Brabham BT55
The Brabham BT55 is F1's most fascinating failure: Murray's 1986 'skateboard' with its tilted BMW engine — a radical lowline concept that scored two points, carried tragedy, and seeded the design of McLaren's dominant MP4/4.
History
Gordon Murray's 1986 gamble bet everything on airflow to the rear wing: the BT55 laid BMW's M12/13 turbo over at 72 degrees to build the lowest F1 car of its era — the 'skateboard' — theoretically feeding the wing cleaner air than any rival could. Reality dissented: oil scavenging and lubrication in the tilted engine, driveline losses through the new seven-speed box, and traction troubles left the car point-starved through 1986.
The season carried worse than failure: Elio de Angelis died testing the BT55 at Paul Ricard in May 1986 — the accident that ended in-season testing's unguarded era. Riccardo Patrese and Derek Warwick soldiered the programme to two championship points before Brabham retreated; Murray left for McLaren at year's end.
History's verdict softened into vindication: the lowline concept, executed with Honda's cooperation and TAG-Porsche discipline at McLaren, became the MP4/4 that won 15 of 16 races in 1988 — Murray has said the BT55 was the right idea wearing the wrong engine. Surviving chassis are collector objects of the concept-car kind: exhibited, occasionally demonstrated, and traded on story rather than silverware.
Palmarès
Two championship points, 1986 (Patrese) — the paper record; the real legacy sits elsewhere: the lowline aerodynamic concept the BT55 pioneered returned as McLaren's MP4/4, the most dominant Grand Prix car of its century.
What to check before you buy
A story-value purchase: the BT55's market logic is concept-car collecting — Murray provenance, the MP4/4 ancestry narrative and 1986's gravity — rather than results or usability. The tilted M12/13's period problems persist in preservation: demo-running one is harder than a BT52, and most custodians choose static display with occasional starts. Verify chassis identity against the small run and the de Angelis chassis' documented history (a matter for both diligence and respect). Prices sit below the title Brabhams, and the design-lineage story is the appreciating asset.
Did you know
- BMW tilted the engine 72 degrees for the BT55 — then the oil, unaware of the aerodynamic theory, refused to scavenge properly at sustained cornering loads.
- Murray took the lowline lesson to McLaren, where the MP4/4 won 15 of 16 races — the BT55's concept finally executed with an engine designed for it.
- The BT55's seven-speed gearbox was F1's first — needed because the laydown engine's narrow powerband demanded ratios the era's six-speeds couldn't cover.
In the marketplace now
View all →No exact Brabham BT55 listed right now — here is closely related machinery on the market.
LMP3 FOR SALE
Osella Pa2000 anno 2021 Peugeot Turbo LRM
Formula 3 Dallara F311 Fiat FPT EVO2 Paddle Shift
Radical Sr3 Motore Hayabusa 1600cc
Formula History Martini MK32 1982
Prototipo CMS Honda Mugen 2500cc 352hp E2Sc by LRM 1 of 1 NEW
Formula 3 RALT RT35 1992
F3 Dallara F307 FiAT/ALFA ROMEO
Parts, spares & upgrades
Browse parts →
McLaren PCU-400
01E Quattro 6 speed gearbox / dog box with LSD
16 PORSCHE CAYMAN GT4 981 ENGINE MOTOR 3.8L
