Yuji Watahiki and the Home-Built Tyrrell P34: A Modern Tribute to F1’s Most Radical Racer

There are Formula 1 cars that capture the imagination, and then there’s the Tyrrell P34, the six-wheeled oddity that actually won a Grand Prix and changed how the world saw racing design. Originally campaigned in the 1976 and 1977 F1 seasons, it remains one of the sport’s most iconic experiments.

But while only six of the originals were ever built, one man refused to let the legend stay locked in history. From Workshop Apprentice to Independent Fabricator In Mito, Japan, Yuji Watahiki, a seasoned restorer and metalworker has made automotive dreams tangible.

Starting his career working alongside his father in their local garage, he built his skills on classic restorations and hand-formed aluminum bodywork. Over the years, Watahiki developed a reputation as a craftsman capable of transforming imagination into reality: from bespoke wide-body commissions to show-quality replicas of legendary sports cars. It was this lifelong passion rooted in 1970s F1 history and hands-on fabrication that inspired his most ambitious project yet: his own six-wheeled Tyrrell P34.

Reimagining the Six-Wheeled Marvel Instead of buying an original or sourcing a factory chassis, Watahiki chose to build his tribute car from the ground up in his workshop. Judging by photographs and museum examples of the original P34, he reverse-engineered key components and recreated them using traditional techniques. Rather than the original Cosworth DFV V8 and Hewland gearbox package, his version is powered by a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle engine, mounted longitudinally with a chain-linked drivetrain tied to a Suzuki Cappuccino differential.

This creative engineering solution gives it real propulsion while still honoring the spirit of the original design. Uniquely, he even sourced or fabricated front wheels to match the tiny 10-inch diameter of the originals, a key visual and mechanical feature of the P34 and paired them with appropriately sized tyres, some of which he imported from specialist suppliers.

On track, the car has 2 faces. Yuji can either drive the P34 in the Peterson configuration and when he just feels like a change, he can switch to Depailler mode. Brilliant!