That BRM V16 note – Goodwood Festival of Speed
The BRM V16 first raced in 1950, and by the end of it’s official development was sporting close to 600bhp from just 1.5L. It’s exhaust note is truly unique.
Victory in racing is often achieved through the taming of technologies, mastering the complexities of designs with which others struggles has always been a terrific way of gaining advantage over your competitors.
Sometimes of course, it doesn’t always go to plan. The BRM was way ahead of it’s time, it was more powerful and faster than everything else on the grid – yet reliability stood in the way of it making a true mark on the Formula One World Championship during the early 1950s. Of course it’s remembered as being one of the greatest sounding Formula One machines of all time, which when you consider the context is no mean feat!
MORE: Five of the best sounding Formula 1 engines
Although the video and caption explain that the car creates upwards of 700bhp, our understanding is that during the period it was closer to 600. Regardless, it’s an incredible achievement given just 1500ccs of displacement!
The video above left us hanging for a little bit of high rpm BRM V16 action. Footage of the BRM V16 on full noise is surprisingly rare. Here’s one of our favorites:
And from the outside:
