The COAT - Round One - Ferrari 312T vs Williams FW26 vs Ferguson P99

[crmalcolm]

For the fourteenth match in Round One, we have another 3-way battle. This time, it is the Ferrari 312T vs the Williams FW26 vs the Ferguson P99.

Ferrari 312T (bleacherreport.com):
By today's standards, it's almost inconceivable for a car to win four constructors' and three drivers' championships across five seasons, but that's exactly what the 312T series did. There were changes to the car throughout this period, but it remains an incredible record for the same chassis.

The car was aesthetically completely different from its predecessor, the 312B. That car barely had a front-wing as we would recognise it today, rather just two small winglets on either side of the nose. Otherwise the B was not far removed from the "cigar-tube" cars that had long since been prevalent in F1.

The 312T was a complete revolution and could be seen as the first car that resembles the basic configuration of a modern F1 car.

One of the outstanding visual features of the '75 car was the high air intake above the driver's head; in the image here, it almost looks like the driver is wearing a tall hat. Combine that with the short, compact overall car-length and the 312T is instantly recognisable.

Williams FW26 (bleacherreport.com):
This one could cause some controversy.

The Williams FW26 was an unusual looking beast, different from all the other cars of the 2004 season. What made it so different were its short, stubby nose and sloping vertical pillars, which combined to produce something akin to tusks.

It was thenceforth known as the "walrus."

But the design didn't really work. Rather than build on the success of 2003 where driver Juan Pablo Montoya came close to winning the World Championship, the FW26 was a backward step. It was not until the tusks were removed and a more conventional, pointier nosecone introduced in the latter part of the season that the Williams began to perform.

But then it had lost what made it look cool. So can a part of a car which doesn't function well but look interesting really be cool? I'll leave that for you to decide for yourselves, but as a car which sticks long in the memory, it certainly makes my list.

Ferguson P99 (racefans.net):
The only victory scored by a four-wheel-drive car in a Formula 1 race came 50 [60] years ago at Oulton Park.

Harry Ferguson built the car in co-operation with 1953 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tony Rolt.

Best known in Britain for designing tractors, Ferguson wanted to transfer the safety benefits he saw in four-wheel-drive to road cars. He seized on motor racing as the way to promote the technology.

Four-wheel-drive aside, the P99 was a conventional car – even a slightly backward-looking one, as it bucked the trend for rear-engined cars begun in the late fifties with a front-mounted unit. This was intended to spread the weight evenly between the front and rear of the car.

It was originally built to accommodate a 2.5-litre engine, but in F1 guise it used a 1.5-litre Climax four-cylinder unit.

There were obvious shortcomings to the design – the more complicated transmission of the four-wheel-drive system sapped the power of the engine.

At that year’s British Grand Prix at Aintree, Moss started the rain-hit race in a Lotus but pulled into the pits with a brake problem.

Shortly afterwards he took over the Ferguson which up to that point had been driven by Jack Fairman. Moss was later disqualified as Fairman had received a push-start in the pits earlier on, but not before he began to appreciate the car’s qualities in poor conditions.

Two months later Moss was at the wheel of the car again – this time from the start of a race – at the Oulton Park Cup.

The prestigious but non-championship race was entered by a host of top drivers of the time including Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Jim Clark, John Surtees, Innes Ireland, Graham Hill, Jo Bonnier and Dan Gurney.

Ferrari were absent having won the championship in dire circumstances at Monza two weeks earlier. One of their drivers, Wolfgang von Trips, was killed along with 14 spectators, leaving his team mate Phil Hill to win the title. Porsche were also not present.

A damp circuit offered the best condition for the P99 to show its potential. But Moss suffered a poor getaway when the race began.

Starting from second on the grid, Moss couldn’t engage first gear and had to pull away in second, falling to eighth place. Clark led, but Moss was rapidly making up places.

On lap six Moss was through into the lead. And 54 laps later the Ferguson P99 came home first, with Brabham’s Cooper 46 seconds adrift, Clark having retired.

But sadly the man who conceived the project did not see its greatest success: Harry Ferguson had died a few months earlier.

Moss was fascinated by the car’s unusual handling properties: “If I backed off the Ferguson did not instantly tighten into the corner. Instead it would simply decelerate.

“I therefore realised that one had consciously to steer this car, not merely using the steering to set it up before the corner as one would with conventional rear-wheel-drive to present the car in a certain attitude upon a certain line.”

Moss was keen to continue racing the car but his efforts were curtailed by his crash at Goodwood in 1962.

[S griffin]

Has to be the Ferrari. Still the Ferguson will go down in history as the only 4x4 car to win an F1 race

[Aysedasi]

Definitely the Ferrari....

[Gerard C]

Yes obviously the Ferrari blew the winds of change, the results are here.
But when Sir Serling says the P99 was one of his favorite F1 I follow the expert's not questionable advice. May be we will see here a poll about GOAT and COAT together… Unsurprisingly my vote would be Moss and P99.

[chillibowl]

Isnt that the FW26b? Modified mid season once the Walrus proved too difficult.

but i liked it. It was different and had promise and i remember being very excited by it. I am the walrus.

[Adam43]

So want o vote for the Fergie.