BRM P351

The BRM P351 was a Formula One car designed and built by British Racing Motors (BRM) for the 1972 Formula One season. It was intended to replace the aging BRM P160 and featured a radical, wedge-shaped design.

The car's primary innovation was its use of an experimental H16 engine that had originally been developed in the late 1960s. This engine, essentially two flat-eight engines stacked on top of each other, was notoriously complex and unreliable. While promising considerable power, it suffered from numerous mechanical issues and proved difficult to manage within the demanding environment of Formula One racing.

The BRM P351’s wedge-shaped body was designed to generate significant downforce, but the unstable engine hampered any potential performance gains. The car was ultimately deemed unsuccessful. Due to the engine's unreliability and the car's handling problems, it saw limited race appearances. It was quickly abandoned in favor of updated versions of the P160.

Driven by the likes of Peter Gethin, the BRM P351 never achieved notable results and is remembered more for its ambitious, yet ultimately flawed, engineering concept than its on-track success. Its failure contributed to BRM's eventual decline as a competitive force in Formula One.