Repco
Encyclopedia
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Automotive engineering
Modern automotive engineering, along with aerospace engineering and marine engineering, is a branch of vehicle engineering, incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the design, manufacture and operation of motorcycles, automobiles,...
company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and it is best known for spare parts
Spare parts
Service parts management is the main component of a complete Strategic Service Management process that companies use to ensure that right spare part and resources are at the right place at the right time....
and motor accessories.
The company gained fame for developing the engines which powered the Brabham Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
cars in which Jack Brabham
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....
and Denny Hulme
Denny Hulme
Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme, OBE was a New Zealand racing driver, the 1967 Formula One World Champion for the Brabham team....
won the 1966 and 1967 World Championship of Drivers titles respectively. Brabham-Repco were awarded the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers in the same two years.
Repco currently runs a series of stores across Australian and New Zealand specialising in the sale of parts and aftermarket accessories.
The company was founded by Robert Geoffrey (Geoff) Russell in 1922 and first traded under the name Automotive Grinding Company, from premises in Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
.
It currently has over 2,000 employees in almost 400 stores.
Repco was briefly a publicly traded company being first listed on the Australian Stock Exchange
Australian Stock Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
in 2003, however following acquisition of all shares by CCMP Capital
CCMP Capital
CCMP Capital is a private equity investment firm that focuses on leveraged buyout and growth capital transactions. Formerly known as JP Morgan Partners, the investment professionals of JP Morgan Partners separated from JPMorgan Chase on July 31, 2006. CCMP has invested approximately $12 billion...
Asia, Repco has been delisted from the Australian Stock Exchange.
Repco engine in F1
In 1963 the international motor racing body, the FIA, announced that the maximum engine capacity for the Formula OneFormula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
category would be doubled to three litres to start from the 1966 season
1966 Formula One season
The 1966 Formula One season was the 17th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 22 and ended on October 23...
. Despite calls for a "return to power" having been made, few teams were prepared as the main engine supplier Coventry Climax
Coventry Climax
Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...
decided to get out of race engine building.
Jack Brabham
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....
exploited his existing relationship with Australian automotive components manufacturer Repco. He proposed they design and build a simple, reliable racing engine based on aluminium V8 engine blocks from the defunct American small-block Oldsmobile V8 F85 road car project, and other off the shelf parts. The Repco board agreed to his proposal. A small team developed an F1 engine, fitted with 2-valve per-cylinders SOHC heads. The first advantage of this "Repco 620" V8 was its lightness, which allowed it to be bolted into an existing 1.5 litre Formula One chassis. With no more than 310 bhp, the Repco was by far the least powerful of the new 3 litre engines, but unlike the others it was frugal, light and compact. Also unlike the others, it was reliable and, due to low weight and power, the strain on chassis, suspension, brakes, and tyres was low.
Four world titles for the single-camshaft 16-valve
In 1966, the Repco engine was good enough to score 3 poles for Jack Brabham. In his one-off BT19, it helped him get 4 consecutive wins and both titles in the 9 races long season, a unique accomplishment for a driver and constructor. This was his third title.The 2,995.58 cc V8 Repco had a bore and stroke of 3.50 x 2.375" (88.9 x 60.3 mm). Initially it gave about 285 bhp. A test bed figure of 310 bhp at 7,800 rpm with 230 ft·lb (311.8 N·m) torque at 6,500 rpm was obtained. In race trim, about 299 bhp was available. In 1967, the bore and stroke remained unaltered. In that year, 325/330 bhp at 8,500 rpm was often quoted. A test-bed figure of 327 bhp at 8,300 rpm was recorded. For 1968, a 32-valve version with 400 bhp at 9,500 rpm was planned. But only about 380 bhp at 9,000 rpm was achieved.
In 1967, the competition had made progress. Repco produced a new version of the engine, the 700 series, this time with a Repco designed block. Brabham scored 2 poles early in the year, but then the new Ford Cosworth V8 appeared in the Lotus 49, setting a new pace with its 410 hp at 9,000 rpm, with Jim Clark and Graham Hill taking all poles in the rest of the season. As the Lotus was still fragile, the Brabham pilots scored 2 wins each. Brabham used new parts on his cars, which was not always helpful, so Denis Hulme collected more results and the title, followed by Brabham himself, who again won the constructors title.
No success for the double-camshaft 32-valve
The new Ford engine, which was made available to other teams in 1968 also, made clear that more power was needed. A new version of the Repco V8, with gear driven double overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, was produced for 1968 to maintain its competitiveness. A figure of 400 bhp at 9,500 rpm was targeted but only about 380 bhp at 9,000 rpm was achieved. The season was a disaster as it proved very unreliable due to unsurmountable valve gear unreliability. There was also a 4.2 litre derivative for the Indy 500. Jochen RindtJochen Rindt
Karl Jochen Rindt was a German racing driver who represented Austria during his career. He is the only driver to posthumously win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship , after being killed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix...
, who had moved to Brabham at the wrong time, managed to score two poles and two podiums that year, while Brabham himself collected only two points. The Repco project had always been hindered by the lengthy lines of communication between the UK and Australia, which made correcting problems very difficult. Repco, having spent far more money than originally envisaged and having sold very few customer versions of their engine, stopped the project.
For 1969, the works Brabham team and most of the private Brabham entries also used the ubiquitous Cosworth powerplant. A pair of older Brabham-Repcos were entered in the season opening 1969 South African Grand Prix
1969 South African Grand Prix
The 1969 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on March 1, 1969. It was the first round of the 1969 Formula One season.- Background :...
by local drivers Sam Tingle
Sam Tingle
Sam Tingle was a racing driver from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. He participated in five Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 28 December 1963. He scored no championship points...
and Peter de Klerk
Peter de Klerk
Peter de Klerk is a former racing driver from South Africa. He participated in four Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 28 December 1963. He scored no championship points....
, but no points were scored on the engine marque's last appearance in the world championship.
Also, LDS
LDS (automobile)
LDS is the name given to various single seater racing specials built for the South African Formula One Championship. The "specials" were built by Louis Douglas Serrurier, hence the name. The Mark 1 and Mark 2 models were based on Cooper designs, whilst the Mark 3 was based on the Brabham BT11...
fitted with Repcos were used in the South African Grand Prix
South African Grand Prix
The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Eastern Cape Province...
in the late 1960s, as well as in the national F1 series there.
Other racing
Repco had been involved in Australian motor racing many years prior to the association with Brabham. Most famous had been development of the engine of the series of Maybach Specials in the 1950s to various wins including the 1954 New Zealand Grand PrixNew Zealand Grand Prix
The New Zealand Grand Prix, sometimes known as the New Zealand International Grand Prix, is an annual motor racing event held in New Zealand first run in 1950. Currently it is the signature race of the Toyota Racing Series. It is one of only two current national Grand Prix events that are not part...
.
The Brabham-Repco project was initially aimed at the Tasman Series
Tasman Series
The Tasman Series was a motor racing series held from 1964 to 1975, in Australia and New Zealand, and named after the Tasman Sea between the two countries...
, where Coventry-Climax's obsolete FPF 4-cylinder engine was dominant in the mid-1960s. The 2.5 litre version of the Repco V8 was never very successful in this series, initially producing no more power than the FPF. It did however record one Tasman Series round win with Jack Brabham
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....
driving his Repco powered Brabham BT23A to victory in the 1967 South Pacific Trophy at the Longford road circuit in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
.
Brabham-Repco's were also prepared and entered in the 1968 and 1969 Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
. In 1969, Peter Revson
Peter Revson
Peter Jeffrey Revson was an American race car driver who had successes in Formula One and the Indianapolis 500.-Background:Peter Revson was born in New York City, the son of Julie and Martin Revson....
finished fifth in such a car. He also won a USAC race in the same year.
Further versions of the V8 engine were produced, including a 4.3 litre variant for sports car racing and a turbo-charged version intended for United States Automobile Club
United States Automobile Club
The United States Auto Club is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, the USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500...
races. Neither version met with any international success, the turbo in particular being labelled 'Puff the Tragic Wagon' by its development team due to its lack of horsepower (cf Puff the magic dragon). The sports car engine was however dominant domestically, powering cars to several wins in Australian Sports Car Championship
Australian Sports Car Championship
The Australian Sports Car Championship was the CAMS sanctioned national title for Sports Car drivers in the years from 1969 to 1988. Each championship was contested over a series of races with the exception of the 1975 title, which was awarded on the results of a single race held at the Phillip...
and its predecessor the Australian Tourist Trophy
Australian Tourist Trophy
The Australian Tourist Trophy is a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for sports car drivers. The title was awarded for the first time in 1956 and then annually from 1958 until the introduction by CAMS of an Australian Sports Car Championship for 1969...
, most notably powering the Matich
Matich
The Matich name was applied to a series of sports racing cars and open wheel racing cars produced between 1967 and 1974 under the direction of Australian racing driver Frank Matich.-SR3:...
sports cars built by Frank Matich
Frank Matich
Frank Matich, born 1935, was an Australian racing car driver. A highly successful motor racing competitor in the 1960s and 70s, Matich built his own range of Matich sports cars and open wheel cars, mainly to support his own career, but some cars found success with other drivers...
.
Repco-Holden Formula 5000 engine
Repco also developed and built the Repco-Holden Formula 5000 engine for Formula 5000Formula 5000
Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula...
racing. Repco used the block and head castings of the Holden 308 V8 engine
Holden V8 engine
The Holden V8 is an overhead valve V8 engine which was produced by the Australian General Motors subsidiary Holden between 1969 and 2000. The engine was used initially in the Kingswood and Monaro model ranges; it was later utilised in the Torana and Commodore ranges...
as its basis, but it featured many modifications including Lucas fuel injection and dual coil Bosch ignition and more than 150 special components designed by Repco. The engine first tasted success in the 1970 Australian Grand Prix
1970 Australian Grand Prix
The 1970 Australian Grand Prix was a race held at Warwick Farm Raceway on November 22, 1970.It was the thirty fifth running of the Australian Grand Prix. Frank Matich won his first AGP and started the race on pole and also drove the fastest race lap....
which was won by Frank Matich
Frank Matich
Frank Matich, born 1935, was an Australian racing car driver. A highly successful motor racing competitor in the 1960s and 70s, Matich built his own range of Matich sports cars and open wheel cars, mainly to support his own career, but some cars found success with other drivers...
driving a Repco-Holden powered McLaren M10B
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
. It was then used extensively in racing vehicles including cars competing in the Tasman Series
Tasman Series
The Tasman Series was a motor racing series held from 1964 to 1975, in Australia and New Zealand, and named after the Tasman Sea between the two countries...
, the Australian Drivers' Championship
Australian Drivers' Championship
The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship which has been contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Since 2005 this category has been Formula...
, the Australian Sports Car Championship
Australian Sports Car Championship
The Australian Sports Car Championship was the CAMS sanctioned national title for Sports Car drivers in the years from 1969 to 1988. Each championship was contested over a series of races with the exception of the 1975 title, which was awarded on the results of a single race held at the Phillip...
and the Australian Sports Sedan Championship
Australian Sports Sedan Championship
The Australian Sports Sedan Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of cars complying with Australian Sports Sedan regulations...
.
International Cup for F1 Manufacturers – results
- 19661966 Formula One seasonThe 1966 Formula One season was the 17th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 22 and ended on October 23...
Brabham-Repco – 1st - 19671967 Formula One seasonThe 1967 Formula One season was the 18th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over an eleven race series which commenced on January 2, 1967, and ended on October 22...
Brabham-Repco – 1st - 19681968 Formula One seasonThe 1968 Formula One season included the 19th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 1, 1968, and ended on November 3 after twelve races.-Season summary:...
Brabham-Repco – 8th - 19691969 Formula One seasonThe 1969 Formula One season included the 20th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 1, 1969, and ended on October 19 after eleven races.-Season summary:...
Brabham-Repco – 8th
World Championship of Drivers – results
| Year | Team | Driver | # of GPs | WC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 1966 Formula One season The 1966 Formula One season was the 17th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1966 World Championship of Drivers and the 1966 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 22 and ended on October 23... |
Brabham-Repco | Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... |
9 | World Champion |
| Brabham-Repco | Denny Hulme Denny Hulme Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme, OBE was a New Zealand racing driver, the 1967 Formula One World Champion for the Brabham team.... |
7 | 4th | |
| 1967 1967 Formula One season The 1967 Formula One season was the 18th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over an eleven race series which commenced on January 2, 1967, and ended on October 22... |
Brabham-Repco | Denny Hulme Denny Hulme Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme, OBE was a New Zealand racing driver, the 1967 Formula One World Champion for the Brabham team.... |
11 | World Champion |
| Brabham-Repco | Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... |
11 | 2nd | |
| Brabham-Repco | Guy Ligier Guy Ligier Guy Ligier is a French former rugby player and racing driver.He first made his name as a rugby player in the late 1940s when he was working as a butcher's assistant in his home town of Vichy. An orphan, he was determined to build up a successful business and saved all his money in order to buy a... |
5 | ||
| 1968 1968 Formula One season The 1968 Formula One season included the 19th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 1, 1968, and ended on November 3 after twelve races.-Season summary:... |
Brabham-Repco | Jochen Rindt Jochen Rindt Karl Jochen Rindt was a German racing driver who represented Austria during his career. He is the only driver to posthumously win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship , after being killed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix... |
12 | 12th |
| Brabham-Repco | Jack Brabham Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.... |
11 | 23rd | |
| Brabham-Repco | Silvio Moser Silvio Moser Silvio Moser was a racing driver from Switzerland.He built his reputation in Formula 2 and sports car racing before debuting in Formula One on July 15, 1967 with a privately-entered Brabham... |
4 | 23rd | |
| Brabham-Repco | Dan Gurney Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney is an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner.The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager... |
1 | ||
| Brabham-Repco | Dave Charlton Dave Charlton Dave Charlton is a former racing driver from South Africa. He participated in 13 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on January 1, 1965. He scored no championship points... |
1 | ||
| Brabham-Repco | John Love | 1 | ||
| Brabham-Repco | Kurt Ahrens, Jr. | 1 | ||
| LDS LDS (automobile) LDS is the name given to various single seater racing specials built for the South African Formula One Championship. The "specials" were built by Louis Douglas Serrurier, hence the name. The Mark 1 and Mark 2 models were based on Cooper designs, whilst the Mark 3 was based on the Brabham BT11... -Repco |
Sam Tingle Sam Tingle Sam Tingle was a racing driver from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. He participated in five Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 28 December 1963. He scored no championship points... |
1 | ||
| 1969 1969 Formula One season The 1969 Formula One season included the 20th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 1, 1969, and ended on October 19 after eleven races.-Season summary:... |
Brabham-Repco | Peter de Klerk Peter de Klerk Peter de Klerk is a former racing driver from South Africa. He participated in four Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 28 December 1963. He scored no championship points.... |
1 | |
| Brabham-Repco | Sam Tingle Sam Tingle Sam Tingle was a racing driver from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. He participated in five Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 28 December 1963. He scored no championship points... |
1 |