The 006 represented a slight reworking of the preceding Tyrrell 005 car. However, it marked a shift in Tyrrell's production approach, becoming the first Tyrrell-built model to be replicated rather than built as a one-off chassis. Previous Tyrrell cars were unique constructions; the 006 designation became a model number, with multiple chassis built to that specification. In total, three Tyrrell 006 chassis were constructed: 006, 006/2, and 006/3.
Chassis 006 was built for François Cevert to replace chassis 002, while the existing 005 was retained by Jackie Stewart for the final races of 1972. Stewart continued to use 005 for the first two races of 1973 while 006/2 was under construction. Stewart took 006 to the model's first win at the 1973 South African Grand Prix. Upon completion of 006/2, 005 was relegated to testing duties and was often seen in practice sessions with experimental components. Stewart scored five victories during the 1973 season on his way to the Drivers' Championship title. Cevert also achieved several podium finishes, but Tyrrell finished second in the Constructors' Championship with 82 points, behind Lotus with 92 points.
Cevert damaged 006 in a collision during the 1972 Canadian Grand Prix, prompting the construction of a new chassis, 006/3, for his use in the following race. It was in 006/3's only appearance that Cevert was fatally injured when he crashed during practice for the final race of the season, the 1973 United States Grand Prix. Following Cevert's accident, a distraught Stewart drove 006/2 around the Watkins Glen circuit in an attempt to understand what had happened, before parking the car and retiring from Formula One.
The surviving 006/2 was used for the early races of the 1974 Formula One season. Jody Scheckter drove it in Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa. Patrick Depailler used 006/2 as a fallback after qualifying breakdowns in Spain, Monaco, and France. After the French Grand Prix, Tyrrell retired the 006 model in favour of the newer Tyrrell 007.
Tyrrell 006/3 was written off and scrapped following Cevert's fatal accident in the car. The original chassis, 006, was retained by Tyrrell for many years before being sold in 1985. It has since passed through multiple private collections and was regularly raced in historic competitions during the late 2000s by John Delane. Tom Wheatcroft purchased 006/2 and displayed it in his Donington Grand Prix Exhibition for many years. Jackie Stewart later acquired 006/2 from the Wheatcroft estate and has driven it on several occasions, including at the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend and the Goodwood Festival of Speed, both in 2010.
The Tyrrell 006 was powered by a V8 90˚ cylinders Ford Cosworth DFV, naturally aspirated, mid-mounted engine with a cubic capacity of 2993 cc. It featured a Hewland FG400 5-speed manual transmission with a ZF differential. The body style was an aluminium monocoque, and the suspension front and rear consisted of double wishbones and coil springs. It ran on Elf fuel and Goodyear tyres. The car was designed by Derek Gardner.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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