The BRM P261, also known as the BRM P61 Mark II, is a Formula One motor racing car, designed and built by the British Racing Motors team in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England.
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Although Courage failed to make a mark, Irwin finished the season by taking third place in Longford.
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BRM had experimented with a four-valve-per-cylinder version of the engine, but this was abandoned in favour of the tried and trusted, oversquare (68.5 x 50.8 mm), fuel-injected, two-valve, quad-cam configuration.
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Wilson was the cousin of team boss Bernard White, who subsequently renamed his team to the less-exotic Bernard White Racing and entered a privateer P261 for Innes Ireland in the final two races of 1966, but he failed to finish on either occasion.
Although both Jack Brabham and his team mate, New Zealander Denny Hulme both retired from the season opening Monaco Grand Prix (won by Jackie Stewart in his BRM), Brabham with their Oldsmobile based Repco engine caught the rest of the teams on the hop with its speed and reliability.
The resulting car consisted of the chassis of a BRM P261, the suspension of a P57, a 1.5-litre BRM P56 engine mounted back-to-front and Ferguson's transmission system, all put together by BRM apprentice Mike Pilbeam who was later to find fame as a constructor of hillclimb cars.