New at Old Irish Racing

Great pick-up Jerry.  I’m with you on the livery and having Andrettis on board is enough to make it a “need”.

Always have liked this one, I bought it a decade ago in 1:18

Thanks Martin!  I wanted for a project piece I plan to do around Mario and Michael Andretti.  Regrettably, its too late to get Jeff's signature for the piece.

While it was Jaguar all the way for me in 1988, you still couldn't help but be in awe of the 962C and the track record Porsche had with it and the 952 at Le Mans.  To me, that livery is simple but purposeful.

Yep, this would be a great car to have in that scale!

When Bertone couldn't sell the design to Jaguar Brooks, it is what became the Espada.  While I agree that the Italian (and British) attempts to improve on Sir William and company's work often was no comparison, there were some notable exceptions.  The Ghia Supersonic, Farina and Pininfarina also did striking renditions on the XK120.  Bertone did a beautiful rendition of the XK150 S Coupe and Michelotti did a wonderful coupe based on a wrecked D-Type.  In more modern times, Bertone's B99 is in my eye a beautiful rendition on the XJ.  However, as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Take the next three for example:  

BRM Hat Trick - Stirling Moss said of the BRM P25, “I must admit, this was potentially a bloody good car! Probably the only F1 car which I felt handled better than the Maserati 250F; very good engine, excellent steering – and not bad brakes, when they were working…” I have to admit, my fondness for BRM started with toys, too young to appreciate the cars themselves. A Corgi BRM P25 and later a BRM P57 slot car endeared me to the marque. Over time I came to appreciate BRM for what it brought to the F1 table until its sad end in the mid-70s. This new trio of P25s from Spark represent bookends of the P25 story, from its debut and early unreliability to championship contender. The last great front engined British F1 car.

BRM P25 - 1956 British GP, Mike Hawthorn & Tony Brooks - Spark

The P25 was the foundation upon which BRM built their F1 success in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Purchased by Alfred Owen in 1953 as BRM was floundering financially, Owen injected capital into the firm and introduced the new P25 under Owen Racing Organization sponsorship in late 1954. The P25 featured a robust 2.5L twin-cam four-cylinder engine which produced 275 HP, more than its rivals. It made its World Championship debut at the British GP at Silverstone in 1956, where three cars were entered, including this one driven by future World Champion Mike Hawthorn.



Qualifying 3rd, Hawthorn was first away, closely followed by teammate Tony Brooks who started from the third row. Such was the power of the BRM that they pulled away from the rest of the field which included Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, Juan Manuel Fangio and Roy Salvadori. By Lap 11, these faster drivers had closed the early gap between the two BRM’s and Brooks had dropped to 4th. On lap 20 of the 101 lap race, Hawthorn began to slow. He retired on Lap 23 with a leaking transmission joint over fear the gearbox would seize. The P25 was fast but unreliable in its early days, not finish a F1 race until 1958.



The BRM P25 was an early F1 adapter of disc brakes, with discs on the front and a single rear disc on the gearbox. While its horsepower was an advantage, the P25 suffered from early reliability and handling issues, its rear disc often failing. The P25 would be campaigned from 1954-1960 in F1 as its early demons were exorcised. Tony Brooks joined the BRM team in 1956 and together with Mike Hawthorn and Ron Flockhart made a trio of cars for the P25s debut at the Silverstone for the British GP. While not the fastest driver on the grid, Brooks was perhaps the smoothest and during qualifying put his car on the third row in 9th. The cars superior horsepower proved its mettle at the race start.



At the start of the three-hour race, Brooks was quick away, trailing team leader Hawthorn in the early stages of the race. After a dozen laps he had dropped back to 4th, but stayed there following Moss, Fangio and Salvadori, with Collins constantly at his heels after Hawthorn had retired. It was looking like a good run for Brooks until Lap 40 when he had to stop to have his throttle control fixed. Repaired and on his way again, he almost made it to the race halfway point when his rear end seized, sending the car into an end-over-end pirouette down the track. Thrown clear, Brooks only received minor facial injuries, but the car burned. Moss and Fangio dueled for the race lead until Moss retired and Fangio took the win in his Ferrari. His only British GP victory.



BRM P25 - 1959 British GP, Stirling Moss (2nd) - Spark

Stirling Moss usual F1 ride in 1959 was Rob Walkers Cooper T51, but due to mechanical difficulties, Moss drove a P25 for BRM at the 1959 French GP. BRM had agreed to loan a car to British Racing Partnership (BRP) fr Stirling to drive. Pushing hard very hard to claim a new lap record on a very hot day, Moss spun on melting track surface tar and stalled his car while running third. His clutch gone, he tried push starting the car in gear but collapsed in the 110-degree heat. His next start in the BRM came at the British GP in the BRP livery seen here.



Moss made a good start at the British GP and was third on the first lap behind Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren in Coopers when his clutch began to slip. Dropping back to 6th, the clutch seemed to cure itself and Moss worked his way back to 2nd but 10 seconds behind Brabham. On Lap 50 Moss was signaled in to change tires, but a slow pit stop cost him half a minute. Another stop to add fuel added to the deficit, but Moss caught McLaren for second and the two continued to have a battle to the finish. Both set lap records in the process (McLaren became the youngest F1 driver to set a lap record, a record that stood 44 years until broken by Fernando Alonso). Moss prevailed and finished second with McLaren just 1/5 second behind in third.





I have enjoyed this piece of Michael Turners artwork depicting the BRMs of Hawthorn and Brooks at Silverstone in 1956 for some time (look for a diorama based on this in the future). Besides having two all-time great drivers not just in F1, but sportscars as well is icing on the cake featuring a car I have been smitten by for over sixty years. To me, the piece not only shows the great cars and drivers of that era, but also symbolizes to me the sense of hope Britain must have felt as it was still trying to dig itself out of post-WWII austerity. The P25 has largely been ignored by model makers until now, kits of the car being the only option. Knowing I would never get kits built, this was my option to add a missing link or two to my BRM collection, but not without some critique.




Spark have done a good job of capturing the lines and nuances in the P25 between 1956 and 1959. I still don’t understand why Spark insists on putting metallic paint on 1950s cars and the shade of green is too light for BRM. While Lotus shade of BRG always had a bit of yellow, BRM always had a shade of blue in the green which gave it a unique color. On all the Spark BRMs I have this has been a fail which is a shame, but I guess they must feel their approach makes the cars more appealing to those that don’t know of don’t care. Why else would you steer away from historical accuracy? The BRP green is very good. I also like the fact that they have detailed the rear disc brake underneath the car where it can’t be seen. A nice bit of detail. Spark’s driver figures can be hit and miss and these are a mixed bag. The Hawthorn figure is great, capturing his unique helmet and face shield, even his bow tie! The Brooks figure with its pronounced chin is a bit off and the Moss figure is good, except the chin strap of his helmet is across rather than under his chin. These faults aside, I recommend the models, but wish that for the money their models bring, Spark would consistently bring their A game.

Two crackers there

I wish one was available as well Tom.  Its a car I am really surprised has been ignored for so long.  

Thanks Paul!  I really like this trio of cars.

Yes, if they had gotten the BRM colors right, they would have been absolute home runs.  The Moss car is perhaps a shade light for BRP, but one I am glad to have on my Moss shelf.  These were on order before Tony Brooks passed, but especially now that he is gone, glad to have another car he piloted in the collection.

Great story, your models make it come alive!