Tyrrell P34

The Tyrrell P34 (Project 34), otherwise known as the 'six-wheeler,' was a Formula One race car designed by Derek Gardner, Tyrrell's chief designer, as a response to new regulations due to come into force in 1976. The car used specially manufactured 10-inch diameter wheels and tyres at the front with two ordinary sized wheels at the back. The idea of the smaller front tyres was to increase air penetration and have a smaller 'frontal area' which would reduce drag.

However, smaller diameter tyres would have resulted in a loss of contact area between the rubber and the tarmac surface of the track and hence poorer mechanical grip for cornering. To remedy this, the P34 was given four 10-inch front wheels. Thanks to a complex suspension design, all four front wheels could be steered.

Race history

When unveiled, the cover was peeled away from the back forward and the collective gasps from the world's press said it all. Along with the Brabham BT46B 'Fancar' which came in F1|1978, the six-wheeled Tyrrell was the most radical car ever to take part in F1 competition.

It first ran in the Spanish GP in F1|1976, and proved to be very competitive. Both Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler were able to produce solid results with the car, but while Depailler praised the car continually, Scheckter realised it would only be temporarily competitive. The special Goodyear tyres were not being developed enough by the end of the season.

The P34's golden moment came in the Swedish Grand Prix. Scheckter and Depailler finished first and second, and to date Scheckter is the only driver ever to win a race in a 6 wheeled car. He left the team at the end of the season, insisting that the 6 wheeler was 'a piece of junk!'

For 1977, Scheckter was replaced by the Swede Ronnie Peterson, and the P34 was redesigned around cleaner aerodynamics. The P34B was wider and heavier than before and although Peterson was able to string some promising results from the P34B, as was Depailler, it was clear the car was not as good as before, mostly down to the tyre manufacturer's failure to properly develop the small front tyres. The added weight of the front suspension system is also cited as a reason for ending the project. Thus, the P34 was abandoned for 1978, and a truly remarkable chapter in F1 history was over.

More recently the P34 has been a popular sight at historic racing events, proving competitive once more. This was made possible when the Avon tyre company agreed to manufacture bespoke 10-inch tyres for Simon Bull, the owner of chassis No. 6. In 1999 and 2000 the resurrected P34 competed at a number of British and European circuits as an entrant in the FIA Thoroughbred Grand Prix series. Driven by Martin Stretton, the car won the TGP series outright in 2000. The car has also been seen a number of times at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Other six-wheeled Formula One cars

Whilst the Tyrrell P34 is the most widely known six-wheeled F1 car, it was not the only example of this design ever constructed. Both March Engineering and the Williams team built experimental six-wheeled F1 chassis. However, despite extensive testing, neither the March 2-4-0 or Williams FW08B ever raced in a grand prix. The Scuderia Ferrari also built an experimental six-wheeled Formula 1 car, the Ferrari 312T6 which unlike the March and Williams, featured the four rear wheels on a single axle. This was similar to how tractor trailers, some trucks, and most notably in the Grand Prix sport, the Auto Unions from the 1930's, arrange their tyres. However, like the Williams and March cars, the Ferrari was never raced. The reason for none of these cars actually racing and for the disappearance of six wheeled cars in general, is largely as a result of a re-amended rule in F1|1983, which prohibited 4WD cars from competing. Later the Formula 1 regulations stated that four was the maximum number of wheels allowed.

The P34 in popular culture

Despite only limited success in the world of motor sport, the P34 was kept alive in people's memories by toy replicas. The Corgi company released a best-selling diecast scale model of the car in the late 1970s. Another example is the Transformers Stunticon, Drag Strip. (Drag Strip was also one of few P34 toys to never wear the original's Elf racing colors.)

P34-inspired cars have also appeared in two Anime series: one was driven in the F1 Race in the first episode of Moldiver and it has been suggested that the design of the 'Todoroko Special' which played a lead role in Arrow Emblem was inspired by the P34.Fact|date=March 2008

See also

* March 2-4-0
* Ferrari 312T
* Covini C6W
* Panther 6

External links

* [http://www.project34.co.uk/ Project 34 history website]