Full set of 4, front and rears, Melmag Surtees TS14 Formula 1 alloy wheels - believe to be Magnesium due to very light weight for the size. Fronts 13" diameter x 12" wide, rears 15" diameter x 18" wide. Race used and unrestored, after much research I have found the alloys are from a Surtees TS14 used for 1 season in UK in 1973. The cars used a 3.0 litre V8 Ford Cosworth DSV engine developing over 450 bhp. There were 3 Surtees TS14 entries in the 1973 British Grand Prix at Silverstone 14th July 1973, all 3 cars retired before completing the 1st lap in the largest number of cars in a crash in F1 history to that date. The race started at 2pm local time and it featured the most cars to start a Grand Prix with 28 cars in rows of three by two.
The race is known for the 1st lap pile-up, which ultimately caused eleven cars to retire involving almost half of the grid. The accident happened when Jody Scheckter, running 4th in his McLaren, spun across the track at Woodgate corner (approx 160mph) at the end of the 1st lap, causing many other cars to collide and crash. The incident eliminated 9 cars, including all 3 works Surtees cars together in the same incident. The Surtees drivers were Jochen Mass, Mike Hailwood and Carlos Pace. Brabham driver Andrea de Adamich suffered a broken ankle that ended his F1 career in this same collision.
Jackie Stewart was leading the race when the collision happened behind him with Scheckter/Hulme in a 4th place battle when the overtaking manouver caused the crash. The first 3 cars of Stewart, Peterson and Reutemann carried on with the lap and almost crashed into the back of the pile up when coming around again under yellow not red flags. It would be F1's biggest race crash until the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix took out 13 cars with no injuries.
The race was ultimately won by Peter Revson after the restart which was 1 and 1/2 hours later due to the carnage from the 1st lap collision.
Race line up below from qualifying
1 | Ronnie Peterson | Lotus-Ford | 1:16.3 | 1 |
---|
2 | Denny Hulme | McLaren-Ford | 1:16.5 | 2 |
---|
3 | Peter Revson | McLaren-Ford | 1:16.5 | 3 |
---|
4 | Jackie Stewart | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:16.7 | 4 |
---|
5 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Lotus-Ford | 1:16.7 | 5 |
---|
6 | Jody Scheckter | McLaren-Ford | 1:16.9 | 6 |
---|
7 | François Cevert | Tyrrell-Ford | 1:17.3 | 7 |
---|
8 | Carlos Reutemann | Brabham-Ford | 1:17.4 | 8 |
---|
9 | Niki Lauda | BRM | 1:17.4 | 9 |
---|
10 | Clay Regazzoni | BRM | 1:17.5 | 10 |
---|
11 | James Hunt | March-Ford | 1:17.6 | 11 |
---|
12 | Mike Hailwood | Surtees-Ford | 1:18.0 | 12 |
---|
13 | Wilson Fittipaldi | Brabham-Ford | 1:18.1 | 13 |
---|
14 | Jochen Mass | Surtees-Ford | 1:18.3 | 14 |
---|
15 | Carlos Pace | Surtees-Ford | 1:18.3 | 15 |
---|
16 | David Purley | March-Ford | 1:18.4 | 16 |
---|
17 | Jean-Pierre Beltoise | BRM | 1:18.4 | 17 |
---|
18 | Howden Ganley | Iso-Ford | 1:18.6 | 18 |
---|
19 | Jacky Ickx | Ferrari | 1:18.9 | 19 |
---|
20 | Andrea de Adamich | Brabham-Ford | 1:19.1 | 20 |
---|
21 | Rikky von Opel | Ensign-Ford | 1:19.2 | 21 |
---|
22 | Roger Williamson | March-Ford | 1:19.5 | 22 |
---|
23 | John Watson | Brabham-Ford | 1:20.1 | 23 |
---|
24 | Mike Beuttler | March-Ford | 1:20.1 | 24 |
---|
25 | George Follmer | Shadow-Ford | 1:20.3 | 25 |
---|
26 | Jackie Oliver | Shadow-Ford | 1:20.3 | 26 |
---|
27 | Graham Hill | Shadow-Ford | 1:20.5 | 27 |
---|
28 | Graham McRae | Iso-Ford | 1:20.8 | 28 |
---|
29 | Chris Amon | Tecno | 1:21.0 | 29 |
---|
Genuine formula 1 history in your possession! Unknown exactly which chassis these were used on but there are only 3 possibilities Jochen Mass, Mike Hailwood and Carlos Pace, exact chassis unknown. I believe them to be from No. 31 Jochen Mass' car as Hailwood #23 and Pace #24 had yellow wheels and these are unrestored and black in colour with original Melmag stickers, however there are flecks of yellow showing in the paint so cannot be certain. They are 51 years old and the carnage of the crash took 90 minutes in a frantic effort to restart the race so having to rely on videos / photos of the incident to try and identify.
Unique item, full set of 4 wheels. Only 5 TS14s were originally made, chassis numbers TS14/02 and TS14/05 were never raced in UK. Chassis TS14/01 was John Surtees' own car (raced as #7 when John Surtees himself was driving but did not enter this race) and was raced at Silverstone July 1973 by Jochen Mass #31. Chassis TS14/03 was raced at Silverstone July 1973 by Carlos Pace #24. Chassis TS14/04 was raced at Silverstone July 1973 by Mike Hailwood #23.
These are the only set on eBay currently and very unlikely to come across another full set together. Collection welcome but could deliver within reason mainland UK, will deliver free within 100 miles of WF11, don't want to trust these with a courier as irreplaceable. Please message with any questions or for delivery options, will need to add postage for over 100 miles from me or international post.