Grand Prix design

In previous issues we have illustrated suspension differences among the leading Grand Prix cars, and this month are illustrated the different methods of transmitting the power of the engine from the final drive unit to the rear wheels, while in addition the position of the universally used disc brakes are shown, these being depicted by the thick black line representing the brake disc.

Most designers use a form of sliding joint in the drive shaft, but Lotus use a solid shaft and allow for variations in shaft length, due to suspension movement, by using a rubber-ring universal at the inboard end. A.T.S. used a similar arrangement at the outboard end of their shafts at first, but have subsequently dropped the idea. Brabham experimented with an Australian-manufactured sliding pot-joint at the outboard end, but has since reverted to normal Hardy Spicer universal joints. Cooper use a modified Citroën sliding-spline pot at the inner end, and Ferrari and B.R.M. manufacture their own shafts and universals.—D. S. J.