BRM: Racing for Britain tells the story of patriotic racing driver Raymond Mays’ ambitious plan during the late 1940s to harness the power of the British automotive industry and create a new Formula 1 car with which to break the domination of teams from continental Europe. Having founded ERA before the Second World War, Mays introduced for this latest project another set of initials that would pass into motor racing folklore: BRM – British Racing Motors. 

After a troubled start with the spectacular V16, BRM’s fortunes started to turn around, and in 1959 Jo Bonnier scored its first World Championship Grand Prix victory at Zandvoort. The team’s crowning glory came in 1962, when Graham Hill became the first British driver to win the World Championship in a British car. That famous success helped to lay the foundations for the UK’s multi-billion-pound motorsport industry.

Written by respected author Ian Wagstaff and renowned BRM authority Doug Nye, admirably supported by editors Gavin Green and James Page, this new book from Porter Press International has been produced with the Owen family, which supported BRM from day one. It tells the full story of the team, from the difficult early days with the V16 to the glory years of the 1960s and its V12 finale in the 1970s. 

The book features an in-depth history of BRM’s Formula 1 team, including its 17 Grand Prix victories and drivers such as Stirling Moss, Juan Manuel Fangio, Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart. The full story of BRM’s World Championship-winning year in 1962, when Graham Hill pipped Jim Clark to the title. A chapter devoted to BRM’s sports cars, including the famous Rover-BRM gas turbine racer and the Can-Am machinery. More than 430 images, including a wealth of previously unseen material from the official BRM archive, plus archive photographs from the world’s leading image libraries.

Forewords by Sir Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill and the Owen family.

Size : 304 pages, Jacketed Hardback, over 430 images

Handmade to order

BRM – Racing for Britain (Unique Edition) is bound in dark green leather with orange text and an enamel BRM badge recessed into the cover. The edition, signed by Sir Alfred Owen’s sons, David and John, and grandsons, Nick, Paul and Simon, is presented in a dark green leather-bound slipcase that incorporates a matching portfolio. The portfolio contains an official reproduction of a period BRM technical drawing and a signed certificate of authenticity. Just 17 copies are available, one for each of the team’s 17 Grand Prix Championship race wins. Adding to the Unique Edition’s exclusivity is an orange cap (or should that be nose cone?) that houses a BRM engine component specific to the type used by the race-winning car that each Unique Edition represents.