March 240/771 Formula 1

Following the six wheeled Tyrrell P34 Formula 1 racer from 1976, March also built a six wheeled race car in that same year.

This was made possible by a change in Formula 1 regulations in 1976. The difference between the two cars was that the March had four rear wheels, and the Tyrrell four front wheels. Also, the two manufacturers had different technological objectives: the Tyrrell’s ‘smaller’ front wheels were to reduce aerodynamic drag, whereas the March’s wheels were all the same size but four were fitted at the rear to improve grip. The March’s ‘2-4-0’ model designation refers to the Anglo-Saxon Whyte notation system for axle arrangements in steam locomotives: two leading wheels, four driving wheels, zero trailing wheels. The designation ‘771’ stands for ‘racing season 1977, Formula 1’. The six-wheeled racer was tested extensively at Silverstone by Ian Scheckter, Jody Scheckter’s older brother, but it never raced competitively. At the end of the 1977 season March pulled out of Formula 1 racing and the car was sold to the British hill-climb specialist Roy Lane.