It's easy to underestimate the importance of Sir Jack Brabham. One of the quiet men of Formula 1, the Australian has always been in the habit of letting his actions speak louder than words. Yet Brabham's achievements and influence do, in fact, leave him without peers.
Three World Championships and 14 Grand Prix victories attest to Brabham's skill behind the wheel but it's his abilities as an engineer that have arguably left the greatest legacy. Inextricably linked with the development of the mid-engined F1 car, Brabham subsequently went on to found his own team - a move that was rewarded when he scored his final title success in 1966.
Becoming Champion in a car bearing one's own name: it's a feat that will, in all likelihood, remain a one-off. In a sport where methodology has long superceded ingenuity as the means to success, Brabham's own belong in a different age. But that certainly doesn't make them any less impressive; if anything, it makes them seem a whole lot more inspired.
A pragmatist rather than a dreamer, John Arthur Brabham was not fired by the prospect of glory the first time he went to a race track. He went simply because he and a friend, Johnny Schonberg, had built a car that the latter raced. However, Schonberg was soon persuaded to stop by his wife and despite thinking at first that racing drivers were "lunatics", Brabham was drawn to the cockpit. By his third race, he was leading the pack.
Those early steps were taken in midget racing on dirt tracks but Brabham eventually switched to road circuits and by the early 1950s was winning regularly. His next port of call was England and the Cooper Car Company, whose machinery he had been pedalling to such good effect Down Under. Brabham made his F1 debut in the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree, although any successes in the next few years came in other categories.
Everything changed in 1959. Not just for 'Black Jack' but for the sport. Cooper had pioneered the mid-engined racer - the theory being that by moving the centre of gravity further back than a car with the more usual front-engined design, they could improve both handling and traction. It worked, but what they didn't have up until that point was a powerful engine. Coventry Climax duly delivered a 2.5-litre unit, with Brabham winning the Monaco and British Grands Prix.
He also led the final race of the season, the US GP at Sebring, but only sealed the Championship after running out of fuel on the last lap - Brabham being forced to push his car across the finishing line. He retained the title in more dominant style in 1960 but left Cooper the following year as he felt the pioneers were quickly becoming yesterday's men.
Rather than join another established team, Brabham struck out alone. Along with engineer Ron Tauranac, he established Motor Racing Developments but success was initially hard to come by. Brabham didn't win a race again until 1966 but he then won four on the trot - a haul that led to his third title.
A masterstroke that year was the team's choice of engine. With F1 switching to a new 3-litre formula, most teams were caught on the hop in their attempts to find suitable power. Brabham's solution came from an unlikely source, the Australian firm Repco, but their lightweight, compact, production-based V8 proved more than up to the task.
The Brabham-Repco combination was the one to beat in 1967 as well, although this time the boss was second-best, with team-mate Denny Hulme taking the title instead. By now in his early 40s, Brabham was competing against a new generation of drivers and yet showed no signs of slowing down.
In fact, his final season proved one of his most memorable - albeit not always for reasons which Brabham might have hoped. Entering his 44th year, he won the season-opener in South Africa and should really have won in both Monaco and Britain too.
Jack led in the Principality until the very last corner, when his car locked up under braking at La Rascasse and nudged the barriers. A surprised Jochen Rindt instead took the chequered flag and the Austrian also profited at the British Grand Prix when Brabham's car ran out of fuel when leading, again on the final lap.
Retirement beckoned but the Brabham name continued to flourish. Not only did sons Geoff, Gary and David all go on to achieve success in top-level motorsport but the team their father founded won two more World Championships in the 1980s after it was bought by Bernie Ecclestone.
Brabham continued to get behind the wheel until fairly recently. Indeed, that his only night in hospital came in the wake of a crash at the 2000 Goodwood Festival of Speed says something for his longevity and, perhaps, his good fortune. Sixteen years Brabham's junior, Rindt was dead little more than a month after taking victory at Brands Hatch in 1970.
Having been there, seen it, done it (three times) and lived to tell the tale, the 86-year-old now lives on the Gold Coast and continues to take an interest in the sport - particularly the technical side. Cars might be designed using CFD and wind tunnels these days rather than sketched out on the floors of lock-up garages, but the principles remain. As does the passion.
