW07 clone :
a.k.a. Longhorn LR02-Cosworth DFX
As driven by Al Unser sr at Indy in 1982.


Rainer

[fines]

Rainer, you seem to have a nice collection of Indy pictures, do you have a pic of the March 781? It was run as the "O'Hanlon Racing Special" in 1979, #93, driver Larry McCoy.

[Rainer Nyberg]

I found this one on the O'Hanlon Racing Special.
Clearly a 1970s March! But it seems to be a 751 and not a 781. The nosecone is modified beyond recognition of course.
But the upper part seems to be a 751.
Seems to have a normally aspirated pushrod Chevy.


Rainer

[fines]

Yes, it's a Chevy, but why do you think it's a 751? Because of the roll-over bar?

[Rainer Nyberg]

I think the pictures speaks for itself, don´t you think Michael?
Or I could be wrong again....
It´s 751 vs 781 :


Rainer

[fines]

Yes, you're right, Rainer! I wasn't aware the 781 looked that different. My memory told me that all the late 70s Marchs did look the same, I guess I'm growing old... :sad:

That means Phil Harms is wrong on this car (no surprise here, he's similar to Paul Sheldon in that respect); I wonder which chassis it actually was?

[Rainer Nyberg]

It still doesn´t mean that it could be later model March behind the bodywork. The chassis I mean.
Maybe we can work it out ? According to Alan Henry´s March book only two 781 cars were produced. Five 751´s were built.
At least one of those 781´s was still used in 1979 by Val Musetti in the Aurora F1 series.

Rainer

[Rainer Nyberg]

I can now see that Musetti used the 781 in the 1979 Race of Champions.
I can also see that someone called Gerd Biechteler (A) used a March 781-Cosworth in Round 1 at Zolder in 1979.

Could be the same car.

Rainer

[fines]

My information (from Sheldon) is that both 781s ran in the British series in early 1979 (Musetti and Biechteler), but chassis #2 disappeared after the Race of Champs in mid April, so I concluded that this car went to the US of A to compete at Indy. Looking at the pictures I think we can forget that, although there is a slight possibility that the two cars looked different from each other since one had a larger fuel tank (according to David Hodges).

However, apart from the five 751s (six if you believe Sheldon) there are also about nine 761s and two 771s to choose from. All of these looked fairly similar and there's always the possibility that some were in fact rebuilds. Remember, March would've been World Champions many times over if points were awarded for chassis-plate swopping!

[fines]

To solve this problem I have gone through all sorts of pains trying to compile a March F1 chassis logbook for the years 1974-79 (terrible job, thank you Max). This is hoped to be something like close to accurate...

[u]1974[/u]

741-01	  New for Stuck at RA74, BR74, Brasilia74, ZA74, E74, B74, MC74 (wrecked)

741-02	  New for Ganley at RA74, BR74, Brasilia74, for Brambilla at ZA74, for Takahara at Int74,

			for Brambilla at E74 (wrecked in practice)

741-02 (B)  New for Brambilla at B74, MC74, S74, NL74, F74 (wrecked in practice)

741-01 (B)  New for Wisell at S74, for Stuck at NL74, F74 (raced by Brambilla), GB74 (wrecked)

741-02 (C)  New for Brambilla at GB74, D74, A74, I74, CDN74 (wrecked in practice)

741-01 (C)  New for Stuck at D74, A74, I74, CDN74, USA74

741-02 (D)  New for Brambilla at USA74

Note: At least one and possibly both cars have been rebuilt as 751 and/or 761. Could've happened to one or more of the wrecked tubs either.

[u]1975[/u]

741-02 (D)  For Brambilla at RA75, BR75, for Lombardi at ZA75

751-01	  New for Brambilla at ZA75

751-02	  751-01 renamed (?) for Lombardi at Cha75, Int75, E75, MC75, B75, S75, NL75, F75, GB75,

			D75, A75, I75

751-03	  New for Brambilla at E75, MC75, B75, S75, NL75, F75, GB75, D75, A75, CH75, I75, USA75

751-04	  New for Stuck at GB75, D75, A75

751-05	  New for Donohue (Penske) at GB75, D75, A75 (wrecked in warm-up practice)

751-06	  751-04 renamed (?) for Stuck at I75, USA75

Note: Doug Nye states that Donohue's car was actually 751-01, other sources say that Lombardi's car was the "prototype". There were never more than 4 cars operational at once.

[u]1976[/u]

761-01	  New for Brambilla at BR76, ZA76, Cha76, Lon76, E76, B76, MC76 (wrecked)

761-02	  New for Stuck at BR76, ZA76, Lon76, E76, B76, MC76, S76, F76, GB76, D76, A76, NL76,

			I76, CDN76, USA76, J76

761-03	  New for Lombardi at BR76, for Peterson at ZA76, Lon76, for Brambilla at Int76, for

			Peterson at E76, B76

761-01 (B)  761-03 renamed for Brambilla at S76, F76, GB76, D76 (wrecked in practice)

761-04	  New for Merzario at Lon76, E76, B76, MC76 (wrecked in practice)

761-04 (B)  (aka 761-05) New for Merzario at S76, F76, GB76, T-car at D76 (raced by Brambilla, wrecked)

761-03 (B)  (aka 761-06) New for Peterson at MC76, S76, F76, GB76, D76 (wrecked)

761-06	  (aka 761-07) New T-car at D76, A76 (raced by Peterson), for Peterson at NL76, T-car at

			I76 (raced by Peterson), for Peterson at CDN76, USA76, J76

761-03 (C)  (aka 761-08) New for Peterson at A76 (not raced), T-car at NL76, for Peterson at I76 (not

			raced)

761-04 (C)  (aka 761-09) New for Oppitzhauser (private entry) at A76 (withdrawn)

761-01 (C)  (aka 761-10) New for Brambilla at A76 (wrecked)

761-01 (D)  (aka 761-11) New for Brambilla at NL76, I76, CDN76, USA76, J76

Note: A confusing season with two teams operating from two different bases (March Engineering from Bicester for Brambilla, Lombardi and Peterson, March Engines from Reading for Stuck and Merzario). Stuck had even put a mark on his chassis to prevent it from being swopped with another one - 'Nuff said! Notice that 761-05 does not appear on my list, yet that chassis number is claimed for a car that ran in TGP this year.

[u]1977[/u]

761-02	  For Lunger (BSF) at ZA77, Lon77, E77

761-03 (C)  For Hayje (RAM) at ZA77, Cha77, E77, MC77, B77, S77, for Sutcliffe (RAM) at GB77, for

			Hayje (RAM) at NL77

761-04 (C)  For Kozarowitzky (RAM) at S77, GB77, for Bleekemolen (RAM) at NL77

761B-01	 761-06 renamed for Scheckter at RA77, BR77, for Stuck at ZA77, for Henton at Lon77, for

			Scheckter at E77, MC77, T-car at B77 (raced by Scheckter), for Scheckter at S77, F77, GB77,

			D77, A77

761B-02	 761-01 (D) renamed for Ribeiro at RA77, BR77, ZA77, Cha77, for Merzario (private entry) at

			E77, MC77, B77, F77, GB77, D77, NL77

761B-03	 New for Ribeiro at Lon77, E77, MC77 (wrecked in practice)

761-07	  New for Nève (Williams) at E77, B77, S77, F77, GB77, D77, A77, NL77, I77, USA77, CDN77

761-08	  New for Henton (private entry) at Cha77, E77, for Dryver (private entry) at B77, for Henton

			(private entry) at GB77, A77

761B-03 (B) New for Ribeiro at B77, S77, F77, GB77, D77, A77, NL77, I77, USA77, CDN77, J77

771-01	  New for Scheckter at B77 (not raced), CDN77, J77 (withdrawn)

771-02	  New for Scheckter at NL77, I77, USA77 (wrecked)

Note: March concentrated on F2 and wound down the F1 operation, selling off to ATS at the end of the year. The second RAM car (Kozarowitzky/Bleekemolen) is a bit of a mystery (i.e. more than just suspect), could've also been 761-02 or even 761-01 (D) which in turn would mean that 761B-02 was actually new - who knows? 761-07 is claimed to have been a rebuilt 741.

[u]1978 British Championship[/u]

751-04	  For Edwards at Gold Cup, Brands Hatch (Easter), for Allison at Mallory Park (May),

			Zandvoort, Donington, Thruxton (May), T-car at Oulton Park (Jun, raced by Allison),

			Snetterton (Sep)

761B-01	 For Zaborowski (private entry) at Snetterton (Apr), for Biechteler (private entry) at

			Mallory Park (May), Donington, Mallory Park (Jul, not raced), for Leech (private entry) at

			Thruxton (Sep)

781-01	  New for Edwards at Snetterton (Apr), Mallory Park (May), Zandvoort, Donington,

			Thruxton (May), for Allison at Oulton Park (Jun, raced by Edwards), Mallory Park (Jul),

			Brands Hatch (Aug), Thruxton (Sep), Snetterton (Sep)

781-02	  New for Lees at Thruxton (May), for Edwards at Oulton Park (Jun, not raced), Mallory Park

			(Jul), Brands Hatch (Aug), Thruxton (Sep), Snetterton (Sep)

Note: With so many newer cars around it seems odd that March started the season with a car from 1975. However, the 1977 cars were probably broken up to build the pair of ATS HS1s - or did they become the 781s? 781-02 had an F2-style fuel tank, i.e. would'nt have lasted a GP distance. 751-04 was possibly the same car that ran as March 75A in F5000.

[u]1979 British Championship[/u]

781-01	  For Musetti (private entry) at Zolder, Gold Cup, Race of Champions, Mallory Park (Apr),

			Snetterton (May), Donington, Oulton Park (Jun, wrecked in practice)

781-02	  For Biechteler (private entry) at Zolder, Gold Cup, Race of Champions

Note: The end of the road - no more works entries.

NB: 741, 751, 761 and 761B all had virtually identical tubs. Wrecked cars were usually cannibalized to build replacement chassis. The 2-4-0 (six-wheeler) does not show up since it was created by bolting the transmission unit to a chassis of choice - several (3?) were tried.

Sources:
A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing, Volume 10 by Paul Sheldon with Duncan Rabagliati
A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing, Volume 11 by Paul Sheldon with Duncan Rabagliati
Grand Prix!, Volume 3 by Mike Lang
The Autocourse History of the Grand Prix Car 1966-1985 by Doug Nye (German translation)
A-Z of Formula Racing Cars by David Hodges with Mike Lawrence
several issues of German magazine "rallye racing"
several issues of German magazine "sport auto"

----------------
So - which car became the "O'Hanlon Racing Special"? Take your pick...[p][Edited by fines on 11-12-2000]

[Rainer Nyberg]

Thanks Michael;

Great work on the chassis history...!
Hopefully we can work out what the Indy Special was too someday....

Rainer

[Allen Brown]

Hi folks

Only just spotted this while testing out the new search. BTW it works!

The Indy March was a F5000 car originally built as a 73A for Gus Hutchinson (chassis number unknown) and rebuilt at the end of 1974 using a used F1 741 tub. It was variously called a 741, 741/A and 74A after that. It passed to Horst Kroll for 1975, Jeff Davie for 1976 and Ray Reimer for 1978 (by which time F5000 was as good a dead) before its doomed attempt to qualify at Indy.

I've already passed this information to Phil Harms and it should feature in a future update of his information.

Allen

[fines]

Yes, Allen, thanks for the reminder. We worked that out in a different thread. This means the tub was probably the one wrecked by Brambilla at Mosport, ie 741-02 ©.

And btw, the search facility is excellent!!

[Allen Brown]

Michael

I thought we'd covered this somewhere.

I'm not sure 'probably' is fair here - I'd go for 'maybe'.

Allen

[fines]

Ok Allen, point taken! Could we settle for 'quite possibly'?

[Pete Stanley]

This thread is a shining example of the value of TNF!

[John B]

Frank Williams made several visits to the States in the early 1980s during the Longhorn project. He once was driven by Al Unser Sr around the Ontario oval in a rental car, and said "the corners seemed incredibly narrow to me at 70 MPH and I cannot imagine driving them in a race car at speed." He was among many who thought Mansell would have great problems with ovals, which didn't prove the case in 1993.

[fines]

With new information from Mike Lawrence's splendid book "March - The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend", here's an update of the late seventies' March F1 logbook:

[u]1974[/u]741-01	  New for Stuck at RA74, BR74, Brasilia74, ZA74, E74, B74, MC74 (wrecked)741-02	  New for Ganley at RA74, BR74, Brasilia74, for Brambilla at ZA74, for Takahara at Int74,			for Brambilla at E74 (wrecked in practice)741-02 (B)  New for Brambilla at B74, MC74, S74, NL74, F74 (wrecked in practice)741-01 (B)  New for Wisell at S74, for Stuck at NL74, F74 (raced by Brambilla), GB74 (wrecked)741-02 (C)  New for Brambilla at GB74, D74, A74, I74, CDN74 (wrecked in practice)741-01 (C)  New for Stuck at D74, A74, I74, CDN74, USA74 (renamed 751-04)741-02 (D)  New for Brambilla at USA74 (still used in 1975)

Note: Apparently, 741-02 © was being rebuilt as an F5000 car for Gus Hutchison (1974), then later as an Indy Car for Ray Reimer (1979). Possibly 741-01 and 741-02 exchanged chassis plates after RA74?

[u]1975[/u]741-02 (D)  For Brambilla at RA75, BR75, for Lombardi at ZA75 (sold and used in British hill			climbing until 1978)751-01	  New for Brambilla at ZA75, for Lombardi at Cha75, Int75 (possibly renamed 75A-01?)751-02	  New for Lombardi at E75, MC75, B75, S75, NL75, F75, for Stuck at GB75, D75, A75			(wrecked)751-03	  New for Brambilla at E75, MC75, B75, S75, NL75, F75, GB75, D75, A75, CH75, I75, USA75			(possibly wrecked in practice?)751-04	  (741-01 (C) renamed) Spare car not raced (renamed 761-05)751-01 (B)  New for Lombardi at GB75, D75, A75, I75 (renamed 761-03)751-05	  New for Donohue (Penske) at GB75, D75, A75 (wrecked in practice)751-06	  New for Stuck at I75, USA75 (renamed 761-02)

Note: German sources generally assign Lombardi to 751-02 and Stuck to 751-04 (prior to Monza). More confusion at the US GP, where Brambilla's car was either repaired or rebuilt after a practice crash (possibly with a new tub? or 751-01?) and Stuck's car is possibly 751-02, since his Monza car caught fire during testing. There were never more than 4 cars operational at once.

[u]1976[/u]761-01	  New for Brambilla at BR76, ZA76, Cha76, Lon76, E76, B76, MC76 (wrecked)761-02	  (751-06 renamed) For Stuck at BR76, ZA76, Lon76, for Brambilla at Int76, for Stuck at			E76, B76, MC76, S76, F76, GB76, D76, A76, NL76, I76, CDN76, USA76, J76 (still used in			1977)761-03	  (751-01 (B) renamed) For Lombardi at BR76, for Peterson at ZA76, Lon76, E76, B76			(renamed 761-01)761-01 (B)  (751-01 (B)/761-03 renamed) For Brambilla at S76, F76, GB76, D76 (wrecked in practice)761-04	  New for Merzario at Lon76, E76, B76, MC76 (wrecked in practice)761-05	  (741-01 (C)/751-04 renamed) Spare car not raced (still used in 1977)761-04 (B)  (aka 761-05) New for Merzario at S76, F76, GB76, T-car at D76 (raced by Brambilla,			wrecked)761-03 (B)  (aka 761-06) New for Peterson at MC76, S76, F76, GB76, D76 (wrecked)761-06	  (aka 761-07) New T-car at D76, A76 (raced by Peterson), for Peterson at NL76, T-car at			I76 (raced by Peterson), for Peterson at CDN76, USA76, J76 (renamed 761B-01)761-03 (C)  (aka 761-08) New for Peterson at A76 (not raced), T-car at NL76, for Peterson at I76			(not raced) (still used in 1977)761-04 (C)  (aka 761-09) New (?) for Oppitzhauser (private entry) at A76 (excluded) (used in British			F1 until 1978)761-01 (C)  (aka 761-10) New for Brambilla at A76 (wrecked)761-01 (D)  (aka 761-11) New (?) for Brambilla at NL76, I76, CDN76, USA76, J76 (renamed 761B-02)

Note: A confusing season with two teams operating from two different bases (March Engineering from Bicester for Brambilla, Lombardi and Peterson, March Engines from Reading for Stuck and Merzario). Stuck had even put a mark on his chassis to prevent it from being swopped with another one - 'Nuff said! Brambilla's car possibly received a new tub after the British GP, making it 761-01 (E) by the end of the year? Several tubs, especially 761-04 © and 761-01 (D), were probably repaired wrecks.

[u]1977[/u]761-02	  (751-06 renamed) For Lunger (BSF) at ZA77, Lon77, E77 (used in British F1 in 1978)761-05	  (741-01 (C)/751-04 renamed) For Henton (private entry) at Cha77, E77, for Dryver			(private entry) at B77, for Henton (private entry) at GB77, A77761-03 (C)  For Hayje (RAM) at ZA77, Cha77, E77, MC77, B77, S77, for Sutcliffe (RAM) at GB77, for			Hayje (RAM) at NL77761-07	  New (?) for Nève (Williams) at E77, B77, S77, F77, GB77, D77, A77, NL77, I77, USA77,			CDN77 (used in British F1 in 1978)761-08	  New (?) for Kozarowitzky (RAM) at S77, GB77, for Bleekemolen (RAM) at NL77761B-01	 (761-06 renamed) For Scheckter at RA77, BR77, for Stuck at ZA77, for Henton at Lon77,			for Scheckter at E77, MC77, T-car at B77 (raced by Scheckter), for Scheckter at S77,			F77, GB77, D77, A77 (sold to Ronnie Peterson, presumably as a show car)761B-02	 (761-01 (D) renamed) For Ribeiro at RA77, BR77, ZA77, Cha77, for Merzario (private			entry) at E77, MC77, B77, F77, GB77, D77, NL77761B-03	 New for Ribeiro at Lon77, E77, MC77 (wrecked in practice)761B-03 (B) New for Ribeiro at B77, S77, F77, GB77, D77, A77, NL77, I77, USA77, CDN77, J77771-01	  New for Scheckter at B77 (not raced), CDN77, J77 (withdrawn) (sold and used in British			hill climbing until 1979)771-02	  New for Scheckter at NL77, I77, USA77 (wrecked)

Note: March concentrated on F2 and wound down the F1 operation, selling off to ATS at the end of the year. The second RAM car (Kozarowitzky/Bleekemolen) is a bit of a mystery (i.e. more than just suspect), could've also been 761-04 ©. 761-07 was probably a repaired wreck, its owners believed it to have been built in 1974. It was also possibly rebuilt around another repaired tub during the season? 771-01 and 771-02 possibly reversed after Italian GP?

[u]1978 British Championship[/u]75A-01	  Adapted F5000 car (possibly an original F1 tub) for Edwards at Gold Cup, Brands Hatch			(Easter), for Allison at Mallory Park (May), Zandvoort, Donington, Thruxton (May), T-car			at Oulton Park (Jun, raced by Allison), Snetterton (Sep)761-07	  For Zaborowski (private entry) at Snetterton (Apr)761-04 (C)  For Biechteler (private entry) at Mallory Park (May), Donington, Mallory Park (Jul, not			raced)761-02	  (751-06 renamed) For Leech (private entry) at Thruxton (Sep)781-01	  New for Edwards at Snetterton (Apr), Mallory Park (May), Zandvoort, Donington,			Thruxton (May), for Allison at Oulton Park (Jun, raced by Edwards), Mallory Park (Jul),			Brands Hatch (Aug), Thruxton (Sep), Snetterton (Sep) (still used in 1979)781-02	  New for Lees at Thruxton (May), for Edwards at Oulton Park (Jun, not raced), Mallory			Park (Jul), Brands Hatch (Aug), Thruxton (Sep), Snetterton (Sep) (still used in 1979)

Note: With so many newer cars around it seems odd that March started the season with a car from 1975. However, the 1977 cars were probably broken up to build the 781s? 781-01 had an F2-style fuel tank, i.e. would'nt have lasted a GP distance.

[u]1979 British Championship[/u]781-01	  For Musetti (private entry) at Zolder, Gold Cup, Race of Champions, Mallory Park (Apr),			Snetterton (May), Donington, Oulton Park (Jun, wrecked in practice)781-02	  For Biechteler (private entry) at Zolder, Gold Cup, Race of Champions

Note: The end of the road - no more works entries.

NB: 741, 751, 75A, 761 and 761B all had virtually identical tubs. Wrecked cars were usually cannibalized to build replacement chassis. The 2-4-0 (six-wheeler) does not show up since it was created by bolting the transmission unit to a chassis of choice - several (3?) were tried.

Sources:
March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend by Mike Lawrence
A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing, Volume 10 by Paul Sheldon with Duncan Rabagliati
A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing, Volume 11 by Paul Sheldon with Duncan Rabagliati
Grand Prix!, Volume 3 by Mike Lang
The Autocourse History of the Grand Prix Car 1966-1985 by Doug Nye (German translation)
A-Z of Formula Racing Cars by David Hodges with Mike Lawrence
several issues of German magazine "rallye racing"
several issues of German magazine "sport auto"
www.oldracingcars.com by Allen Brown