British Racing Motors (BRM) marked 75 years since its racing debut with a special exhibition in its hometown of Bourne, Lincolnshire, on June 14, 2025. The celebration commemorated the team’s first competitive appearance at the 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Under baking sunshine, crowds of all ages gathered for the special event – many sporting Formula 1 apparel – to see seven iconic BRM race cars lined up in front of Bourne’s Corn Exchange. Inside, visitors explored a curated exhibition of archival photographs and mechanical blueprints, while period BRM footage played on a large screen.
Throngs of spectators surrounded the cars on display throughout the day, which included the V16-powered BRM P15 Continuation, Graham Hill’s Championship-winning P261, Niki Lauda’s P160 and a fearsome Castrol-liveried Can-Am contender driven by Pedro Rodríguez.
The event was made even more special by the presence of Nick Owen – descendant of BRM’s long-time patron and industrialist Sir Alfred Owen, whose Rubery Owen Group bought the team in 1952, and whose persistence and support paid off with the success of the 1962 Driver’s and Constructor’s Championship, runners up in the Constructor’s Championship in 1963,1964, 1965 and 1971, and 17 Grand Prix wins. Also in attendance was the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Colin Pattison, who welcomed visitors and paid tribute to BRM’s lasting legacy in the town.
“These cars were all originally built in Bourne between 1949 and 1974,” Nick Owen told Magneto. “It’s about respecting and celebrating that heritage – but also about inspiring the next generation of engineers.
“We ran an event called Engineered in Bourne earlier in the week, with the Silverstone Museum and Bourne Motor Club. We delivered workshops to children from seven or eight local schools throughout the day – to actually give them insight into what a career in motor sport looks like.
“The students got a feel for design, build and even the weight of components,” he added. “Some were surprised at how heavy the tyres were; others at how light other components were. It gave them real insight into motor sport engineering.”
For Nick, the need to inspire and educate future generations of engineers and enthusiasts echoes the innovative, forward-thinking philosophy of BRM founder Raymond Mays.
“Back in 2022, when we marked the 60th anniversary of BRM’s World Championship, the idea was to celebrate the past – but also to spark the next 60 years of engineering excellence in Bourne,” said Nick. “From humble beginnings, BRM created something incredible. So many new businesses – Hall & Hall, for example – careers and innovations all originated from BRM.”
While it was the cars that were the star attraction, Mayor Colin Pattison pointed out that it was the people of Bourne who turned BRM into Britain’s first F1 World Championship-winning constructor.
“There’s a real community spirit in Bourne. Not only do people remember BRM, many people worked for it and it’s woven into the fabric of the town.
“My grandfather knew Raymond Mays, and I met him once as a boy. He was a gentleman to the end, and he was unique for his time. His vision after the war was to take on the might of the Germans and the Italians. And BRM did.”
Local pride in BRM is reflected in the number of personal family photographs donated for the newly launched BRM Recollect Archive – a digital platform being built to preserve and celebrate the team’s history.
“We’re building something called the BRM Recollect Archive. It’s going to be a repository for all things BRM – photographs, documents and personal memorabilia,” said Nick Owen. “We’ve had three or four people today bring in old photographs – and what’s fascinating is that many of them are informal shots from the workshop. Everyone’s seen race-action photos, but it’s the behind-the-scenes stuff that tells the full story.”
He continued: “If someone donates a collection, we archive it under their name – so you might have the Tony Rudd Archive, or the Stan Hope Archive. Among Stan’s things was a trophy Graham Hill had presented to him as a thank-you for being his mechanic. That’s now part of the archive – and it’s those kinds of human stories we want to preserve.”
BRM fans won’t have long to wait before seeing the team’s incredible array of cars on display once again.
“We’ve got plenty going on this summer,” Nick revealed. “We’ll be down at Goodwood, and we’ve got a BRM parade at the Oulton Park Gold Cup (July 25-27) to mark the 75th anniversary. It’s all about giving people the opportunity to see these cars up close, and keeping the BRM story alive for future generations.”
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