During the 1978 Formula 1 season, a very curious car raced only once but captured victory, resulting in a stunning wave of protest from its rivals.
In 1978, the car to beat was the Colin Chapman-designed Lotus 79, the first car to fully exploit the advantages of ground effect. The wide sidepods of the car were fitted with reversed wings that produced negative lift at high speeds, therefore pushing the car down and resulting in faster cornering speeds.
The Lotus could sport wide sidepods because the Cosworth engine was narrow. It was not the case of the Brabham BT46, which was powered by a wide, flat 12 cylinder Alfa Romeo engine.
Brabham chief designer Gordon Murray found a loophole in the F1 regulations to fit the car with a powerful fan that would suck the air from underneath the car to create the suction that would glue the car to the tarmac.
Auto123.com interviewed Murray about the infamous fan car.
“In the year that Lotus invented ground effect with side wings we were running on Alfa Romeo flat 12 engine which by its geometry precluded us from designing a wing car,” Murray told us.
“It was from this position and an understanding of the regulations regarding aerodynamic devices that I decided to do the fan car. The total time for the design, development and building of three cars was three months.”
Murray and the other Brabham engineers carefully read the rulebook. “The reason why the fan was legal was a loophole in the fixed aerodynamic device regulations. This regulation stated than any aerodynamic device that PRIMARY’S FUNCTION was to affect the aerodynamics of the car had to be firmly fixed. On the BT46B, 55% of the fan’s air went through the water radiator and 45% was used for suction.”
In 1978, the car to beat was the Colin Chapman-designed Lotus 79, the first car to fully exploit the advantages of ground effect. The wide sidepods of the car were fitted with reversed wings that produced negative lift at high speeds, therefore pushing the car down and resulting in faster cornering speeds.
The Lotus could sport wide sidepods because the Cosworth engine was narrow. It was not the case of the Brabham BT46, which was powered by a wide, flat 12 cylinder Alfa Romeo engine.
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| Niki Lauda driving the BT46B in Sweden. |
Brabham chief designer Gordon Murray found a loophole in the F1 regulations to fit the car with a powerful fan that would suck the air from underneath the car to create the suction that would glue the car to the tarmac.
Auto123.com interviewed Murray about the infamous fan car.
“In the year that Lotus invented ground effect with side wings we were running on Alfa Romeo flat 12 engine which by its geometry precluded us from designing a wing car,” Murray told us.
“It was from this position and an understanding of the regulations regarding aerodynamic devices that I decided to do the fan car. The total time for the design, development and building of three cars was three months.”
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Murray and the other Brabham engineers carefully read the rulebook. “The reason why the fan was legal was a loophole in the fixed aerodynamic device regulations. This regulation stated than any aerodynamic device that PRIMARY’S FUNCTION was to affect the aerodynamics of the car had to be firmly fixed. On the BT46B, 55% of the fan’s air went through the water radiator and 45% was used for suction.”