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BRM
BRM roots go back to 1947 when the British Motor Racing Research Trust was formed with the idea of building a British challenger to break the stranglehold the Italian Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati teams had over Grand Prix racing both before and after the Second World War, and also hoping to achieve the crushing impression the German Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz teams had made in the mid-1930s.
Commercial backing sought The man behind the project was Raymond Mays, who was the first to bring commercial support to motor racing when he persuaded companies to back his English Racing Automobiles (ERA) efforts in the 1920s and 1930s.
Ever ambitious, BRM (British Racing Motors) was a similar idea.
A racing co-operative The original BRM team was a co-operative and the plan was to build a two-stage supercharged engine producing 600 brake horsepower. Unfortunately, when the car debuted in the
non-championship International Trophy at Silverstone in 1950, it was a
disaster.
With Raymond Sommer driving, the car qualified on the back of the grid and its V16 broke a drive-shaft at the start. Spectators threw coins at it as it was pushed off. The research trust lasted until 1952, when Sir Alfred Owen of the Owen Organization took over BRM. With Vanwall getting the better of BRM as the top British team, no great progress was made until the 1960s, as Cooper and Lotus also overtook BRM in the effort to establish Britain at the forefront of the international racing scene. Win, or else... BRM went into the 1962 season with just one Grand Prix victory to its name - the Dutch Grand Prix of 1959 with Jo Bonnier - and an ultimatum from Owen to win the championship or else.
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