6-wheeler Formula 1 racing cars

[Roxxy]

Does anybody remember a brief period of time in the late '70s when some Formula 1 racing cars had six wheels? The same two big wheels at the back, but instead of two larger ones at the front, there were four smaller ones. The Elf Tyrrell was one such example, I still have a Scalextric model of it. It wasn't a trend that lasted very long, not after '82 at the latest- but I wonder why this was. Perhaps there was a theory that it would improve handling or cornering? I don't know, but I DO know that these days, it's impossible to get plastic scale models of such cars- maybe the innovators of the design are too embarrassed!!

[Jay Mc]

Re: 6-wheeler Formula 1 racing cars

I remeber these. Williams also tried this out but with the extra wheels at the back but I think the FIA banned them (i could be wrong they might just have been rubbish)

[darren]

Re: 6-wheeler Formula 1 racing cars

i remember these as well but i wonder why they died out were not used anymore perhaps too costly or it affected the cars handling.

[Richard1978]

Re: 6-wheeler Formula 1 racing cars

March also made a 1 off 6 wheeler with the same layout as the Williams one. They never managed to get it developed enough to race, but had a Scalextric model made of it.

IIRC one of the Transformers was based on the Tyrell 6 wheeler.

This is a good feature on F1 6 Wheelers: http://www.forix.com/8w/sixwheelers.html