Love the made up quotes ... good to know preservation of actual events is in safe hands.:lol:
Viki shot down SchumacherM, twice, for suggesting this car had great grip. Sorry Viki, it really did ... something you probably won't find googling, those tidbits are from people that experienced it first hand, and were quoted in the papers as such, which is where I indicate being around those times has more merit than reading about it past tense. If he actually had 'knowledge' of this like he claims, instead of summarizing something glazed over, he'd know that. There actually was more of a contact patch from the diminished diameter of 4 front wheels as opposed to 2 which were only 3" bigger anyways, and the car had 4 front disc brakes. Unsure if Viki will say this had no bearing on improved performance over 2 disc brakes either. So, when unsure of being challenged on whether or not this car was superior, he turns to an article of half truths, post them as fact, and the wee lad of SchumacherM doesn't say anymore ... the 5K poster has spoken, end of story ... sorry SchumacherM you're wrong, viki's right. This oddity of a car wasn't really meant to race, but did because of the awesome results it produced in testing. Its' debut was made after the 3rd or 4th race of the season, and won it's first and only race a few races later. He doesn't mention that it tallied up a respectable number of second places either, nor does he mention for such an oddity, there were others that tried to follow suit. March and Williams both had a go, and I think it was Ferrari that tried a 4 rear wheel version ... again, I'm sure someone can google it out. Later on, Jonathan Palmer, ex F1 racer, BBC commentator, racing school owner, father of son following dad's footsteps, etc .... used the Williams version of the 6 wheeler at the Goodwood festival of speed hillclimb and won. He was blown away by the grip the thing had, he was exceptionally impressed. The 6 wheelers were banned in the early 80's regardless, another chapter closed, but the turbo era was just around the corner .........
The guy that said something about no longer talking about history if you weren't there ... it's not that at all, it's if you can't get it right, you shouldn't pass on your inaccurate accounts for others that appear to look up to you for them to pass on to their peers. Judging by all the hostility you kids have, he has a good following. If you told the story of the Romans and said it was the Christians that fed the Romans to the lions, or the Jewish imprisoned the Germans in concentration camps, you'd be thought a nutter. Get it right the first time. Go on about me being old and washed up, so be it, I'm glad you all found the fountain of immortality and the belief it won't happen to you. If you honestly think I care about what some 16+ year olds think about me, christ, it's YOU who is arrogant. My life box ( things you should do while you are alive ) is 3/4 ticked off, I hope you all are just as successful, I sincerely do.
The P34 was my moon launch, I was awestruck by it, and still am today. You look at it as an abomination, ridiculous, et al ... but if you choose to speak about it, get it right, not stories you read on the internet from someone that is probably just as misinformed. Read about the brilliance of the real deal, Derek Gardner who designed the Project 34 and how Uncle Ken almost pulled the plug on the project because he was borderline embarrassed of the thing. It was the most secret thing available at the time, no deviants leaking plans to the press or competition. It was a shock when it was unveiled, like it or hate it. It spawned other designers to really think outside the box. Derek was brilliant, concepting a car simply because they were tapped out of conventional thinking. Well Ken, we've done fuck all in the last 3 years ... here ya go. In today's realm, you might as well unveil a hover car on the grid. It was that epic.
You get 20 years on with F1, if its' still around, then think about how you're going to react when someone tells you about some awesome white guy named Lewis Hamilton who drove for Ferrari ... I'm sure he won a championship for them in 08.
I'm sure Viki has it in him to be an Anorak, I really do ... but Anoraks get it right, and don't make up stuff to look smarter than the next person trying to learn. There is nothing wrong in admitting you are not entirely sure, better that than someone else running round quoting your fiction as fact.
/fin.