Brabham BT49: done by the forces of nature
The pages opened before you are awash with wildly suggestive curves. So here's a yin to that yang: a taut, pretty race car that disguises its sexiness beneath a simple exterior.
The Brabham BT49 represents Gordon Murray's efforts to stay one step ahead of F1's ground effects-restricting regulations. By the time the sliding side skirts of the '81-season car were banned, he'd introduced hydraulic suspension to drop it millimetres from the track. Lateral forces on the drivers were huge, and Nelson Piquet was said to have often found himself giving in to the call of nature inside. Well, some people find that sexy...