1970 March-Ford 701 - a photo on Flickriver

1970 March-Ford 701

            Pictured is a 1970 March-Ford 701 Grand Prix Car.

This particular car is Chassis 4 and was driven in 1970 by triple World Champion Jackie Stewart and Frenchman Johnny Servoz-Gavin.

The partnership between Ken Tyrrell and Jackie Stewart is the stuff of legend, a relationship that began back in 1963. Tyrrell would run the BRM Formula 2 team with Stewart, then a BRM Formula 1 driver, also driving the F2 machinery. 

By 1967 Tyrrell was running F2 cars for French aeronautical company Matra which ultimately led to a move into Formula 1 in 1968.

Matra were at that time producing their own V12 engines but the introduction and immediate success of the Ford Cosworth DFV mid-way through 1967 caused something of a problem.

Matra wanted to use their own in-house engine for their cars whilst Tyrrell and Stewart wanted to go down the Ford route.

Matra ended up splitting their efforts for 1968 with Matra Sports entering a Matra-engined car and Ken Tyrrell running a Ford-engined version under the Matra International banner.

That arrangement continued into 1969 and with six victories during the season Stewart clinched his first world title, also handing Matra the constructors crown.

For 1970 Matra were insistent that the Matra engines be used in its cars. Stewart tested the Matra-engined car but was not convinced. Unwilling to provide a chassis to accommodate the Ford engine any further Ken Tyrrell decided that he would have to become a constructor in his own right.

Unfortunately, both the team and reigning World Champion found themselves without a car for the season ahead. The new Tyrrell car wouldn't be ready until later in the season which left Ken Tyrrell looking for a stop-gap chassis supplier.

McLaren and Brabham cars were considered but commercial issues made them unsuitable. This is where March came to the forefront.

Having just one season of Formula 3 racing (with a single car!) behind them March had decided to compete on a number of fronts in 1970 - F1, F2, F3, Formula Ford and Can-Am.

Apart from entering a factory team in Formula 1 they were also willing to be a supplier to other teams. Tyrrell bought three of the new March cars (Chassis 2, 4 and 7) and was ready to go racing.

Chassis 4 made it's debut in the season-opening South African Grand Prix at Kyalami with Servoz-Gavin at the wheel. The Frenchman qualified 17th and retired from the race with an engine failure.

In the sister car (Chassis 2) Stewart took Pole Position and finished third in the race before giving March it's first F1 victory in the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch.

Stewart followed this up by winning the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama, giving March a first World Championship Grand Prix victory.

Chassis 4 (pictured above) would not see any futher race action until the fifth round of the season at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix.

By this time the chassis had been re-skinned from 18 to 20-guage aluminium, reducing the overall weight of the car.

With Stewart now at the wheel, the car qualified second and finished as runner-up to Jochen Rindt's newly-introduced Lotus 72.

The French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand saw Stewart finish ninth after encountering electrical gremlins during the race. It was no better next time out at Brands Hatch in the British Grand Prix with the Scotsman retiring due to an oil leak and clutch failure.

Two more retirements followed in Germany and Austria with, respectively, an engine failure and a split fuel line that caused a brief fire.

The car's final appearance came in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. After driving the new Tyrrell 001 during practice the decision was made to stick with the March for the race.

Stewart qualified fourth and brought the car home in second position, just over five seconds behind the winning Ferrari of Clay Regazzoni.

The team took the decision to race the Tyrrell car in the final three races of the season in Canada, the United States and Mexico (team-mate Francois Cevert would continue to use a March) and that was the end for Chassis 4.

It would later be used by Ford Motor Company as a show car and brought out occasionally for demonstration runs.

Stewart ended that 1970 season fifth overall in the standings but did help March to finish as third best constructor in it's maiden season.

On a footnote, some top names of the time drove 701s during the season including 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti, Chris Amon, Jo Siffert and Hubert Hahne. It was also the first Grand Prix car driven by the late 'Super Swede' Ronnie Peterson.

PIctured in April 2023 at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

Taken in: UK / England / Stratford-on-Avon District / Gaydon (show map)

Taken on: April 24, 2023

Tags:

Formula 1

March 701

Jackie Stewart

Johnny Servoz-Gavin

Tyrrell Racing Organisation

British Motor Museum

Gaydon

Warwickshire « less

Sets appears in: • Formula 1 • British Motor Museum more » • March Grand Prix Cars « less

Groups appears in: • British Motorsport • Formula 1 more » • F1 • Formula One • Motor Sports UK • Motorsport • Cars in Numerical Order • Transport In The Frame • Formel 1 • Formule 1 • Formule Un • Formula Uno • Grand-Prix Formule Un • Gran-Premio Formula Uno • Formula One Motor Racing • Grand-Prix F1 • British Automobile Photography • Formula 1 team • flickr in full color [No Black & White !] • FIA Formula One World Championship • All Kinds of Motorsports • Motor Vehicles • F1 Formula One Captions • Motorsport Legends • Auto Almanac • British Cars • Formula 1 on Flicker • March Grand Prix Cars • Formula 1 Crazy • Formula racing • All Motorsport • The Pit Stop Shop • March Racing Cars. • Any Motorsport Photos • Motorsport Photographers • Motorsport in Great Britain • *Sport-Auto* • Sign of the Times (All Types of Signs) • British Cars Photography • Todo Motor Sport • Motor racing images • Worldwide Cars • Colours of Flickr • Motorsport Worldwide • Autoportraets - Car Portraits • Motorsport Museums • the Encyclopedia of the Race Cars • Race Cars 60 70 80 • AUTOHOLIC - design,concepts & art (opted out of 60/30) • V2 V4 V6 V8 V10 V12 V16 Cars • Race and Rally Car World • Automotive 100 [1925 to 2024] « less

Camera: Canon PowerShot SX400 IS, f/3.5, 1/20 sec, 4.9mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SX400 IS
Aperture:	f/3.5
Exposure Time:	0.05 sec (1/20)
Focal Length:	4.9mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Show full info

Stats: 2,446 views / 2 comments