ENCLOSED COCKPITS IN THE PAST
SHELTERED COCKPITS ARE NOT NEW, EVEN IF THEY WERE PREVIOUSLY TRIED FOR AERODYNAMIC RATHER THAN SAFETY REASONS
VANWALL, 1958
During practice for the 1958 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Stirling Moss tried an enclosed cockpit. Vanwall made an extra skin that was bolted onto the tail and carried the fairing above the driver’s head, aaching it to the top of the existing screen, but leaving a three-inch (76 mm) gap for the driver to peer through.
BRABHAM, 1967
Monza was also the scene of similar trial during practice in 1967 when Jack Brabham and designer Ron Tauranac fied a fully enclosed cockpit with an even smaller frontal slot to the Brabham BT24. The reigning champion discovered the gain in straightline speed was oset by time lost in the corners, particularly under the trees where dappled light on the Perspex caused distorted perspectives.