Tyrrell P34
Encyclopedia
The Tyrrell P34 otherwise known as the "six-wheeler", was a 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...

 race car designed by Derek Gardner
Derek Gardner (motorsport)
Derek Gardner designed advanced transmission systems. He joined Formula One while employed by Harry Ferguson Research, developing four-wheel drive systems for Matra in 1969. He met Ken Tyrrell in 1970 and Tyrrell chose Gardner to design his chassis...

, Tyrrell's
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...

 chief designer.

The car used four specially manufactured 10-inch-diameter (250 mm) wheels and tyres at the front, with two ordinary-sized wheels at the back. Contrary to popular belief, the idea of the smaller front tyres was not to have a smaller "frontal area" to reduce drag, as the frontal area was still determined by the width of the standard-sized rear slicks. In fact, the six-wheel design reduced the lift caused by two larger front wheels, improving frontal downforce, increased the total contact patch of the front tyres and created a greater swept area for the brake discs.

Race history

When unveiled, the cover was peeled away from the back forward and the collective gasps from the world's press said it all. Along with the Brabham BT46B
Brabham BT46
The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team, owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the 1978 Formula One season. The car featured several radical design elements, the most obvious of which was the use of flat panel heat exchangers on the bodywork of the...

 "Fancar" developed in , the six-wheeled Tyrrell was one of the two most radical entries ever to succeed in Formula One (F1) competition, and has specifically been called the most recognizable design in the history of world motorsports.

It first ran in the Spanish GP
1976 Spanish Grand Prix
The 1976 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jarama on May 2, 1976, and was the fourth round of the 1976 Formula One season. The race, which was contested over 75 laps, was won by James Hunt who drove a McLaren-Ford to take his first victory of the year...

 in , and proved to be very competitive. Both Jody Scheckter
Jody Scheckter
Jody David Scheckter is a South African former auto racing driver, the Formula One World Drivers Champion.-Career:Scheckter was born in East London, South Africa and educated at Selborne College.-Formula One:...

 and Patrick Depailler
Patrick Depailler
Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler was a racing driver from France. He participated in 95 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1972. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races.Depailler was born in Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme. As a child, he...

 were able to produce solid results with the car, but while Depailler praised the car continually, Scheckter realised it would only be temporarily competitive. The special Goodyear
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery....

 tyres were not being developed enough by the end of the season.

The P34's golden moment came in the Swedish Grand Prix
1976 Swedish Grand Prix
The 1976 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway on June 13, 1976.It saw the first win of a 6-wheel car - the Tyrrell P34...

. Scheckter and Depailler finished first and second, and to date Scheckter is the only driver ever to win a race in a six-wheeled car. He left the team at the end of the season, insisting that the six-wheeler was "a piece of junk!"

For 1977, Scheckter was replaced by the Swede Ronnie Peterson
Ronnie Peterson
Bengt Ronnie Peterson was a Swedish racing driver. He was a two-time runner-up in the FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship.Peterson began his motor racing career in kart racing, traditionally the discipline where the majority of race drivers begin their careers in open-wheel racing...

, and the P34 was redesigned around cleaner aerodynamics. The P34B was wider and heavier than before, and, although Peterson was able to string some promising results from the P34B, as was Depailler, it was clear the car was not as good as before, mostly due to the tyre manufacturer's failure to properly develop the small front tyres. The added weight of the front suspension system is also cited as a reason for ending the project. Thus, the P34 was abandoned for 1978, and a truly remarkable chapter in F1 history was over.

More recently the P34 has been a popular sight at historic racing events, proving competitive once more. This was made possible when the Avon
Avon Rubber
Avon Rubber p.l.c. is a manufacturer of high technology rubber-based products for a number of manufacturing sectors. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index...

 tyre company agreed to manufacture bespoke 10-inch tyres for Simon Bull, the owner of chassis No. 6. In 1999 and 2000 the resurrected P34 competed at a number of British and European circuits as an entrant in the FIA Thoroughbred Grand Prix series. Driven by Martin Stretton, the car won the TGP series outright in 2000, the sister car repeating that success in 2008 in the hands of Mauro Pane; this example is today part of a private collection in Italy. Stretton also achieved numerous Pole Positions and class wins at the Grand Prix Historique de Monaco. The P34 has also been seen a number of times at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Goodwood Festival of Speed, commonly abbreviated as FoS and referred within the United Kingdom as simply the Festival of Speed, is an annual hill climb featuring historic motor racing vehicles that is held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England.Typically held in late June or...

.

Other six-wheeled Formula One cars

Whilst the Tyrrell P34 is the most widely known six-wheeled F1 car, it was not the only example of this design ever constructed. Both March Engineering
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...

 and the Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...

 team built experimental six-wheeled F1 chassis. However, despite extensive testing, neither the March 2-4-0
March 2-4-0
The March 2-4-0 was an experimental six-wheeled Formula One racing car built by the March Engineering company of Bicester, UK. It was constructed in late 1976 and tested in early 1977....

 nor Williams FW08B ever raced in a grand prix. The Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

 also built an experimental six-wheeled Formula 1 car, the Ferrari 312T6
Ferrari 312T
The Ferrari 312T was a Ferrari Formula One car design, based on the 312B3 from 1974. In various versions, it was used from 1975 until 1980. It was designed by Mauro Forghieri for the 1975 season and was an uncomplicated and clean design, that responded to mechanical upgrades.The 312T series won 27...

, which, unlike the March and Williams, featured the four rear wheels on a single axle. This was similar to how tractor trailers, some trucks, and most notably in the Grand Prix sport, the Auto Unions from the 1930s, arrange their tyres. However, like the Williams and March cars, the Ferrari was never raced. The reason for none of these cars actually racing and for the disappearance of six-wheeled cars in general, is largely as a result of a re-amended rule in , which prohibited four-wheel-drive cars from competing. Later, the Formula 1 regulations stated that four was the maximum number of wheels allowed.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Points WCC
Elf
Elf Aquitaine
Elf Aquitaine was a French oil company which merged with TotalFina to form TotalFinaElf. The new company changed its name to Total in 2003...

 Team Tyrrell
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...

Cosworth DFV
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...


V8
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 NA
Naturally-aspirated engine
A naturally aspirated engine is one common type of reciprocating piston internal combustion engine that depends solely on atmospheric pressure to counter the partial vacuum in the induction tract to draw in combustion air...

BRA
1976 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos in São Paulo, Brazil on January 25, 1976. The race was contested over 40 laps and was the opening round of the 1976 Formula One season. The race was won by defending World Champion, Niki Lauda, who drove a Ferrari car...

RSA
1976 South African Grand Prix
The 1976 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on March 6, 1976. The race, which was the second round of the 1976 Formula One season, was won by Niki Lauda in a Ferrari car who increased his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 12 points by taking his third...

USW
1976 United States Grand Prix West
The 1976 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One motor race held on March 28, 1976 in Long Beach, California. The race, which was the third round of the 1976 Formula One season, was won by Clay Regazzoni in a Ferrari car whilst his teammate Niki Lauda finished second, and therefore...

ESP
1976 Spanish Grand Prix
The 1976 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jarama on May 2, 1976, and was the fourth round of the 1976 Formula One season. The race, which was contested over 75 laps, was won by James Hunt who drove a McLaren-Ford to take his first victory of the year...

BEL
1976 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1976 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on May 16, 1976.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...

MON
1976 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1976 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monaco on May 30, 1976.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Niki Lauda - 1:29.65*Fastest lap: Clay Regazzoni - 1:30.28 on lap 60-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...

SWE
1976 Swedish Grand Prix
The 1976 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway on June 13, 1976.It saw the first win of a 6-wheel car - the Tyrrell P34...

FRA
1976 French Grand Prix
The 1976 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on July 4, 1976.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: James Hunt - 1:47.89*Fastest lap: Niki Lauda - 1:51.0 on lap 4...

GBR
1976 British Grand Prix
The 1976 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on July 18, 1976 at the Brands Hatch circuit, Kent, UK. It was the ninth round of the 1976 Formula One season....

GER
1976 German Grand Prix
The 1976 German Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at the Nürburgring on 1 August 1976, and is notable as the location of Niki Lauda's near fatal accident...

AUT
1976 Austrian Grand Prix
The 1976 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Österreichring on 15 August 1976. This race was the only major Formula One and European victory for Penske Racing. It was a poignant win for the team, coming a year after the death of their former driver Mark Donohue at the same...

NED
1976 Dutch Grand Prix
The 1976 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on August 29, 1976. It was won by British driver James Hunt driving a McLaren M23.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...

ITA
1976 Italian Grand Prix
The 1976 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on September 12, 1976.-Background:Monza had been modified from the year before, and the circuit featured 2 consecutive left-right chicanes creating the Variante Retefilo added before the Curva Grande, and a left-right chicane...

CAN
1976 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1976 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park on 3 October 1976.-Qualifying:- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...

USA
1976 United States Grand Prix
The 1976 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 10, 1976 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York...

JPN
1976 Japanese Grand Prix
The 1976 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Fuji on October 24, 1976.The 1976 World Championship was to be decided at the Mount Fuji circuit, with Niki Lauda just three points ahead of James Hunt after a season full of incidents including Lauda's near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring...

71* 3rd
Jody Scheckter
Jody Scheckter
Jody David Scheckter is a South African former auto racing driver, the Formula One World Drivers Champion.-Career:Scheckter was born in East London, South Africa and educated at Selborne College.-Formula One:...

4 2 1 6 2 2 Ret 5 5 4 2 Ret
Patrick Depailler
Patrick Depailler
Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler was a racing driver from France. He participated in 95 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1972. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races.Depailler was born in Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme. As a child, he...

Ret Ret 3 2 2 Ret Ret Ret 7 6 2 Ret 2
Elf
Elf Aquitaine
Elf Aquitaine was a French oil company which merged with TotalFina to form TotalFinaElf. The new company changed its name to Total in 2003...

 Team Tyrrell
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...

Cosworth DFV
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...


V8
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 NA
Naturally-aspirated engine
A naturally aspirated engine is one common type of reciprocating piston internal combustion engine that depends solely on atmospheric pressure to counter the partial vacuum in the induction tract to draw in combustion air...

ARG
1977 Argentine Grand Prix
The 1977 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Argentina on January 9, 1977.-Report:The 1977 season started in Argentina, and it was reigning world champion James Hunt who started off his title defence with pole position in his McLaren...

BRA
1977 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 1977 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on January 23, 1977.-Report:James Hunt took pole again with Carlos Reutemann second and Mario Andretti third on the grid. Home hero Carlos Pace took the lead at the start, with Hunt dropping behind Reutemann as well but...

RSA
1977 South African Grand Prix
The 1977 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 5 March 1977. The race is principally remembered for the fatal accident that claimed the lives of race marshal Frederick Jansen van Vuuren and driver Tom Pryce...

USW
1977 United States Grand Prix West
The 1977 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One race held on April 3, 1977 in Long Beach, California.__FORCETOC__- Summary :An already tragic Formula One season received exactly what it needed to chase away the despair when the brilliant Mario Andretti became the first American to win a...

ESP
1977 Spanish Grand Prix
The 1977 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jarama on May 8, 1977.-Report:Mario Andretti continued his recent form with pole position and Jacques Laffite's Ligier springing a surprise, beating Niki Lauda to second, however Lauda was unable to take part in the race due to a...

MON
1977 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1977 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 22, 1977.-Report:John Watson took his first career pole for Brabham with Jody Scheckter also on the front row and Carlos Reutemann third. It was Scheckter who got the best start to beat Watson to the first corner, with...

BEL
1977 Belgian Grand Prix
-Report:In qualifying Mario Andretti took a comfortable pole position with John Watson just beating the second Lotus of Gunnar Nilsson to second. The race was wet due to rain earlier in the day, and Watson took the lead at the first corner, but later in the first lap, Andretti ran into the back to...

SWE
1977 Swedish Grand Prix
The 1977 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at the Scandinavian Raceway on 19 June 1977.-Report:The Swedish race was full of anticipation after Gunnar Nilsson's win last time out, but once again in qualifying, it was his teammate Mario Andretti leading the way from John Watson, with...

FRA
1977 French Grand Prix
The 1977 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Dijon on 3 July 1977.-Report:Once again it was Mario Andretti on pole with James Hunt second and Gunnar Nilsson third on the grid. Hunt got the best start and led into the first corner from John Watson and Jacques Laffite, with Andretti...

GBR
1977 British Grand Prix
The 1977 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 16 July 1977. It was won by James Hunt driving a McLaren M26, and marked the debut of Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve...

GER
1977 German Grand Prix
The 1977 German Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Hockenheimring on July 31, 1977. After Niki Lauda's near-fatal accident at the dangerous Nürburgring in 1976, the German Grand Prix was moved to and held every year except for 1 at Hockenheim until 2007, and this was the second year the race...

AUT
1977 Austrian Grand Prix
The 1977 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at the Österreichring on August 14, 1977. It was the tenth Austrian Grand Prix since the race was first held in 1963. It was held over 54 laps of the six kilometre venue for a race distance of 320 kilometres...

NED
1977 Dutch Grand Prix
The 1977 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Circuit Zandvoort on 28 August 1977.-Report:In qualifying, Mario Andretti took his fifth pole of the season with Jacques Laffite alongside on the front row, and James Hunt third...

ITA
1977 Italian Grand Prix
The 1977 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monza on September 11, 1977.-Report:The fact that it was Ferrari's home race did not deter James Hunt who took pole, whereas Carlos Reutemann cheered the home fans by starting second in front of Jody Scheckter...

USA
1977 United States Grand Prix
The 1977 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 2, 1977 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York...

CAN
1977 Canadian Grand Prix
The 1977 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 9 October 1977 at Mosport Park.-Report:The field arrived in Canada without Niki Lauda who, having clinched the championship at the previous race, and already announced his intention to drive for Brabham the following year, abruptly quit...

JPN
1977 Japanese Grand Prix
The 1977 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 23 October 1977 at Fuji.-Report:Mario Andretti and James Hunt continued their late-season battle, with the American pipping Hunt to the pole, with John Watson heading the second row...

27 5th
Ronnie Peterson
Ronnie Peterson
Bengt Ronnie Peterson was a Swedish racing driver. He was a two-time runner-up in the FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship.Peterson began his motor racing career in kart racing, traditionally the discipline where the majority of race drivers begin their careers in open-wheel racing...

Ret Ret Ret Ret 8 Ret 3 Ret 12 Ret 9 5 Ret 6 16 Ret Ret
Patrick Depailler
Patrick Depailler
Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler was a racing driver from France. He participated in 95 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1972. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races.Depailler was born in Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme. As a child, he...

Ret Ret 3 4 Ret Ret 8 4 Ret Ret Ret 13 Ret Ret 14 2 3

* 13 points in scored using the Tyrrell 007

See also

  • March 2-4-0
    March 2-4-0
    The March 2-4-0 was an experimental six-wheeled Formula One racing car built by the March Engineering company of Bicester, UK. It was constructed in late 1976 and tested in early 1977....

  • Ferrari 312T6
  • Covini C6W
    Covini C6W
    C6W is an Italian 2-seat, 2-door sports coupé with a removable roof section. Inspiration for the car was taken from the 1976 Tyrrell P34, which had two pairs of smaller front wheels, a principle applied to the C6W. The project was started in 1974 but abandoned shortly after, and left dormant into...

  • Panther 6
    Panther 6
    The Panther 6 was an extravagant six-wheel convertible powered by a mid-mounted 8.2 L Cadillac V8 engine with twin turbochargers. It was produced by Panther in 1977. Only two cars were ever made , both of which still exist...


External links

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