The BT3: Brabham's first F1 car in 1962

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With the news of the launch of Brabham Automotive's brand new BT62 hypercar this week, we thought a little historical compare-and-contrast was in order.

So here is Sir Jack Brabham at the wheel of the BT3, the first Formula 1 car designed by Motor Racing Developments for the Brabham Racing Organisation. It featured an exceptionally stiff steel-tubed spaceframe chassis.

The car was designed around Coventry Climax's 1494cc FWMV V8 engine which had been introduced the previous year providing around 157 brake horsepower, which was increased to 190bhp the following season. It featured an Alf Francis-designed Colotti six-speed gearbox, which while very advanced was also worryingly fragile.

The BT3 made its debut at the 1962 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, but retired from its maiden race. However it went the distance in the final two races of the season. By finishing fourth in the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Brabham became the first driver to score championship points in a car bearing his own name.

Brabham went on to win the 13th Solitude Grand Prix in 1963. A non-championship race run to F1 rules, it nonetheless made Brabham the first driver to win a race at this level in his own team.

Only one F1-spec BT3 was ever produced, taking part in five races before being superceded by the BT7. It's final outing with Brabham at the wheel was at Monza. The chassis (sans engine) was then sold to Brighton-based privateer Ian Raby.

Post-F1 the car was bought by David Hepworth in 1965 and went on to compete in Formule Libre and hillclimb events. Once retired from active service, the car was restored to its full 1962 glory and placed on display at the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition museum collection.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.