These Are the Worst Race Cars of All Time

Photo: Lothar Spurzem via Wikimedia Commons

“Aston Martin DBR4/250 & DBR5/250

“Aston placed their F1 car project on hold in 1956, to focus on their battle with Ferrari with the DBR1. After they won Le Mans, they set their sites on Grand Prix. So, instead of starting with a clean slate and building a new car, they dug out the project from 1956, which had become completely outdated and un-competitive. Beneath the skin the DBR4’s basic design was closely related to the DB3S sports car of 1956. Suspension was handled by double wishbones with coil springs and telescopic dampers at the front, and a de Dion tube system with torsion bar springs at the rear. While this arrangement had been state-of-the-art in the early years of the 1950s, by the time that the DBR4 made its first public appearance most racing car manufacturers were moving to all-round independent suspension. The DBR4 also shared the basic double overhead camshaft straight-6 Aston Martin engine design with its brethren, but sleeved to reduce its capacity to 2.5-litres. It was a reliable and powerful unit in its 3.7-litre road car form, the reduced capacity racing motor was hard-pressed to cope with the heavy chassis and poor aerodynamics, and frequent engine failures blighted the DBR4’s brief racing career. Aston Martin claimed a 280 bhp output for the DBR4’s engine, however a more realistic value is closer to 250 bhp.

“Even behind the capable hands of Aston Martin’s Le Mans winning drivers, Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori, they couldn’t get much performance out of it. They were entered in only 5 races, and each only finished 3 races. With the highest a pair of 6th place showings by Salvadori. Aston realized that something needed to be done. So, they quickly started designing the successor, the DB5R/250.

“The DBR5 was largely based on the DBR4. It used the same basic chassis and engine layout. Improvements to the DBR5 made it smaller and lighter, and engine modifications meant that the power output was finally close to the figure originally claimed by the Aston Martin workshop. The DBR5 also boasted all-independent suspension.

“But when that car also failed to provide competitive results against the strengthening rear mounted engine cars, Aston Martin abandoned Formula One to concentrate on their more successful sports car projects, and wouldn’t be seen again in Formula 1 until 2021.”

On the one hand, the DBR4 is one the best looking race cars of all time. On the other hand, Knyte makes some good points about its lack in performance.

Suggested by: Knyte