This is posted in the Historic Racing Now forum but its here to be knocked down by out history experts. It was prompted by a picture of the restored BMO 512B and its prototype nose.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Peter Mallett
The interesting bit about the B at Le Mans was (I think) 1965 when it finished 11th overall and second (?) in class at an average speed of 99.99mph. The comps manager at the time figured this was better publicity than a 100mph average!
I'm not certain they ran that nose every year, in fact I have pictures of DRX 255C with conventional grill. (This one was crashed by Roger Enever on its way to the Marathon De La Route).
Indeed its more likely that only one set of bodywork for that nose was produced because it needed different front wings from the production components.
What they did do was replace the doors, front wings boot lid and bonnet with aluminium components (of course the bonnet was available as an option).
The first year of running they sent two cars to Sebring having tested them on an airfield in sub zero temperatures. Unsurprisingly they went bang after about two hours. 6 and 7 DBL were the cars IIRC.
Funnily enough not long after that 6 DBL appeared in practice for Le Mans with BMO 512B. They had some seriously fast Atlantic crossings in those days.  |