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Motorsports fans with spare cash: a Formula 1 race car once
dubbed 'the most radical ever' has gone on sale for a cool R10-million
according to the London Daily mail.
The unconventional six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 was conjured up by engineer Derek
Gardner in 1976 for the iconic British F1 race team, whose drivers consisted of
Patrick Depailler and South Africa’s Jody Scheckter.
SIX- WHEEL DESIGN:
The design, with four tiny front wheels for steering and a narrow nose, was
intended to improve its aerodynamics and improve cornering by giving more grip
on the track.In the two seasons it raced, the bizarre racer picked up a total
of 14 podiums and one victory- with Scheckter driving -for Tyrrell
In 2004 it was named the most radical F1 car in history;
picking up an emphatic 63.5% of the vote in a poll by Autosport.The model for sale
was raced by Frenchman Patrick Depailler and has been put on the market by
London-based race car specialists Taylor & Crawley for the equivalent of R10-million.It
has been meticulously maintained, and is race ready - making it the ultimate
toy for wealthy amateurs itching to take to the track.
Depailler picked up five podium spots in the two seasons he raced the P34,
helping Tyrrell to third place in the 1976 Constructors' Championship alongside
teammate Jody Scheckter,who won with the P34 that season. The team had a 1-2 at
the Swedish GP (Scheckter was the winner. But the race driver left the team at
the end of the season and described the P34 as a “piece of junk”.
Scheckter would go on to win the 1979 F1 Championship with
Ferrari.
BUILT TO CORNER
Dubbed “the six-wheeler”, the P34 was fitted with two sets
of ten-inch front wheels to maximize the contact area between rubber and tar. The
car was powered with a 3-litre V8 capable of 350kW though the car weighed only
595kg. It failed to maintain its momentum in 1977 as Tyrrell finished fifth
overall - with the model for sale competing twice in races where Depailler
finished third and fourth.
Taylor & Crawley's David Clarke said: “It was an extraordinary, innovative
car when it was launched and something that wouldn’t happen today. The classic
car market is enormous, with people investing in them as tangible assets. This
is a fantastic opportunity - cars like this just don’t come up for sale.
“It has spent a lot of time in a museum but it is all ready to go.”
The car’s designer, Derek Gardner, died in 2012 at the age of 79.Depailler was killed
in 1980 while testing a new vehicle in Hockenheim, Germany. Jody Scheckter became
an organic farmer and lives in Overton,Hampshire in the UK.
