Categories
Vintage Racing Advertising

Fine Craftsmanship and Superlative Performance

1st at Le Mans
The Finest Car of its Class in the World: Jaguar
With a record speed fo 93.5 M.P.H.—record distance of 2,244 miles and a record lap of 105 M.P.H. Jaguar has again justified its rapid rise to fame as “The Finest Car of its Class in the World.”
No less spectacular has been the post war rise in popularity of Jaguar in the U.S. where people who enjoy fine craftsmanship and superlative performance are buying more and more Jaguars.
Hoffman
New York
487 Park Avenue • PL 90-7036
Broadway at 62nd St. • JU 6-0664
Chicago
Esquire Building • FR 2-6976

Categories
Historic Racing Photos Lost Track

Jack Holliday's Watkins Glen

1954 Watkins Glen Paddock by Jack Holliday
There are few things I love more than an uncovered treasure trove of unseen (preferably amateur) motorsport photography. I wonder about all the thousands of slides and negatives and prints hidden away in attics around the world; worrying if they’ll ever see the light of day; daydreaming about being the one to find them. That this group of photos shot by Watkins Glen resident Jack Holliday over several years of Watkins Glen sportscar races. These amazing shots were discovered when avid photographer John Oliver inherited his grandfather-in-law’s Leica camera that was used to shoot these scenes from the Glen. John has posted about his discovery of his late grandfather-in-law’s hobby on Film Foto Forever.


There are some marvelous images captured here: including Frank Bott’s 1954 Catherine Cup winning OSCA MT4 (#118 above) and several years of preparation in various incarnations of the paddocks. My favorite shot might actually be the rather disinterested-looking ticket and program seller from the 1954 event. It’s scenes like this that are almost never captured. We’re used to seeing images of the cars and the track but ephemeral moments from amongst the fans or support staff are almost never preserved.

John has tantalizingly labeled his post “Part 1”, so I’m hoping that more will be revealed shortly. In the meantime, you can see more of Jack Holliday’s wonderful photos at Film Foto Forever.
Thanks to John Shingleton for bringing this to my attention.

Categories
Historic Racing Photos

The BARC Boys Visit the '57 Sebring

Corvette at Sebring 1957

I’ve been re-listening to the “Sounds of Sebring 1957” album I posted about last week and all this talk up and down the pit lane about the Corvette entry made me want to see them again. And the Maseratis. And the Lotuses.. And so on.

If you’re familiar with the BARC Boys (Binghamton Automobile Racing Club, that is) at all, you’ll know that if there was a race in the mid-century anywhere on the East coast, there’d be more than a few members there. The group of enthusiasts always had cameras in tow and became chroniclers of the East Coast SCCA scene. Naturally, they were at Sebring in 1957 and had these wonderful photographs to mark the occasion.

Now that I see these photos, I can understand why the racers were abuzz about the new ‘Vette. Sure, the interviewers were asking some questions that were… slightly leading, but you have to remember the context of the arrival of the new Corvettes. After a jittery start, the Corvette program looked like it might actually be ready to take on European road racing stalwarts.

The power and performance of the home-grown sportscar—from the largest carmaker in the world, no less—must have been a thrilling prospect for American racing fans. Perhaps it was even moreso for the American drivers that were scraping together a career on European racing circuits, they must have hoped for a real American racing program that might bring them on. This was always my favorite styling era for the Corvette and it’s marvelous to see her in action at Sebring… and a few more from the more traditional pits for good measure.

More at BARC Boys’ 1957 Sebring page.

Categories
Gear

Everoak is Still Producing the Racemaster Helmet

Jim Clark Replica Helmet by Everoak
When I posted a vintage advertisement yesterday for Everoak helmets, I thought I’d simply stumbled upon another wonderful piece of old racing ephemera. It never occurred to me for even a moment that Everoak would still be out there selling the same helmets. Instead of just another piece of throwaway advertising from an old magazine, I instead found something far more exciting: yet another example of the miraculous little surprises that keep me returning to the vintage racing community.
Everoak Racemaster HelmetEveroak is indeed still selling Racemaster and Classic helmets. The grandson of the founder of the company, Bill Vero, was the craftsman who would mold and paint helmets for Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Barry Sheene, Jo Bonnier, and others throughout the golden age of racing… And Bill Vero still molds and paints the helmets today.
They have even produced the occasional replica of those iconically liveried helmets, like the Jim Clark example above, which sold at Bonhams 2013 Goodwood sale for £1,250.


Sure, they’re slightly more expensive than the prices listed in yesterday’s ad… but they’re doubtless worth every penny. Save it for touring—I’m going to go ahead and assume this isn’t FIA approved.
More information and available for purchase at EveroakHelmets.com.

Categories
Vintage Racing Advertising

Renowned for Headgear

Everoak Helmets Advertisement

Wise heads wear Everoak (impact tested) safety helmets. B.S.I. Approved
Everoak T.T 62/-
Everoak Ace 48/-
Cork Everoak 61/-
Standard Everoak 52/6
Made exclusively by
Everitt W. Vero & Co. LTD., London, S.E.22
Renowned for Headgear!

Categories
Audio

Sounds of Sebring 1957

The Riverside record company, in addition to a large catalog of musical acts, also put out a number of LPs of auto racing field recordings. Perhaps the most well known from their discography are the “Sounds of Sebring” series from 1956—1962.

For the 1957 outing, most of the pre-race interview chatter centered around Corvette’s effort for the race, which brought a huge unknown into pit lane. The concensus among the drivers and teams interviewed (including de Portago, Phil Hill, Briggs Cunningham, Huschke von Hanstein, Shelby, and others) was one of excitement that a huge manufacturer like General Motors was starting to enter European-style sportscar racing. Perhaps it’s just the American-centricity of the production and interviewer, but the interviewees really seemed impressed by the power and speed of the new Vettes. There were doubts (correctly so, as it turns out) as to whether they could go the full 12 hours, but it’s fantastic to see an as-it-happened impression that Chevy was making with people around the circuit.

Despite the gossip and chatter, Maserati was heavily favored and with Moss and Fangio in different cars, the only question was would the smaller 300 of Moss/Schell or the bigger 450 of Fangio/Behra take the checkers. I won’t spoil here, but it’s all there in the audio above.

I’ve started to track down the original LPs of these Riverside releases and when I sit in front of the turntable with the headphones on I imagine what it must have felt like for racing fans around the world—and particularly the United States (who had limited access to racing media)—for whom these recordings were the most visceral way to experience the race without actually venturing to the track. What a thrill it must have been to lie of the floor of a dimly lit room with stack of racing reports and magazine clippings spread out, hearing these astonishing engine notes for the first time.
You can almost hear the footfalls as the drivers run across the street and leap into their cars for the famous LeMans-style start. Glorious.