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17/03/2022 10:56 am
Chevron B16 Cosworth
| Country of origin: | Great Britain |
| Produced from: | 1969 - 1970 |
| Numbers built: | 23 |
| Designed by: | Derek Bennett |
Chevron emerged as a leading racing car manufacturer. The company founded by the self-taught Derek Bennett had particularly impressed with the B8 sports racer introduced in 1967. Both a success on the racing track and in the sales room, it inspired Bennett to produce a prototype racer for the popular European 2-Litre Championship.
Bennett had had the plans for what would become the B16 in his head for quite some time but he could not start working on the new prototype racer until well into the 1969 season. This was mainly because the small company was fully occupied with building customer cars. Another problem Bennett faced was the lack of a suitable 2-litre engine because the BMW 'four' used in the B8 was at the end of its life cycle. He turned to Cosworth.
Cosworth developed the 'FVC' variant of its 1.6 litre 'FVA' Formula 2 engine, which was effectively one half of the DFV used so successfully in Formula 1. Although displacing only 1760 cc, it was still considerably more powerful than the BMW engine.
Fitted with a FVA engine, the B16 made its debut early in September at the prestigious Nürburgring 500 km race in the hands of works driver Brian Redman.
The new Chevron (DBE01), No.19 in red, immediately competitive but did appear to have some understeer. Overnight some small winglets were created and Redman clinched pole, well ahead of the previously dominant Abarths, who had skipped the final session. Redman immediately grabbed the lead and dominated the race to take a debut victory, which would become something of a Chevron speciality.
This resin model of the 1969 Cosworth B16 No.19 driven to victory in the 1969 Nürburgring 500 km race is a prototype model that I acquired from a friend, Chris in the UK. It was built by Dave Wade who also created the Master intended I think for Midatlantic Models although it does not appear on their production list.
17/03/2022 12:12 pm
David, nice background information and nice model.
Ed Davis
Inverness, Illinois, USA
17/03/2022 12:53 pm
Very informative David. Chevron is one of those car brands that has eluded me.
David Green and David Green reacted