1966 Bedford VAL14/Plaxton VAL Panorama Brabham Team Transporter. Available to order now.

In 1966 Formula-1 season, Jack Brabham used engines from Australian engineering firm Repco, which had never produced a Formula One engine before, few expected the Brabham-Repcos to be competitive, but the light and reliable cars ran at the front from the start of the season. At the French Grand Prix at Reims-Gueux, Jack Brabham became the first man to win a Formula One world championship race in a car bearing his own name. Jack Brabham won his third title in 1966, in 1967, the title went to Brabham's team mate, New Zealander Denny Hulme. The Brabham team took the constructors' world championship in both years. At the start of the 1966 season, Brabham team received a new transporter, which replaced their old Bedford. The new transporter was one of the best in the paddock. It was ordered in 1964 and was made by Plaxton on Bedford research chassis RHD62/3 using as a base their experimental unique VAL Panorama body which was built in 1961 and had a rear-end distortion, so it could never again be used for coaching work (information from the book: Fare Stage Series Volume 6: The Bedford VAL by Robert W. Berry; Trans Pennine Publishing Ltd; www.transpenninepublishing.co.uk, thanks to Alan Earnshaw for providing this information). It could hold three F1 racing cars, a couple of spare race engines, gear boxes, tools and it seated up to five team members. Bob Ilich, member of the Brabham team, remembered: "When we first got the new transporter, we loaded up and were off down the Autobarn to Monaco. Jack came to us and said he would see us down there as he was going in his plane. However once we got rolling on the Autobarn with the safety of twin front wheels, five speed gearbox and two speed differential, we found we could cruise around 100 miles per hour and we beat Jack to Monaco!! Jack had a “big smile” on his face."

1954 Mercedes-Benz O3500 Two-Car Racing Transporter. Available to order.
For the 1954 season the rules for Grand Prix were changed again, either 750cc engines with forced aspiration or 2500cc engines with natural aspiration were allowed and this was the right time for Mercedes Benz to enter GP racing again. The W196 introduced at the 1954 Reims Grand Prix not only looked like nothing else on the grid but under its streamlined body it was filled with innovations as well. The straight 8 cylinder engine was tilted 37 degrees resulting in smaller frontal area. There were no valve springs closing the valves as the W196 was equipped with a desmodromic valve operating systems, with one cam shaft opening the valves and a second one closing them again. Bosch direct fuel injection developed for the 300 SL was used. To decrease the unsprung weight the drum brakes were moved inboard. Fangio drove the W196 to its maiden victory at its first Grand Prix, with his team mate Kling just a couple of meters behind him, the third place finishing Ferrari however was more than a lap behind. Fangio went on to win the 1954 and 1955 World Championships. In 1955 Moss lead three other W196s to victory in the British Grand Prix at Aintree. Various versions of the W196 were built during its lifespan, the streamlined version for highspeed tracks like Avus, Reims and Monza, a more conventional bodied version for the road racing tracks. To serve its racing team, Mercedes-Benz AG built a special vehicles, most famous of them was a "Blue Wonder". Two racing transporters (each intended to carry two W196s) were built on the shortened O3500 bus chassis as well as a mobile workshop, which had a completely-outfitted toolroom and full welding equipment. The 1955 season was the most tragic season in motorsport history, with a Mercedes Benz 300SLR flying into a grandstand at Le Mans, killing 87 people. At the end of the season Mercedes Benz withdrew again from motorsport.