Credit: March 2-4-0 photo by David Merrett (Flickr, CC BY 2.0) - (Credit links in the comment)
Some cars were built to race but never got the chance. Others were banned before they could even reach the grid. The March 2-4-0 belongs to the first group. It never got the opportunity to race. But why did this project fail? And was it ever fast enough to compete?
March 2-4-0: The Car That Never Raced
In the mid-70s F1 felt like a playground for wild ideas.
Engineers didn’t just chasing speed; they were questioning everything about how a car should even look.
And then, came the March 2-4-0, a car that looked like it belonged to the future; yet never turly found its place in the present…
A Different Take on Six Wheels
By 1976, the shockwave from the Tyrrell P34 was still being felt across the paddock.
Four small front wheels had already proven that unconventional thinking could work; but March team didn’t copy the idea, they flipped it.
Instead of putting extra wheels at the front; designer Robin Herd pushed them to the rear, it wasn’t just about being different, it was about solving two key problems at once… traction and drag.
The theory sounded almost too good; four driven wheels at the back would give the car immense grip, especially out of slow corners.
At the same time, using smaller wheels would allow the bodywork to stay tighter, cleaner, more aerodynamic; less turbulence, more speed on the straight, so on paper, it was clever, maybe even brilliant.
The name itself, March 2-4-0, came from an old railway classification system, two steering wheels, four driven wheels, and nothing trailing behind.
First Runs and Immediate Problems
Reality arrived the moment the car touched the track at Silverstone circuit.
During its proper test in late 1976, the promise began to crack…
Reports suggest, the gearbox casing, under the stress of powering four rear wheels, started to flex; not slightly, but enough to throw the internal gears out of alignment, once that happened, the drivetrain couldn’t function properly.
There was no quick fix for March 2-4-0 back in the garage.
The team did something almost desperate, they disconnected the rear-most axle entirely, in an instant, the six-wheeled concept lost half of its identity and became, effectively, a standard two-wheel-drive car just to keep session going.
ANECDOTE :Before we continue the contents we want to share that, similar idea appeared years later with Williams Racing and its FW08B six-wheeled prototype. Like the March 2-4-0, it never raced. The car featured four driven rear wheels and was reportedly very fast in testing, but before it could compete, the FIA changed the rules to require exactly four wheels and two driven wheels. As a result, the project was dropped and Williams returned to its normal FW08C for the 1983 season.
Flashes of Potential
The story doesn’t end there, when the car returned to testing in early 1977 with improvements, something interesting happened.
According to reports; the March 2-4-0 came alive in wet conditions.
Drivers reported traction that felt almost unreal, like the car was gripping the surface in a way others simply couldn’t.
There was a sense, at least for a brief moment, that this strange machine had found its natural environment… rain, where control mattered more than outright power; where four driven wheels could make a real difference.
Why It Never Raced in Formula One
The simple answer is that the March 2-4-0 never lined up on a F1 grid; but the real reasons run deeper.
The mechanical issues were not small inconveniences; the gearbox problem alone required a complete redesign, stronger materials, more testing, and normally more money.
And money was something March Engineering didn’t have in abudance at the time.
Even if the traction gains were real; they might not have been enough to compensate against the best cars on the grid.
There was also a sense; whispered even back then, that the project had a second purpose.
Under Max Mosley, the car may have served partly as a way to attract attention and sponsors.
ANECDOTE: A similar idea appeared just one season earlier in 1976 with the Tyrrell P34, shortly before the March 2-4-0. Unlike the March concept, which later showed its best potential in wet conditions, the Tyrrell was actually more effective on dry, smooth circuits, where its low-drag design and strong braking stability gave it a real advantage. In contrast, in the rain, its complex four-front-wheel setup often made handling unpredictable.
Here you can see the Tyrrell P34 six-wheel F1 car, and how different its concept was compared to the March 2-4-0, with four small wheels at the front instead of the rear. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.
A Second Life Away from Formula One
Strangely; the March 2-4-0 didn’t disappear completely.
In 1979; it found a new purpose in British hill climb events, driven by Roy Lane.
Away from the demands of F1 circuits, the car’s unique strength could finally shine, on short, technical climbs, especially in the wet, it became something of a weapon.
The same traction that felt like a curiosity during testing turned into a real advantage, Lane was often described as almost untouchable when conditions turned slippery.
It never became a F1 success story; but in a different corner of motorsport, it proved that the idea wasn’t entirely flawed.
Was It Fast Enough?
In theory yes, the aerodynamic concept made sense, the traction advantage was real, in the right conditions, it could outperform more conventional designs.
But F1 doesn’t reward potential, it rewards execution, and the March 2-4-0 never reached the level of development needed to truly answer that question.
What remains is a car caught between imagination and limitation, a bold idea that arrived just a bit too early, with just a bit too little suppot.
However, today, the March 2-4-0 sits in that strange category of F1 history, the ‘what if’ machines.
It wasn’t the only six-wheeled car, but it was certainly one of the most unconventional interpretations of the idea, where others chased stability or braking advantages, March chased traction and airflow.
Featured Image Credit: March 2-4-0 photo by David Merrett (Flickr, CC BY 2.0)
