BRM V16 book now out

New tome on gorgeous 10,000rpm 1940s flop

By PH Staff / Friday, 27 October 2006 / Loading comments

Veloce Books is releasing BRM V16, by Karl Ludvigsen, a book all about the classic racing car from the 1940s.

If a racing car could disappoint an entire nation, that was the dramatic fate of Britain’s BRM. Conceived in 1946 as a world-beating Formula 1 car, the BRM V16 was built by the nation’s leading auto companies and suppliers to put Britain at the forefront in Grand Prix racing. A bright beacon of hope and promise for Britain’s motor-sports enthusiasts during the drab and rationed post-war years was their knowledge that the country’s leading auto companies and suppliers were banding together to create an amazing new car that promised to put Britain at the forefront in Grand Prix racing.

Declaring its intent with its name, British Racing Motor or BRM, the car was a veritable wonder machine shot through with fascinating and revolutionary features. And it did come good -- producing more than 500 horsepower from 1.5 litres -- but only after the Formula 1 for which it was built had expired.

The V16 BRM has gone down in history as one of motor racing’s most spectacular flops. From the files of the Ludvigsen Library come more than 150 rare photos of the BRM, one of the handsomest, indeed sexiest, racing cars of all time. Related articles and ephemera round out the story of a bold but ultimately misguided British venture that delivered too much too late.

Ludvigsen brings to life the travails and triumphs of this exotic Formula 1 car, whose amazing engine was the first in history to rev above 10,000 rpm -- with a shrill scream from its exhausts that captivated all who saw, heard and drove it.

The author

Enthusiasts probably know Ludvigsen best as an author of books and articles on cars. At the age of 22, he was the technical editor of 'Sports Cars Illustrated'; three years later, he was its editor, transforming it into 'Car and Driver'. He later served 'Motor Trend' as its east coast editor. He is the author of more than two dozen books on cars. His histories of the Corvette, Porsche and the racing cars of Mercedes-Benz are considered the standard works on those subjects. Ludvigsen's series on racing drivers now includes such immortals as Alberto Ascari, Dan Gurney, Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Bruce McLaren and the great Juan Manuel Fangio.