American Grand Prize
Art of Driving







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Alfa Romeo
P3
158
Bimotore
Auto Union
Type C
Type D
Brabham
1966 GP
BRM        
P56
Bugatti   
Type 35
Cisitalia
D46
Connaught
1955 F1
Cooper     
T51
Duesenberg
1921 GP
Eagle        
1967 GP
Ferrari     
156
500
312B
312T
Fiat             
130HP
Lancia          
D50
Locomobile
Type 1906
Lotus          
25
49
72
79
Maserati          
250F
McLaren          
M23
Mercedes-Benz          
1908 GP
SSKL
W 25
W 125
W 154
W 163
W 165
W 196
Miller                
91
Mors                
Dauphin
60 HP
Napier              
30 HP
Penske             
PC4
Peugeot             
1914 GP
Porsche          
F1
Renault          
1906 GP
RS11
Tyrrell          
P34
Vanwall          
1957 F1




When "uncle" Ken Tyrrell rings you up and says : "Can you come over, I've got something to show you", you don't ask: "What?" or "Why?". One thing about Ken, and I have known him for 40 years, is he never called a spade shovel; you know exactly where you stand with him, right or wrong. So one morning in September 1975, having just got back from Monza, I got on my motorcycle and rode over to Ken's house in West Clandon, and after a welcoming cup of coffee he said: "Come out into the garden". Totally unprepared for what to expect, I followed him out to the lawn and my mouth fell open, and a look of total disbelief came upon my face. Ken roared with laughter as I stood there speechless, and to this day he still has a chuckle at the memory of "Jenks speechless".

Denis Jenkinson describing the first time he laid eyes on the Tyrrell P34.

This famous car was the handiwork of Tyrrell's chief designer Derek Gardner. It's most striking feature of course was the use of four 10 in. wheels instead of the regular two. The front-end layout was intended to "... minimize induced drag by reducing lift at the front and to turn that gain into the ability to enter and leave corners faster".  The use of four small disc brakes required a special triple master-cylinder system, each feeding the brakes on one of the three axles. This was necessary as adjustments were required to control locking at the four front wheels. If the two front wheels locked first, then the effective wheelbase of the car was shortened and if the second set of front wheels locked first this resulted in the effective wheelbase being lengthened. The size of the front tires put special stress on the cross-ply tires Goodyear supplied. Had radial-ply Michelin tires been available to the team the story might have been different.  Unfortunately Goodyear's tire development program did not have the capacity to properly support the special 10 in. tires used by the P34.

The high point for what was known as Project 34 came at the Swedish Grand Prix in 1976 where Jody Scheckter came in first followed by his teammate Depailler in second. After two seasons and the departure of Derek Gardner the experiment was abandoned.

   
Tyrrell-Ford P34Tyrrell-Ford P34Tyrrell-Ford P34