Table of Contents
Classic Racing Engines

• Introduction
• Foreword by Eiji Taguchi
• Peugeot L3 3-litre four - 1913
  The principles of racing-engine design are established by a team of renegade drivers and a Swiss engineer
• Mercedes 18/100 4.5-litre four - 1914
  Aviation engine-design concepts contribute to the winning power unit in the greatest Grand Prix yet held
• Duesenberg 3-litre eight - 1921
  American style and simplicity defeat Europe's complex engines and begin the straight-eight era
• Bugatti Type 35 2.litre eight - 1925
  A consummate sense of style was married with exquisite execution to create a great racing car
• Delage 15.S-8 1.5-litre eight - 1927
  Cost-no-object engineering made its engine one of the finest to power any automobile
• Alfa Romeo Tipo B 2.7-litre eight - 1932
  Vittorio Jano's straight-eight engine bravely carried the Grand Prix banner for Italy
• Auto Union C-type 6-litre V16 - 1936
  Sublime engineering created an exceptional engine for a radical rear-engined car
• Austin Seven 744cc four - 1937
  A mini-masterpiece serves as a memorial to the brief career of a brilliant British engineer
• Mercedes-Benz M125 5.7-litre eight - 1937
  Apotheosis of the big supercharged straight-eight, it competed in only one Grand Prix season
• Auto Union D-type 3-litre V12 - 1938
  Engineered with confident elegance, it powered the best-yet mid-engined racing car
• Mercedes-Benz M154/M163 3-litre V12 - 1939
  It marked the apogee of the achievements of the pre-war Mercedes-Benz engineering and racing department
• Cisitalia 1.5.litre flat-12 - 1949
  A magnificent design by the Porsche office, it is one of GP racing's most awesome might-have-beens
• Maserati 4CLT/48 1.5-litre four - 1950
  Tough descendant of a pre-war design, this four-cylinder engine won many races
• Alfa Romeo 159 1.5.litre eight - 1951
  Progenitor of a modern legend of invincibility, it powered the first two GP World Champions
• BRM Type 15 1.5-litre V16 - 1951
  British industry backed an ambitious winner which only matured after its racing Formula expired
• Küchen 2-litre V8 - 1952
  From the workshop of a brilliant German engineer came an engine able to challenge the best
• Ferrari 500 2-litre four - 1953
  Four Lampredi-designed cylinders were all Alberto Ascari needed to win two World Championships
• Jaguar XK 3.4-litre six - 1954
  A series-built straight-six provided the lusty heart of a great sports-racing car
• Ferrari 553 2.5-litre four - 1954
  Against sixes and eights Ferrari's four was surprisingly competitive in the GP racing of 1954 and '55
• Lancia D50 2.5-litre V8 - 1955
  We gained a glimpse of the future from the compact V8 that powered Vittorio Jano's Grand Prix Lancia
• Mercedes-Benz M196 2.5-litre eight - 1955
  So exotic that it intimidated other teams simply by existing, the straight-eight Mercedes was a race winner as well
• Porsche 547 1.5-litre flat-4 - 1955
  Inheriting its layout from the Volkswagen, the four-cam Porsche racing engine bristled with ingenuity
• Ferrari 750 Monza 3-litre four - 1955
  Expanding a successful four-cylinder concept to sports-car size produced a versatile short-race winner
• Novi 3-litre V8 - 1956
  The most potent track-racing car of its era was powered by a centrifugally-supercharged vee-eight
• Maserati 250F 2.5-litre six - 1957
  Its powerful straight-six offered welcome proof that many cooks can brew a tasty broth
• Vanwall V254 2.5-litre four - 1957
  While others talked about making a GP engine based on motorcycle power, Tony Vandervell did it - and successfully
• Borgward RS 1.5-litre four - 1958
  Four valves per cylinder and direct fuel injection? Germany's Borgward had it in the I950s
• Ferrari Dino 246 2.4-litre V6 - 1958
  Ferrari's knack for making a very good big engine from a good little one was shown by his first vee-six
• Aston Martin RB6 2.9-litre six - 1959
  Backed by the resources of David Brown, a small British sports-car maker equalled the world's best on the track
• Coventry Climax FPF 2.5-litre four - 1960
  One of the simplest engines ever to win a World Championship, the FPF was nevertheless subtly sophisticated
• Maserati 61 2.9-litre four - 1960
  Improvisation and ingenuity created a great sports-racing engine and car for a troubled company
• Ferrari Dino 156 1.5-litre V6 - 1961
  A lighter, smaller, lower and more powerful V6 achieved a World Championship against Ferrari's wishes
• BRM P56 1.5-litre V8 - 1962
  Elements of the ill-fated BRMVI6 contributed to the success of a new V8 engine for the 1 ½-litre Formula 1
• Porsche 753 1.5-litre flat-8 - 1962
  In spite of its confused and compromised origins this air-cooled eight was a race winner for Porsche
• Coventry Climax FWMV 1.5-litre V8 - 1965
  'No-frills' engineering and rigorous development created the V8 that powered Jim Clark to two World Championships
• Honda RA272E 1.5-litre V12 - 1965
  Formula 1's first Japanese competitor sought and found high power in high revolutions
• Repco-Brabham 620 3-litre V8 - 1966
  A shrewdly simple V8 conceived as a stopgap solution by Jack Brabham propelled him to yet another World Championship
• BRM P75 3-litre H16 - 1966
  BRM's second try at a I6-cylinder FI engine was more successful than its first: it won one championship GP
• BMW M10 2-litre four - 1967
  With a radical cylinder-head concept Ludwig Apfelbeck enticed BMW into single-seater racing
• Gurney-Weslake 58 3-litre V12 - 1967
  An Anglo-American V12 overcame design and manufacturing problems to make motor racing history
• Ford DFV 3-litre V12 - 1967
  Ford of Britain reaped rich rewards from its sponsorship of a new V8 from the brain of Keith Duckworth
• Porsche 912 4.5-litre flat-12 - 1969
  Porsche's rich patrimony of power-producing ideas combined to create a magnificent engine for its Type 917
• Drake Offenhauser 2.6-litre four - 1970
  An engine that refused to die, the feisty Offy made a turbo-driven comeback in Indy-car racing
• Ferrari 312B 3-litre flat-12 - 1970
  Ferrari had failed to capitalize on the opportunity offered by the 3-litre GP Formula 1, but the 312B put that right
• Matra MS12 3-litre V12 - 1970
  Conceived for Formula 1 racing, the elegant Matra V12 came into its own in prototype sports cars
• Alfa Romeo 115-12 3-litre flat-12 - 1975
  A successful sports-ear-racing flat-I 2 had the power but not the lightness needed for Formula 1
• Renault EF4 1.5-litre V6 - 1984
  A V6 built for sports cars was turbo-powered to create a revolution in Formula 1 racing engines
• TAG-P01 1.5-litre V6 - 1987
  An alliance between McLaren and Porsche financed by TAG produced a championship-winning vee-six
• Honda RA122E/B 3.5-litre V12 - 1992
  New technologies enriched the capability of one of the last VI2 engines to be built for Formula 1
• Mercedes-Benz 5001 3.4-litre V8 - 1994
  An opportunistic engine with pushrod-operated valves brought Mercedes-Benz a historic Indianapolis victory
• Table of Specifications
• Glossary
• Index