1974 Chevron B26 Cosworth

Derek Bennett’s Chevron Cars had created a series of ultra successful sports racing cars, almost from the outset. Bennett masterminded the concept, design and refinement, testing the models himself. From the B6 and its B8 sibling to the B16 and the B19, Chevron’s cars were user friendly and competitive, attributes which helped them sell to customers in strong numbers. Having used a space frame chassis principle throughout the sports car range, Bennett’s philosophy was to build on what he already knew. As a result, the changes from model to model tended to be gradual.

The advent of the B26 in 1974 with its aluminium sheet monocoque was one of the largest developments seen at Chevron. The new chassis construction reduced weight while increasing stiffness and helped support the by now bigger 2-litre engines, larger and grippier tyres and of course the full width rear wing, another big development of the B26. In testing, Bennett found the new B26 to be a huge 3 seconds a lap faster than the B23 that it succeeded, showing the potential of the new car.

B26-74-04 was completed by Chevron in early 1974 and delivered to their Italian agent Eris Tondelli. 04 was supplied to with no engine fitted and Tondelli chose to fit a 1300cc version of Cosworth’s BD series engines to compete within the thriving up to 1300cc engine class in Italy. The first race for 04 was the Monza 1000kms in April, the international event which signalled the first round of the World Championship for Makes and also formed part of the Campionato Italiano Sport. Entered under Tondelli’s own name, the driving was shared by him and Achille Soria. The debut result for 04 was victory in the 1300 class, finishing 22nd overall.

From Monza, 04’s second race was the Imola 1000km in June. Here, Tondelli drove with Claudio Francisci, again claiming victory in the 1300 class, this time taking 9th overall. One week later, 04 was entered into the Targa Florio by Tondelli. Still with the 1300c engine and driving with Francesco di Matteo, 04 set the 6th fastest time in practice but retired from the race itself.

For 1975, 04 was sold to Mario Savona and would be run under his Scuderia Ateneo banner and to be shared by Eugunio Renna, who went by the pseudonym ‘Amphicar’. With a 2.0-litre Cosworth engine fitted, the first event of the season came at the Mugello 1000km in March, but 04 retired from the race. It was then entered for the Monza 1000km in April but did not arrive. Next was the Coppa Florio in May, another round of the World Championship for Makes, held on the fast circuit of Enna-Pergusa. ‘Amphicar’ drove here with Luigi Moreschi and while the duo qualified 8th, they retired from the race.

The legendary Targa Florio was next on the calendar for 04. The road race whose route was formed on the lanes of Sicily had been held since 1906, and the 1975 was one of the last times it was held. That year, it formed part of the Campionato Italiano Group 5 Sport and attracted many high profile sports car entries, including the Autodelta Alfa Romeo team. 04 carried the branding of Sasci on the white bodywork and ‘Amphicar’ was joined for the race by Armando Floridia. Having been 14th fastest in practice, the pairing outperformed the majority of the opposition and also avoided incident around the 45 mile long laps.

After 5 hours of racing on the Sicilian roads, ‘Amphicar’ and Floridia brought 04 home in 2nd overall, beaten only by Arturo Merzario and Nino Vaccarella’s works Alfa Romeo 33TT12. The Targa Florio success was the last race of 1975 for 04 and it next raced at Pergusa in August 1976. Driven by a team mate of Floridia, Vito Veninata in the race to Group 6 rules, 04 took 2nd place. Meanwhile, ‘Amphicar’ and Floridia went on to win the 1976 edition of the Targa Florio overall.

04 was reported to have been crashed in Veninata’s tenure and from there it passed into Greek hands but was not rebuilt. Robin Smith, Chevron collector and owner of the marque at the time, was a team-mate of Veninata and Smith bought the car in crashed condition. Smith began the task of rebuilding the car by starting with the monocoque, and he sold the project to Steve Farthing in 1990. Farthing completed the car with a Cosworth BDG engine and raced it with success in the RJB Mining Thundersports series through the 1990s. Farthing continued running the car through to the 2000s, competing in Masters and at the Le Mans Classic in 2006.

In 2013, the car was bought by the current owner, a serial Chevron racer. Mainly racing in the HSCC Pre ’80 Endurance series, it underwent upgrades including a Richardson alloy block BDG engine and in 2015, a new Vin Malkie monocoque was fitted. This was compliment by a new set of bodywork and it was finished in the Sasci livery as run in the 1975 Targa Florio.

As the car sits today, the Richardson BDG has completed 10 hours running while the gearbox was rebuilt by BPA Engineering in February 2020. The fuel cells were fitted in December 2019 so remain valid until December 2024, new Willans seat belts were fitted in 2020 and remain valid to 2025. A recent FIA HTP accompanies the car, valid until December 2028. A healthy spares package is with the car including two spare sets of wheels, a large silencer, driveshafts, starter motors, old bodywork and the monocoque used when owned by Steve Farthing.

With Masters having extended the age period for their Sports Car Legends series to 1976, the Chevron B26 stands out as a potential race winner, more than a match for a Lola T70 Mk3B. Further eligibility includes Peter Auto’s CER 2 series with the possibility of the Le Mans Classic in Plateau 6, along with domestic use in the HSCC Thundersports series. The Chevron B26 is a thrilling ‘70s sports prototype, in effect a Formula 2 car full bodywork, delivering responsive, thoroughbred driving joy. Now, this car is ready for its next owner.