Leyland transporter Tyrrell F1 Racing Team 1976

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the Formula 1 World Championship mainly consisted of up to eight rounds within Europe. The works teams brought their racing cars to the circuits in large open car transporters, while private drivers such as Joakim Bonnier mainly towed their single seaters across Europe on a trailer behind a normal station wagon. Before the large articulated trucks found their way into the F1 paddocks in the 1980s, many teams had special bodies built in the 1970s, which were mostly based on well-known bus chassis. Ken Tyrrell for example chose British Leyland Leopard buses as a basis for transporting his 6-wheel Tyrrells in 1976 and 1977.

Together with a converted furniture van and a Ford Transit in the typical elf Tyrrell dark blue, this fleet formed a kind of wagon castle in the paddocks, which, covered by awnings, provided a sheltered space both for mechanics and drivers. There are wonderful photos from this period that show the filigree front of the dismantled Tyrrell P34 in detail, while in the background a mechanic works on a separate Cosworth V8 engine, usually with the casual cigarette in the corner of his mouth. Big business had long found its way into Formula 1 in 1976, but the scenes from back then generate a somewhat romantic charm today and the typical race car transporters are part of that.