Brabham BT52

History

Ground effect's ban for 1983 blew up Brabham's planned car mid-winter; Murray's response became design legend: the BT52, a rear-biased dart with almost no sidepods, its masses concentrated over the driven wheels to exploit the BMW M12/13 turbo's savage delivery — a four-cylinder production-block engine credibly beyond 800 hp in race trim and far more in qualifying.

The 1983 season delivered history: Piquet won Brazil, Monza and Brands Hatch (BT52B spec), took the championship at Kyalami from Prost's Renault — the first drivers' title of the turbo era — while the team pioneered refuelling-and-tyres pit strategy that reshaped Grand Prix racing's tactics permanently.

Survivors split between BMW's and collectors' hands: chassis appear at Goodwood and demonstration programmes with BMW Classic's works support the type's gold-standard custody, and the ownership reality is engine-defined — M12/13 rebuilds live with a tiny specialist circle, demo boost is a fraction of period settings, and the car's value carries both Murray-design and first-turbo-title provenance.

Palmarès

1983 Drivers' World Championship (Piquet) — the turbo era's first title — on wins in Brazil, Italy and Europe (Brands Hatch); constructors' runner-up; the pioneering of modern refuelling pit strategy — then a demonstration-circuit career under mostly works-linked custody.