The Boxer that Wasn't . . . but it was a Looker and a Winner!
1970 saw the launch of several remarkable new Formula 1 cars. For technical innovation the Lotus 72 was attention grabbing. A great success in its own right, it proved to be highly influential in providing a new basic chassis architecture, one adopted by most F1 designers over several subsequent seasons. The March 701 was quite the opposite – a hastily conceived and constructed machine, characterised by conventional technologies, but astonishing in its production history, with no less than five examples on the grid for the first race, just 3 months after its design had been initiated. Ironically, it was the deficiencies of the 701, attributable largely to the very short design/initial development period, which gave rise to the third notable car, the Tyrrell 001. Commissioned by Ken Tyrrell to replace the March he had bought for Jackie Stewart’s World Championship defence, it was itself created rapidly (and secretly) in mid-season. A...