Founded in the year nineteen twenty-four February 1980
Founded in the year nineteen twenty-four February 1980
Founded in the year nineteen twenty-four February 1980
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allow 430 b.h.p.,” he asserted, “give motor rac<strong>in</strong>g a good<br />
image and give a better feedback to <strong>the</strong> development of<br />
more economical passenger cars”.<br />
Duckworth is cont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>g to campaign for his<br />
formula. “But most people runn<strong>in</strong>g motorsport can’t see<br />
past <strong>the</strong> ends of <strong>the</strong>ir noses.”<br />
Meanwhile. Cosworth are soldier<strong>in</strong>g on to keep <strong>the</strong><br />
DFV abreast of <strong>the</strong> current situation “We hope that <strong>the</strong><br />
unreliability of <strong>the</strong> turbo Renault will allow <strong>the</strong> DFV to<br />
w<strong>in</strong> a share of <strong>the</strong> races. O<strong>the</strong>r people runn<strong>in</strong>g 1.5-litre<br />
turbos are likely to be beset by <strong>the</strong> problems that come<br />
with <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
FORMULA ONE<br />
TREND OF DESIGN<br />
Radiators<br />
SINCE THE first rac<strong>in</strong>g car was designed <strong>the</strong> radiator<br />
has been a tiresome necessity, and Gottlieb Daimler set<br />
us all on <strong>the</strong> wrong path by water-cool<strong>in</strong>g his first V-tw<strong>in</strong><br />
eng<strong>in</strong>e. If water-cool<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>the</strong> cyl<strong>in</strong>der heads and barrels<br />
of <strong>the</strong> first <strong>in</strong>ternal combustion eng<strong>in</strong>es had not been<br />
<strong>in</strong>vented, who knows where we would be now. At first<br />
<strong>the</strong> radiator was hung anywhere that was convenient<br />
and was noth<strong>in</strong>g more than a rectangular cool<strong>in</strong>g<br />
element, quite useless as regards power production or<br />
car performance, but a necessary evil. In <strong>the</strong> v<strong>in</strong>tage<br />
<strong>year</strong>s it settled <strong>in</strong> a conventional position at <strong>the</strong> front of<br />
<strong>the</strong> car and took def<strong>in</strong>ite shape accord<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> whim<br />
of <strong>the</strong> designer. Indeed, <strong>the</strong> designers used it as a sort of<br />
trade mark with which to stamp <strong>the</strong>ir complete design.<br />
You could easily dist<strong>in</strong>guish one car from ano<strong>the</strong>r by <strong>the</strong><br />
radiator shape, from <strong>the</strong> horse-shoe of Bugatti, through<br />
<strong>the</strong> Gothic arch of Bentley to <strong>the</strong> square-rigged elegance<br />
of Rolls-Royce.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> rac<strong>in</strong>g cars of <strong>the</strong> thirties it returned to be<strong>in</strong>g<br />
a simple cool<strong>in</strong>g clement hidden away <strong>in</strong>side a nose<br />
cowl<strong>in</strong>g, with <strong>the</strong> designer’s impr<strong>in</strong>t be<strong>in</strong>g shown <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
shape of <strong>the</strong> open<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> cowl that allowed air to pass<br />
through <strong>the</strong> radiator block. In <strong>the</strong> fifties <strong>the</strong> decorative<br />
grilles began to disappear and functional open<strong>in</strong>gs led<br />
to functional cool<strong>in</strong>g elements and fur<strong>the</strong>r thought was<br />
given to what happened to <strong>the</strong> air after it had passed<br />
through <strong>the</strong> radiator.<br />
In recent <strong>year</strong>s, with <strong>the</strong> detail study of air-flow <strong>in</strong><br />
and around rac<strong>in</strong>g cars, radiator has become an <strong>in</strong>tegral<br />
part of <strong>the</strong> overall design of <strong>the</strong> car, its position<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
size be<strong>in</strong>g an important pan <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> layout of a Formula<br />
One car of today. Over <strong>the</strong> <strong>year</strong>s <strong>the</strong>re have been people<br />
who have been very conscious of <strong>the</strong> importance of<br />
<strong>the</strong> radiator, not from its ability to dissipate <strong>the</strong> waste<br />
heat from <strong>the</strong> eng<strong>in</strong>e, whe<strong>the</strong>r it be from <strong>the</strong> oil or <strong>the</strong><br />
water, but from its effect on <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> car. It is a<br />
known aerodynamic fact that an open<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> front of a<br />
vehicle spoils <strong>the</strong> air-flow for <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> vehicle and<br />
many <strong>year</strong>s ago Renault and o<strong>the</strong>rs put <strong>the</strong>ir radiators<br />
beh<strong>in</strong>d <strong>the</strong> front-mounted eng<strong>in</strong>e, to permit of a smooth<br />
bonnet l<strong>in</strong>e. Fred Dixon went to <strong>the</strong> trouble of count<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong> number of holes <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> radiator matrix of his Riley<br />
and work<strong>in</strong>g out <strong>the</strong> actual cross-sectional area of all<br />
<strong>the</strong> holes. He <strong>the</strong>n cowled <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> radiator, mak<strong>in</strong>g sure<br />
that <strong>the</strong> cowl fitted tight to <strong>the</strong> radiator so that all <strong>the</strong><br />
air that went through <strong>the</strong> hole <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> front went through<br />
<strong>the</strong> matrix, and this allowed him to have a very small<br />
slot <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> lower part of <strong>the</strong> cowl<strong>in</strong>g, which proved more<br />
than adequate at speed. When Reid Railton designed <strong>the</strong><br />
Bluebird which atta<strong>in</strong>ed 300 m.p.h. his radiator was fed<br />
by a narrow slot <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> front, and for a limited period<br />
of time this slot could be closed by a flap. to present an<br />
unbroken frontal area to <strong>the</strong> air. In his brilliant Railton-<br />
Mobil-Special which atta<strong>in</strong>ed 400 m.p.h. he did away<br />
with radiators altoge<strong>the</strong>r and used a vast ice-tank to<br />
dissipate <strong>the</strong> heat from <strong>the</strong> two Napier Lion eng<strong>in</strong>es.<br />
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