Hesketh 308 F1 CAR 1974

  • Thread starter Thread starter StarLight
  • 12 comments
  • 3,251 views
Messages
6,629
Portugal
Portugal
vd1xj4.jpg

Presents this time a Formula One car, the Hesketh 308 from 1974 with James Hunt in his second F1 season behind the wheel.
Anyway this is a classic F1 car and it has been in the movie “Rush”, further I like the white livery which make it a beautiful car.



687atj.jpg


Few Formula 1 cars from the ’70s are remembered as fondly as the 1974 Hesketh 308, it was the first car built by the Hesketh Formula 1 Team – a team that could only have thrived in the decade of big sideburns, big tires and big disco.

Their new 308, which referred to the three-litre, eight-cylinder DFV engine that powered the car.

After having used a March 731 chassis throughout the 1973 season (their first in F1), Lord Hesketh tasked Harvey “Doc” Postlewaite with the job of designing the team their own car for the 1974 season. Largely based on the March 731, the Hesketh 308 was first tested in Brazilian at the Interlagos circuit after the 1974 Grand Prix – many of the teams had stayed on after the race to test new cars and components so when the 308 was rolled out of the garage for the first time engineers from up and down the pit lane looked on with interest.

Stopwatches were removed from pockets and thumbs hovered over chronograph buttons, few in the paddock expected the new Hesketh to be competitive – the team was renowned for being fuelled by champagne more than gasoline and if it wasn't for the talents of James Hunt it was widely felt that the team would be hovering at the bottom of the time sheets.

Hunt eased the car down the pit lane and out in the first corner, his warm up lap was slow and deliberate – he weaved the car left and right across the track to heat the tires, braked hard into corners to get the discs up to temperature and accelerated hard enough to spin the rear wheels – boosting rear tire pressure. As he came out of the final corner he planted the throttle, the car crossed the start/finish line at over 160 mph and the chronograph buttons on the pit wall were all simultaneously struck by oil-stained thumbs.

Less than 110 seconds later, the lowly expectations held for the Hesketh 308 had been obliterated. Hunt’s first hot lap was a second faster than Emerson Fittipaldi’s pole-qualifying time in the McLaren and a full four seconds faster than his own qualifying time in the old March 731. A gauntlet had been thrown down and eyebrows were raised in garages along the pit lane and around the world.

Nowadays the perfect F1 car for the Monaco Historic Grand Prix and the FIA Masters Historic Championships.


Specifications
Production: 3 units
Designer: Harvey Postlewaite
Engine: 2,993 cc DOHC dry-sump Cosworth DFV 90-degree V8 engine with Lucas-metered fuel injection
Transmission: Hewland FGA/400 five-speed manual transaxle
Steering: rack-and-pinion steering
Suspension: front and rear wishbone independent suspension with coil springs, telescopic dampers, and anti-roll bars
Brakes: four-wheel Lockheed four-piston ventilated disc brakes
Power: 485 hp
Wheelbase: 2,570 mm
Weight: 590 kg



veayb6.jpg


16bbxgn.jpg


20px6c8.jpg



2z857br.jpg




HERE ARE THE OTHER FORMULA 1 CARS


 
Last edited:
Good choice 👍

Some fine pics of the 308B the team used in the '74 season.
Different from the original 308 by having the radiators moved to the side pods from the front wing.
 
The pictures are from Chassis no. 308-1 ... so following my information must be a 308 and not a 308B.


x3bnmu.jpg
Pics are definitely of a 308B going by the position of the radiators.

Either way, it's a Hesketh so it gets a vote from me. A car from the days when they had more mechanical grip than aerodynamic grip and overtaking was possible without DRS, KERS & other work of the devil.

Chassis 308-1 may have been updated to 'B' specifications. This would certainly be possible as the 'C' spec was a lot different.
 
The images StarLight has on the OP are from the 308-1. The 308B had an extra front spoiler.

308-B
Screenshot_1.jpg

Movie "Rush":
Screenshot_2.jpg

The radiators were always on the side, only the oil radiators were reposicioned, going to the back of the car....

Wikipedia 308-1:

For 1975 the 308 was updated to 308B specifications, with revised bodywork and repositioned oil radiators.
1975_hesketh_308b_f1_oil_coolers.jpg
 
I saw Rush. Brilliant movie. Go check it out, if you haven't. Voted yes just because of that film.
 
Back