Description:

Imagine the history of having a Former World Champion’s entry into the world of competitive motor racing.  Dr Erlich, ( Erlich Motors Company/EMC ) a private entrant gave a young Scheckter some of his first wins in Motorsport.

This Immaculate example of a unique and superb 1967 Brabham Historic  Formula 2  race car.

This car has been correctly set up, it is light, fast and beautiful. It is fully track ready with no excuses.

The Formula 2 BT23 was the car of choice, both in era and now in historic racing. It is a championship winning car.

It has a current SVRA logbook, chassis plate plus  HTP UK Passport ( expired ).

This car has been completely restored to an immaculate standard by Brabham specialists, Simon Hadfield, Dave Irwin Engineering and Sasco Sport and was completed in detail to be competitive. 

Brabham BT23 - RF1001 is currently located for viewing at Sasco Sport at VIR Virginia.

The researched history of this EMC entered Brabham is exceptional. Being driven in period by F1 World Champion, Jody Scheckter in his Formula 3 days.

The Restoration.

Frame.

Fully restored by Simon Hadfield to correct and original Formula 2 specifications. 

Engine.

1.6L Cosworth FVA. This is a fresh dry sump engine with zero miles. The engine was built from mostly new parts (2021). This was completed by the renowned engine builder Peter Marcovicci of MWE fame. This included an Arrows(UK) Forged steel crank, with JE Pistons and Carrillo rods, plus an electronic ignition system.

The exhaust is a hand-made stainless-steel tuned system

The dyno sheet ( photo ) shows a maximum horsepower of 250HP at 9600 RPM

Gearbox.

A freshly rebuilt Hewland FT200 with original magnesium case.   Overhaul by Sasco Sport.

Suspension.

All new Suspension and drive shafts, bright nikel plated.

Koni Alloy Shocks all round from Truechoice, with EBC powder coated springs.

All uprights are correct magnesium.

The drive shaft donuts couplings are the larger Formula Two, and the drive shafts have the added feature of a locating safety pins installed.

Wheels.

Original Brabham 4 spoke Magnesium wheels.

Widths - 10”x13” Front,  12”x14” Rear. 

Powder coated. 

Brakes.

Correct period Formula 2 specifications. Girling Alloy AR calipers at front, with correct alloy calipers at rear. All Stainless-steel braided flexible brake lines with AN fittings, and new hard copper lines running within frame. 

Tires.

Avon A11 treaded tires. Medium compound. Supplied by Sasco Sport. (Not new).

Instruments and Dash.

Correct Smiths Chrome Bezel instruments, indicating - Oil Pressure, Oil Temperature, Water Temperature. 

A Stack “Smiths style” electronic 10,000RPM “Chronometric” Tach.  It has much improved accuracy. 

Correct style Switches are Fuel pump, Ignition, Rain light, and Battery Cutoff.

Steering.

A Peter Denty  Brabham 12” leather bound and hand stitched alloy steering wheel. This has the FIA multi-spline quick disconnect system.

The steering rod is new and nikel plated.

The steering rack is original, with all new internal components and correctly set for zero bump-steer.

Body and Paint.

All Correct fiberglass Brabham BT23 body, with internal nose radiator shroud.  

The stunning paint is fresh with a few small blemishes from track rock chips. The whole design is to replicate the EMC entered car with Scheckter.

The windscreen was supplied by Peter Denty, UK and is a period correct molded “Perspex” type, with correct original rare spun Alloy “Raydot” mirrors.

Fuel System.

A correct wrap around alloy internal fuel tank with a fuel cell with interior safety foam to meet current safety standards. This tank contains up to 11 gallons.

All fuel lines are stainless steel braided, with AN fittings.

Fire Suppressant System.

A new Electric FIA approved Halon Fire Suppressant system is plumbed throughout, and is invisible when body is in place.

Seat and harness.

Original seat plus FIA OMP 6-point quick release Harness with HANS device approved shoulder straps.

Electrical System.

12 Volts system with all new wiring, an external power receptacle, and a 12Volt Varley Battery.

Cooling.

A new high capacity hand-built Alloy radiator is installed. It is a replica of the original SERC brass type. Both lighter and more efficient.

This radiator follows the original split Brabham style of cooling both the engine coolant, and engine oil in one unit.

The History.

I originally purchased the Brabham-EMC from Chris Holland in UK in 1992.

At that time it had Chassis plate BT23/6. And Frame number RF1001. With Historic Vehicle Papers.   It had been in a serious crash at Snetterton.    I sent the frame to Simon Hadfield for restoration, and secured a good Cosworth FVA and FT 200 for the car. Before driving the car I sold it on to Barry Marquardt (USA), and purchased another Brabham to restore. It then went to Bob Baker (USA) and in 2006 to David Jacobs (USA). I purchased the car again in 2018.

In period,  it was entered by Dr Erlich. The frame may or may not have been Chassis #6. It was undoubtedly RF1001, a BT 23 frame from Racing Fabrications. 

Fun Historic Note.   

Clearly EMC was an underfunded venture in period. When frame RF1001 was originally purchased, it was suspected the purchase was the first BT23 frame built up. ( Probably hanging on a wall….) This is due to the slight frame difference from later frames. This being that the BT23 was the first of the RF frames to have a fixed ( not removable ) rear cross member for greater rigidity but with round down-tubes. All subsequent frames had box ( rectangle ) down-tubes with scallops to allow the larger donuts drives clearance.  When this frame was restored by Hadfield it was decided to keep the original style down-tubes for originality. 

From Brabham Archives.

Email on BT23-6 on from David Coleman,

I checked the FIA papers that I have, and they were filled out and submitted by Chris Holland in 1990. At that time the car had a BDA 1600cc engine. He notes Erlich, Hyatt, Strange, McLaughlin, and Coleman as owners prior to himself. Someone later added to the page, as a "note", 69 to Jody Scheckter, 68 to EMC (Dr. Erlich), and 67 to Robbin Widdows.

Anyone got contact details for Chris Holland or Riley Strange, so we could perhaps solve this one? 

Thanks Andrew

I am assuming for the moment that the EMC 606 was BT23-6, to that end I looked for any report last night that might refer to the EMC's construction. I didn't find what I wanted but I've only looked at 1971 so far.

A/S May 21st p.21 Cyd Williams gives Ehrlich's EMC 1st shakedown

A/S July 15th p.26 Jody Scheckter in the EMC at Croft

A/S July 22nd p.41 Jody in EMC at the British GP support race

A/S Aug 5th p.7 Bev Bond tests the EMC

A/S Aug 12th p.16 Jody in rebuilt EMC for Crystal Palace

A/S Aug 19?th p.3 Jody out in Merlyn Mk3

A/S Oct 14th Ian Ashley in the EMC 606 at Mallory

From David Jacob

This car was built-up in 1967 by Erlich Motors Company. It was based around an original Brabham BT23 chassis,  RF10-01. The car was set up as an F3 with an MAE engine and raced by Mike Keele. In 1971 it was then fitted with a 1600 cc restricted intake manifold motor and raced by Jody Scheckter as his first race car at Silverstone and Mallory Park. In 1994 it was converted to a Brabham BT 23 F2 by Simon Hadfield, and fitted with a Cosworth FVA and a Hewland FT200 gear box. The car was last raced in 2014  and has 3 hours on a Jennings engine refresh. HTP Technical Passport.

From David Jacobs.

Hi Jay,

I'm back at home.The car is in excellent condition, maintained since 2011 by Dave Irwin. It was maintained by Thomas Vintage Motors after I bought it in 2006. I raced it for two years in the US,

2006, 2007, then Snetterton and Spa in 2008, maintained by Terry Van Der Zee at TT

Motors in Dorset. The engine was rebuilt in 2009 by Tom Ellis at Thomas Vintage. Then I

raced it with Dave in 2010 and 2011, mostly around Colorado. Jennings refreshed the

engine in 2011, I think, (could check with Cliff for exact date.) The gear box was R and R'd

by Dave in 2012.. Dave repainted the car in the EMC livery in 2012. It was last raced at

RMVR High Plains in 2014, with Dave Irwin. There is not much time on the motor, I can't

recall how many hours.

Dave did a leak down before 2014 and it was perfect.

Right now other than checking fluids, it has a small leak coming out of the gear box, it is

ready to go. It obviously needs tires.

It has always been well maintained, whatever it needed.

Best regards,

David

On Mar 27, 2018, at 4:05 AM, Jay Galpin <jaydgalpin@yahoo.com> wrote:

From Brabham Archives.

Brabham BT23/6

1967 Whitley Racing Services for Robin Widdows. (Possibly sold at the end of the 1967 season to Mitsubishi Motors and shipped to Japan. May have been used by Kouichi Satou in 1973 and Masaru Tanaka in 1975).

Driven by: Robin Widdows. First race: Snetterton 1967 (R1)

From Brabham Archives.

Also worth mentioning here is the 1968 EMC F3 car which was built along very similar lines to a Brabham BT23. During the 1970s it was used in Monoposto Formula and after racing under a variety of names, it was (mis)identified as a Brabham some time in the early 1980s. It was restored to BT23 specification when owned by Jay Galpin in the mid-1990s, after which it was owned by Barry Marquardt, Bob Baker and, since 2006, David Jacobs. As of 2011, David was planning to restore the car to its original EMC specification. In September 2018, Jacobs sold it back to Jay Galpin (Litchfield, CT), and it has been fully restored by David Irwin to full BT23 Formula 2 specification with Cosworth FVA engine and Hewland FT200 gearbox.

https://www.f3history.co.uk/manufacturers/ehrlich-emc/

Ehrlich/Emc

Born in Vienna, Dr Joseph Ehrlich came to England in the 1930s where he made a name for himself with his work on motorcycle engines and the EMC motorcycle which Mike Hailwood took to third place in the 1961 world series. After working as a consultant for BMC Dr Ehrlich set up his own company in 1958 doing work for other constructors as well as work on his own projects which included producing a number of karts. The first F3 car appeared in 1969 and for the next ten years or so a series of F3 and F Atlantic cars appeared which met with varying degrees of success. In the early 80s Dr Ehrlich returned to his first love, motorcycles and kart engines where he had a great deal of success including winning four Junior TTs. Sadly, in September 2003, Dr Ehrlich passed away.

Note - Personal Disclaimer.

All historic racing cars have a history that can be lost in time. In 1992 I originally purchased this car in the UK with Chassis plate BT23-6 and with a frame stamping RF1001    I have diligently researched and recorded the above history with great help from the Brabham archives.

I do not claim absolute accuracy, only this is a summation of the history available attached to the frame stamping numbers. 

This car is now a wonderful example of a correct  Brabham BT23, with the original(restored) Racing Fabrications Chassis with original frame stampings.

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