ARGO CARS REMEMBERED - background history
McLAREN
Derek Belt waiting in the cockpit of M9A in the Silverstone pits lane
during practice for the 1969 British Grand Prix. A feature of the car were the
broad aerofoils at the rear.
GRD
Marquart’s first GRD design
served the company well, and in the early 1970s was outstanding in F3.
Robarts’ car at Silverstone in 1973
shows the 372/373 characteristics well.
The 1974 car followed contemporary fashion, but never fulfilled its promise. For 1975 there was a more shapely nose and a fuller engine cover, as welt as a larger rear wing.
MODUS
Marquart’s Modus cars had individualistic
lines, with short full-width nose, angular flanks and often bulbous engine
covers, which did not always envelop the roll-over bar as on this 1975 team car.
The colour scheme was primarily orange. This is Danny Sullivan at Thruxton.
ARGO CARS
The first Argo, brand new and shining early in 1977. The nose and
radiators strongly echo Marquart’s Modus F3 car.
JM6 looked more bitty than its predecessors but was effective, although
as a wing car it was surpassed by Ralt
towards the end of the season. The driver is Thierry Tassin.
Aesthetically the lines of JM8’s nose
complimented the line of the side
pods with their flush radiator intakes, but the whole car appeared bulky. Tassin,
the driver here, soon abandoned the JM8 as beyond hope.
JMIO looked straightforward, and ordinary, after JM8, but it was never developed
into a raceworthy car.