F1 is a breeding ground for innovation, but not every experiment becomes a success. Enter the Subaru-Coloni C3B—a car that went down in history for all the wrong reasons. This tale of engineering gone awry highlights how a mix of ambition, poor planning, and bad execution led to one of Formula 1’s most infamous failures.
Japanese car manufacturer Subaru, renowned for its reliable road cars, wanted to make a splash in Formula 1. Partnering with famed designer Carlo Chiti, Subaru aimed to translate its flat-engine expertise to the pinnacle of motorsport. The result? A flat-12 engine designed for its F1 debut, echoing Subaru’s road car heritage.
Initially, Subaru approached Minardi with its flat-12 engine in 1989. However, the partnership fizzled out during testing, with Minardi walking away, unconvinced of the engine’s potential. Undeterred, Subaru bought a 51% stake in the struggling Coloni team, aiming to debut the flat-12 engine in the 1990 season.
The C3B chassis, designed to house Subaru’s flat-12 engine, was allegedly assembled at the Phoenix Grand Prix in a rush. Some say its shakedown occurred in a nearby American car park—an inauspicious start for a Formula 1 contender.
The car’s aerodynamic design was primitive, but the true Achilles’ heel was the flat-12 engine. It produced just 500bhp, a staggering 200bhp less than the dominant McLaren-Honda cars of the same season. Worse still, the C3B was overweight, ill-balanced, and notorious for poor handling.
Coloni fielded a single car driven by Bertrand Gachot. Despite his best efforts, Gachot failed to pre-qualify for the first eight races of the 1990 season. Subaru’s initial optimism quickly evaporated, and they sold their stake in the team back to Enzo Coloni, whom they had fired earlier in the year. A Cosworth engine replaced the Subaru flat-12 in a revised chassis, but the results didn’t improve.
By the end of 1990, Gachot had failed to qualify for all 16 races, setting a precedent that the team sadly maintained the following year.
The Coloni team soldiered on with Pedro Chavez and later Naoki Hattori, who carried on the streak of non-pre-qualifications into 1991. Subaru, meanwhile, retreated from Formula 1, licking its wounds.
The Subaru-Coloni C3B serves as a prime example of what happens when ambition isn’t matched by preparation. While F1 history is littered with underperforming cars, few have achieved the level of notoriety enjoyed—or endured—by this ill-fated design.
