Showroom: BT23C – Jack Brabham’s star F2 car

In association with

One benefit of buying this twin-winged Brabham BT23C is that you’ll always have somewhere to put your tea – but you’ll also be getting one of the most historically interesting of Jack Brabham’s late ’60s F2 racers ever to take to the track.

The Australian triple F1 world champion moved into the construction business with his eponymous marque at the start of the decade having teamed with the celebrated engineer/designer Ron Tauranac. Between them they put their talents to use developing cars across multiple classes, from Formula Junior to F3, F2 and F1 as well as sports racing cars.

Brabham famously became the first driver to win the F1 drivers’ title in a car bearing his own name in 1966, while team-mate Denny Hulme took the laurels the following year. Back then F1 stars typically raced in lesser categories, too – and Brabham and Hulme also dominated F2 in 1966, winning 11 of 12 races in 1-litre BT18s and taking first and second spots respectively in the short-run Trophées de France championship.

A rule change for 1967 meant F2 engine capacity was upped to 1600cc, leading Brabham to develop the all-new BT23 with Cosworth FVA power – and Jochen Rindt instantly proved the model’s worth by winning six out of that year’s 10 European F2 rounds.

The BT23C on offer at Mitchell Curated was originally sold by Frank Williams (then a Brabham dealer) to Italian team owner Corrado Manfredini, whose Scuderia Picchio Rosso used cartoon Woody Woodpecker as its mascot.

It’s fair to say that Manfredini’s time with the car was less than glorious: out of seven events, he managed a best finish of 10th before sending it back to Williams, who sold it to British racer Malcolm Guthrie. He, too, failed to realise its potential before passing it on to Bob Gerard Racing, where it received the same pea-green livery it wears today along with those distinctive ailerons, which it first sported at the Nürburgring in 1969. And it was after that the year-old Chassis 12 shone.

First, BGR’s tuner/driver Brian Hart took victory at Hockenheim, and the following week his team-mate Robin Widdows scored a win at Monza. And after its F2 career was over. The BT23C clinched four national speed records at Elvington while in the ownership of drag racer Gerry Tyack, who also ran a record-setting 12.89sec quarter mile in it at the 1970 Brighton Speed Trials.

Exported to California in 1990, it remained in the US until 2017 when it was acquired by noted UK-based racer/dealer Will I’Anson, who restored it to its current condition using original Brabham drawings.

Not used on track since – but carefully maintained all the same – the car is described as being in “stunning” condition cosmetically and mechanically and will be sold with a useful spares package and current FIA paperwork.

So if you fancy trying your hand at some historic F2 racing, why not sit down and give it some consideration? (After making a nice cup of tea, of course…)

---

1968 Brabham BT23C

On sale with Mitchell Curated, Cheltenham. Asking: £135,000. mitchellcurated.com

---

Group A Merkur is touring car history

• Ford’s North American Sierra was the Merkur XR4Ti, sold from 1985-89. Only two Eggenberger Group A XR4Tis were built, paving the way for the RS Cosworth and RS500. This 1986 example, far right, is one of them and was driven by Steve Soper and Klaus Niedzwiedz to victory at Estoril in the 1986 ETCC. Fully restored, it’s on sale at CNC motorsport AWS in Cheltenham; £200,000.
  
• Aston Martin has opened its first ultra-luxury flagship but to experience such opulence you’ll need to book a flight to the US. Q New York, below, on Park Avenue features “quintessentially British” design features. Think: chandeliers and fireplaces. “It’s where dreams come true,” said Aston’s executive vice president Marek Reichman.
  
• If your plan is to purchase an all-electric Rolls-Royce spectre this summer and sell it on for a speedy profit, then think on – you’ll be blacklisted. Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said, “You’ll never have the chance to acquire again.”
• Driven exclusively by Chris Amon in 1971 and ’72, Matra MS120C chassis 6 never troubled the podium but its V12 pitch, one of the foremost ear-shredding engines in F1 history, was loved by motor sport fans. It’s in tip-top condition and still racing – and on sale at DH ROFGO in Hampshire, £POA.
• If you’re sick of the sight of grey cars, you’ll be overjoyed by Fiat’s plan to discontinue the hue. It’s a gung-ho move: grey is the UK’s most popular shade. Fiat will concentrate on colours that relate to Italy – sea, sun, earth and sky. “It reinforces Fiat’s leadership as the brand of joy and optimism,” said CEO Olivier Francois. Lee Gale