Brabham BT46 Fan Car

[Bolton Midnight]

30 years ago it won in Sweden

Shame we don't see anything as radical as this anymore

http://www.autosrapidos.com/superaut...am-bt46b01.jpg

[ArrowsFA1]

The win that shouldn't have been

I read somewhere that Tyrrell, as well as Lotus, developed their own version of 'the fan' but Bernie withdrew the car before it was banned. A field full of fan cars could have been interesting

[Bolton Midnight]

I can't remember but did it make a different sound?

I know the complaints were about dust from the back, but Murray had of course done Chapman over so it would have been banned.

[ArrowsFA1]

Don't know about the sound but there's a good article about this car here. As it says "Bernie Ecclestone (team manager/owner of Brabham) decided that it was better to sacrifice the short term advantage of the fan car than to compromise the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA), of which he was president. This proved to be a wise move in the event of the FOCA/FISA wars of 1980 and '81."

[wedge]

I'm just wondering whether they could get away running that concept now.

By that I mean the fan weighs quite a bit and with aero technology now compared to then. Up against the fan, diffusers would do a reasonable job.

[Bolton Midnight]

Was the 'aerodynamic parts must not move' rule aimed at cars like this?

[D-Type]

Some teams developed moveable wings - steep angle of attack and high downforce at a corner and shallow angle (feathered) on the straight to reduce drag. This was the original target of a "no moveable aerodynamic devices" rule.
The rule was invoked to cover flexible and sliding skirts which you needed for optimum ground effect.
And then came the fan car. If the fan was primarily for cooling it was legal but if it was [I]primarily[I] for aerodynamics , it was illegal.

[Rollo]

30 years ago it won in Sweden
Shame we don't see anything as radical as this anymore.

No it's not. It's a bloody horrible thing and I would have hated to follow it.

"It is like a bloody great vacuum cleaner. It throws muck and rubbish at you at a hell of a rate". - Mario Andretti 16th June 1978, The Times

A field full of fan cars could have been interesting

"The closest we could get to the ****in thing was 90ft. Four laps after the start my visor was covered in dirt and oil; I couldn't see a damn thing." - James Hunt 17th June 1978, The Times

A field full of these things would have provided the most boring race yet seen with cars following each other a sufficiently large distance so that the drivers could have the luxury of actually seeing where they were going.

I think quite rightly that the FIA bit this one in the bud as soon as they did.

[Bolton Midnight]

No it's not. It's a bloody horrible thing and I would have hated to follow it.

"It is like a bloody great vacuum cleaner. It throws muck and rubbish at you at a hell of a rate". - Mario Andretti 16th June 1978, The Times

Driver of the leading Ground Effect car of course.

But doesn't sound too nice to behind one.

[clavius85]

YouTube delivers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-eKJ6G6XAc