Brabham BT30-26

Ron Tauranac’s wonderfully elegant Formula Two design is a classic. Tmy and sleek, with shoulder-hugging cockpit surround and fully faired-in 1600cc Cosworth FVA engine and Hewland FT200 gearbox, the BT30 always turned heads. Derek Bell’s version was second to Clay Regazzoni’s Tecno in the 1970 European Championship — in the chassis now raced by Lincoln Small.

This particular car is the last of the 26 made in ’69-70, raced ably by privateer Alistair Walker, then by Cyd Williams in the ’71 Colombian Temporada series.

Pensioned off into hillclimbing, it was bought for 20-year-old Julian Majzub by his late father, in 1979.

“I had no real idea what it was then, but always loved the car,” said Majzub, now a skilled racer of prewar Bugatti and Alfa Romeo cars, and a Cooper-Norton 500.

Julian finally decided to race the Brabham 21 years later, and had it recommissioned rather than restored — it still features its original engine.

“I have got a lot to learn about modem single-seaters, but it’s great fun,” he said after finishing a spirited sixth in the FORCE Classic GP event’s F2 class — from which the wings introduced in ’69 are banned.

Two other BT3Os reappeared at Coys Festival: the BDA-engined exSports Motors car ofJim Gathercole was raced in its day by Tim Schenken and Gerry Birrell, while the BT30/35 that Lorina McLaughlin drove at Silverstone numbers John Watson among its alumni.