New BRM P15 V16 F1 Has A 16-Cylinder Engine That Revs To 12,000 RPM

British Racing Motors (BRM) has now unveiled the first of three P15 V16 race cars designed to commemorate the company's 70th anniversary and will make its on-track appearance at the Goodwood Revival from September 17 to 19. Sir Alfred Owen's son John Owen took the helm of the project and set out to bring the P15 and its legendary V16 engine back to life through this first BRM P15 V16.

Original chassis numbers assigned in the 1950s but never utilized will appear on the three follow-up automobiles. The first BRM P15 V16 to be manufactured since 1953, is the first of three continuation models. It was built from scratch using post-war plans and features more than 36,000 precision-engineered pieces.

More than 4,000 parts go into the venerable 1.5-liter supercharged V16 engine of the first BRM P15 V16, many of which had to be custom-made by the crew. 591 horsepower is generated at 12,000 rpm by the engine. It was created by engineers at Hall & Hall and tested for the first time recently at the Blyton Park racetrack in Lincolnshire.

"Hearing that V16 engine again after all these years was a wonderful experience and a dream come true," John Owen remarked. "I can't wait to reveal the car at the Goodwood Revival, a testament to the engineering team at Hall and Hall's incredible talent, perseverance, and attention to detail."

"This has been an unbelievable experience for all of us at Hall & Hall," said former BRM F1 team engineer Rick Hall. "In 1972, I joined the team and have worked closely with BRM ever since. We needed that knowledge to make this incredible racing car a reality. For anything as important as this, there are no shortcuts. It took us two years from the first blueprint to the final shakedown. This first Mk1 V16 chassis is now complete, and we will now shift our focus to the other two. Having now successfully surmounted all the technological obstacles, we are quite sure that we can build a genuinely stunning, brand new 1950s Formula 1 vehicle that is historically accurate while also being fully raceable."