In this new series of articles we are going to uncover the incredible detail of Formula 1’s most iconic cars, drawing from the huge collection of illustrations painstakingly crafted by Motorsport.com’s legendary illustrator and technical analyst Giorgio Piola.

Next year will be Giorgio Piola’s 50th year in the sport – having covered over 800 GPs, he’s one of the longest serving journalists to ever grace the F1 paddock. This gives him a unique insight into the ever-changing landscape of the sport and perhaps, more importantly, an uninterrupted vision of the physical transformation the cars have undergone.

We start our journey in 1974, a decade on from Ferrari’s last F1 World Championship success, during a time period that had seen the Scuderia struggle against teams that Enzo Ferrari had previously coined ‘Garagiste! Assembliatore!’