The BRM V16 continuation's engine has come to life

Crikey. The BRM V16 is making a glorious comeback, both the car and the engine it’s named after. And this is the latter firing up in preparation.

Quite a noise, we’re sure you agree. This particular engine dates back to the 1950s and is running for the first time since 1999, when it was accidentally over-revved by an original BRM team driver, then 77-year-old Jose-Froilan Gonzalez, during an anniversary event. Engineers described it as ‘comprehensively lunched’.

Well, now it’s back to life, having been very cautiously tested by BRM’s technical partner – Hall and Hall – on its dynamometer at RAF Folkingham, Lincolnshire. A fitting location, as it’s the site where the original BRM Formula One spannerng team worked in the Fifties.

“We didn’t want to push it too hard on the dyno”, said Martin Smith, Hall and Hall’s chief engine technician, “but even so we estimate we got about 550bhp at 10,000rpm and 2.5psi – which is a huge step forward as we continue to build our experience and understanding of this astonishing engine.”

Rick Hall, the founder of Hall and Hall, added: “It is a phenomenally complex engine, and there are a great deal of highly engineered parts to get right. Rebuilding and re-engineering many of the original parts has proved to be a key stepping-stone as we gear up for the manufacture of three all-new power units which will be at the heart of the new project.

“There is little margin for error with these parts, right down to a thousandth of a millimetre. For example, we had some earlier issues with the Rolls Royce supercharger, which we had to rebuild from scratch, so through trial and error we are flushing out these issues and also learning a great deal about how this engine behaves.”

Just three recommissioned BRM V16s will be built, and the first is already accounted for. The ultimate continuation?