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Topic starter
29/03/2025 4:22 pm
Trying to work around the FIA's never ending restrictions, Ken Tyrrell's team found that to get unrestricted airflow to the rear wing, the front tires had to be only 10" in height which made the contact patch in the front too small in area for proper traction, so the result was 4 front steerable tires. When the 1976 FIA season began and Tyrrell introduced this P34 model to the track, it blew a lot of minds. Several other makers went to the drawing boards to design their own six-wheeler. Of course, new regulations for 1977 made the P34 ineligible and the following year a new edict came out that all cars had to have only 4 wheels. For all the potential the car had on paper, on the track it was impossible to keep most of the front wheels on the ground. This Exoto model is Jody Scheckter's #3 car. Two of the team drivers loved the car, but Scheckter thought the car was "junk" and quit the team mid season. Here's the P34 and crew. when I bought the model, I wanted to have a figure next to it for a sense of scale. I went to the parts box and pulled out a Tamiya accessory assemble and paint figure. I figured she'd be a Brit so I made her a 'ginger'. Years later I bought a period crew set with Ken Tyrrell and crew... and they were all red cheeked gingers. LOL
Note: the inboard rear disc brakes are branded "Lockheed". Do you think they came from aircraft nose wheels?
29/03/2025 6:23 pm
I wanted to have a figure next to it for a sense of scale.
Without seeing your red cheeked mates, I would've guessed this car to be much larger. Your crew truly does help to put things into perspective. 🤨
David Green and Tony Perrone reacted
Topic starter
29/03/2025 8:31 pm
@chris Remember, those front wheels with tires are only 10" high. By itself, the P34 does look massive.
31/03/2025 9:23 am
Actually the Tyrrell P34 ran both in 1976 and 1977, six wheel cars were banned after Ferrari, Williams and March each started to develop a six wheel car of their own but instead of four small front wheels they were each looking at four rear wheels, Ferrari was looking at two rear wheels side by side which would have never passed width rules while March and Williams had the four rear wheels inline like the Tyrrell did with their front tires. Goodyear also did not help Tyrrell when they refused to develop the small front tires for them. Once Ferrari, Williams and March started development of a six wheel car that is when the FIA banned six wheels.
Technically :
Aluminum monocoque chassis
Front and rear suspension Spring / Double fork / Koni cables / shock absorbers
Disc brakes
Ford Cosworth DFV V8 engine 2993 cm3
Hewland FG400 gearbox at 5 speeds in 1976 and 6 speeds in 1977
Tank : 191 liters
wheelbase : 2 453 mm
Track front : 1 234 mm
Rear track : 1 473 mm
Weight in 1976 : 587 kg
Weight in 1977 : 620 kg
Carburant Elf
Goodyear tires
Historical :
30 courses, 13 in 1976 and 17 in 1977
1 Victory in 1976
1 Pole in 1976
3 Best tours, 2 in 1976 and 1 in 1977
10 Podiums and 1976
4 Podiums and 1977
Rankings :
3rd in the championship 1976
6rd in the championship 1977
Drivers :
1976 : Jody Scheckter et Patrick Depailler
1977 : Ronnie Peterson and Patrick Depailler
The Birth of P34
British engineer Derek Gardner has been working in the stable for 1970, who designs the Tyrrell P34 at 6 wheels. He had been thinking about this concept for several years, his idea was to have more contact surface with the ground in the turns and to reduce the frontal surface of air resistance to gain in aerodynamics. P34 for Project 34, his 34th technical project. The car should have been called Tyrrell 008.
First season 1976
Following successful private trials in 1975 and 1976, Tyrrell embarks on the adventure of competing at the Spanish Grand Prix 1976 with one car for Patrick Depailler. Jody Scheckter will only have his at the Belgian Grand Prix. The 2 drivers will complain about understeer problems but the cars still have a good level of performance and collect points for the world championship. At the end of the year, the overall result is mixed, cars lack spawning speed and therefore aerodynamics despite the small front wheels. The double front brake system also posed many new problems. Enthusiastic Depailler will remain for 1977 as Scheckter leaves the team, not believing in 6 wheels. He will be replaced by Ronnie Peterson the following season.
Second season 1977
Tyrrell upgrades the P34 to P34-B which changes color and is distinguished by a completely different aerodynamics. She's supposed to carry on the promises of the season 1 but unfortunately it doesn't go as planned at all, following a bad distribution of the masses, tire malfunction (no special help from Goodyear) and an unreliable Cosworth engine, the season will be catastrophic. Despite the deep involvement of Patrick Depailler, nothing will do and Tyrrell will abandon the P34 project at the end 1977. Engineer Derek Gardner will permanently quit motorsport following the failure of his Project 34.
31/03/2025 10:14 am
Fantastic post and photography, Rich. John, thank you for the technical history and statistics regarding the brief 6 wheel era in F1.
Christopher Moroni and Rich Sufficool reacted
01/04/2025 6:19 pm
@rich-sufficool - OMG! Wow, Rich! When I read that the rear disc calipers had Lockheed imprinted on them, I had to pull out my P34 to see it too! How did you know to look at the calipers for that detail??? I never knew that about the car and didn't know that Exoto duplicated that detail! So kudos to Exoto for including it, and extra kudos to you for finding it! Amazing!
That said, the P34 is hands down my all-time favorite F1 car. I've always been amazed at the intention of the design and the execution. Years ago, I built the Tamiya 1:12 model. Unfortunately, some California seismic activity turned it into a heaping mess of broken parts. I never built a second one, but I do have the Exoto in 1:8 scale made by DeAgostini. They're about $3,000 on eBay.
Christopher Moroni reacted