Throwback Thursday-Patrick Depailler-1976

Patrick Depailler’s 1976 six wheel #4 ELF Tyrrell-Ford P34 races in the rain in Japan

A good shade of dark blue works well with the white and yellow lettering of the car. I also like that there are two vertical stripes up the sides. What I don’t get is why the car has six wheels. Supposedly, the requirements for the front wing design meant that if teams wanted to keep the wheels within the boundary of the wing, small tires would be needed. Since these small tires didn’t contact the racetrack enough, two extra tires were added to the front. The car did find some success, but the six wheel idea eventually spread to the rear wheels, and then was eliminated altogether. I’m not grading aerodynamic deicing, I’m grading paint schemes, and I’ll give it an A.

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Author: dgf2099

I'm just a normal guy who collects race-worn driver suits, helmets, sheet metal, and other race-worn items. I will use this blog to help collectors, and race fans alike understand the various aspects of driver suits and helmets, and commentate on paint schemes.

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