Today marks 60 years since Australia’s Jack Brabham secured the 1966 Formula 1® Drivers’ World Championship in the Australian-powered Repco-Brabham BT19 F1 car.
It was on Sunday September 4th in 1966 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy that Jack Brabham amassed an unassailable points lead in that year’s Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship, effectively securing his third F1 Drivers’ title following his 1959 and 1960 championships.
The Repco-Brabham team also secured that season’s Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championship, making it the only time the title-winning driver has secured the F1 championship in a car of their own make and run by their own team.
“Six decades on, Jack Brabham’s 1966 Formula 1 season remains the high-water mark in world motorsport,” said Mitch Wiley, Executive General Manager of Marketing at Repco Australia.
“Everyone at Repco is proud of Australia’s leading role in this unbeaten achievement: Australia’s greatest F1 champion driving an F1 car designed by an Australian, powered by a Repco-Brabham engine that was designed, developed and produced in Melbourne, Australia.”
Brabham’s record-setting Repco-Brabham BT19 Formula 1 car is regarded as one of motor racing’s most important creations.
This year, Repco has honoured Sir Jack Brabham and the Repco-Brabham BT19 with a program of events and displays.
The Repco-Brabham BT19 was a headline exhibit at this year’s Formula 1 Exhibition in Melbourne.
The car also starred at the 2026 Adelaide Motorsport Festival before heading to the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, where it lapped the Albert Park Circuit with Sam Brabham, Sir Jack Brabham’s grandson.
The Repco-Brabham BT19 was also inducted into the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame in February, becoming its 100th member and the only racing car to be inaugurated.
Australia’s Alliance Airlines also honoured the 60th anniversary of Brabham’s achievements in the Repco-Brabham BT19 by painting one of its new Embraer aircraft in the same colour scheme as the famous Formula 1 racer.
About Jack Brabham:
Sir Jack Brabham AO OBE was the first Australian to win the Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship. He won it three times: in 1959, 1960 and 1966. He also won 14 Formula 1 Grand Prix races, making him Australia’s most successful Formula 1 driver. His 23-year professional racing career was characterised by record-setting success as an intensely competitive driver. He was also an ingenious constructor alongside famed Australian racing car designer Ron Tauranac. Sir Jack Brabham was also a keen aviation enthusiast and fixed-wing pilot.
About the Repco-Brabham BT19:
The Repco-Brabham BT19 was designed by Australian engineer Ron Tauranac. The car was built by Motor Racing Developments (MRD), Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac’s own company, and raced by their Brabham Racing Organisation.
The car was powered by the Repco-Brabham RB620 3.0-litre SOHC V8 engine, which was designed, developed and produced by Repco in Melbourne, Australia.
When the 1966 Italian Grand Prix concluded at the famous Monza racing circuit on Sunday 4 September, Jack Brabham had amassed enough points to secure his third and final Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship. That year, his team won their first of two Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championships, the other secured in 1967.
Only one Repco Brabham BT19 was produced and it raced in the 1966 and 1967 Formula 1 championship seasons. Today, the car is owned by Repco’s parent company in Australia.