I came upon the phrase ‘the mechanic’s gallon’ a while ago. Teams in the 60’s were trying to save weight and make the car as light as possible, inc. putting as much fuel in the car at the start of the race so that it lasted JUST to the end. This generally worked but a few times ran out of fuel with a few laps to go. So unbeknownst to Colin Chapman, the mechanics when fuelling the car would add an extra gallon, just to make sure it was enough, hence the ‘mechanic’s gallon’!
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I came upon the phrase ‘the mechanic’s gallon’ a while ago. Teams in the 60’s were trying to save weight and make the car as light as possible, inc. putting as much fuel in the car at the start of the race so that it lasted JUST to the end. This generally worked but a few times ran out of fuel with a few laps to go. So unbeknownst to Colin Chapman, the mechanics when fuelling the car would add an extra gallon, just to make sure it was enough, hence the ‘mechanic’s gallon’!
Pete Briggs started off 1968 helping out around the workshop of the Winkelmann Racing Formula 2 team. Gradually working his way up to through 1969 and by a roundabout way into Formula 1 in 1970 with the fledgling March Racing team. 1971 was in Formula 2 followed by a switch to the Matchbox Team Surtees F2 team. Then it was back to Formula 1 with March in 1973 before returning again to Team Surtees in 1976 all the way to the teams demise in 1979. In 1980 he bought a Honda road car dealer franchise from John Surtees. Download the recording here. Just after our recording session, me on the left and Briggsy on the right.
The Mechanic's Gallon
I came upon the phrase ‘the mechanic’s gallon’ a while ago. Teams in the 60’s were trying to save weight and make the car as light as possible, inc. putting as much fuel in the car at the start of the race so that it lasted JUST to the end. This generally worked but a few times ran out of fuel with a few laps to go. So unbeknownst to Colin Chapman, the mechanics when fuelling the car would add an extra gallon, just to make sure it was enough, hence the ‘mechanic’s gallon’!
