Somehow Graham Hill even managed to look dapper behind the wheel of this replica of an 1896 Henry Ford Quadricycle. With a top speed of 20 Miles per hour and no brakes, Henry’s contraption was probably a walk in the park for Graham, who seems to be enjoying himself in this shot from ’63; taken while he was on his way to 2nd place in the world championship.
via Jaguar Car Forum
Any photographer worth a damn can make a technically proficient photograph of a car, but it takes something else to evoke the spirit of the car. That’s what is happening here.
There’s something special about Steffen Jahn’s imagery. Something that somehow makes you look past the mere form of the subject, even with all the historic legacy these subjects carry, and take us into a moment. Many of these shots look less like still photography and more like a still captured from a beautifully shot film. And it’s not just the specific film that these shots of a 917/512 duel typically conjures.
Head on over to Steffen’s site for more of his brilliant work. Perhaps as much as the beautiful racing imagery, I love his “Making of” gallery that shows he’s not just capturing arresting moments of these inspired machines; he’s having a damned good time doing it.
This is what it looks like when a 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder sells for $4.4Million (inclusive of buyer’s premium). Gooding’s sale of the Drendel Family Collection as part of this year’s Amelia Island auction had some marvelous Porsches, with several ex-Martini team cars, a 935, 962, and many other exotic Porsche racing models.
917/30-004 was to be Mark Donohue’s 1974 car, but rule changes delayed and ultimately halted construction for the Can-Am series. The car was completed and sold to Australian Porsche importer, Alan Hamilton, who displayed the car in her plain white livery in his Melbourne showroom. Porsche reacquired the car in 1991 and restored her in the 1973 Can-Am championship winning Penske-Sunoco livery she wears today.
Just sit back and take in these amazing statements from the lot detail page:
The Most Powerful Road-Racing Car Ever Built
An Undisputed Masterpiece of Automotive Engineering
One of Only Six Examples Built
Sold New to Australian Porsche Importer Alan Hamilton
Meticulously Restored in Penske Racing’s 1973 Sunoco Livery
Rennsport Reunion, AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix and Monterey Historics Participant
Featured Prominently in Pete Lyons’ Can-Am Cars in Detail
Eligible for Leading Historic Races and Porsche Gatherings
The Ultimate Evolution of the Porsche 917
Some of these things sound like hyperbole, until you realize they’re mostly true.
Rumor has it that she ended up in Seinfeld’s collection.
Looking at this photo of an unidentified racing driver Dan Gurney from 1960, it’s hard to believe that “The Intimidator” was still available when people were deciding on a nickname for Dale Earnhardt after his masterful 1987 season.
Thanks Gary for identifying Dan Gurney for us!
Even better! Captain Ned was curious about this image, so he emailed AAR Racing. Incredibly, he received a reply from Evi Gurney herself. Evi says that Dan was experimenting with face protection well before his contemporaries—which led to the first full face helmet for driving.
“During the years that followed he worked with Bell Helmets in California where he helped to develop the first full face helmet. He had seen motorcycle racers wear similar ones at Ascot Raceway in California. Dan wore the first full face helmet at Indianapolis in 1968 and then also introduced it to Formula I racing at the British and German Grand Prix in 1968. He was at first a bit ridiculed but within months other drivers adopted the full face helmet and now we cannot imagine how they ever raced without them.”
Evi’s complete message is in the comments.
thanks, Captain Ned.