Arrows A3

The Arrows A3 was a Formula One car that the Arrows team used in the 1980 and 1981 seasons. After the failure of the radical A2 in 1979, the A3 was a very conventional design with a short wheelbase and a plain nose and rear wing, and its only aerodynamic novelty was an enclosure around the gearbox to reduce drag. Tony Southgate drew it, and in 1981 Riccardo Patrese took the only pole position in the history of the team in it at Long Beach, a result that helped Arrows finish joint eighth in the Constructors' Championship. The team kept the car for 1981 because it did not have the resources to build one with hydropneumatic suspension like the Brabham BT49C.