Again, perhaps ‘factory’ is taking some liberties, but why should we diminish Bob Carnes’ efforts by referring to his Denver facility as a mere workshop?
Bob Carnes. Bob Carnes. BoCar. Get it? Cute, eh?
Category: Historic Racing Photos
Dude doesn’t even need navigator’s notes. He knows this park like the back of his three-fingered hand.
#37 Gulf Stingray. Nice.
Earlier this month we saw some video from the event. Now we can see Bill Witcher’s photos from the crowd. It looks like Bill picked out a good spot to capture the action (turn 1?), there’s a lot of passing on this corner and more than a handful of offs.
Check out the complete gallery at The Race Lounge.
Post Card editor must have been one of the easiest jobs to have in the middle of the last century. I can only imagine the scenario that produced the following bounty (uploaded to French auto forum Autodiva by Tarwann). It must have gone something like this:
Post Card Editor: We need photos of Spa!
Intern: Here are some photos of Spa.
Post Card Editor: Good! Print ’em!
Intern: These photos don’t really show any of the racing action. Maybe if we crop in some of these we’ll be able to…
Post Card Editor: No Time! Print ’em!
Intern: But… Shouldn’t we at least color correct them to have normal colors?
Post Car Editor: You’re fired!
I adore the use of leaf springs in the Cooper Mk IV. When the FIA settled on a 500cc specification for the new International Formula 3 series they made a lot of motorcycle engine manufacturers and British garagistas very happy.
This iteration of the Cooper 500 has long been my favorite. It looks like a WWII fighter plane fuselage on wheels. It is small. it is nimble. It is utilitarian. It is—dare I say—cute. My friend Eric is always mocking me for my love of ‘cute’ cars, but I make no apologies. I’d rather race this humble little insect of a machine than most meaner, more muscular, more intimidating racers.
More of the absolutely stunning Guerry & Prat studio shots at their gallery page. More info on the Mark IV and the 500cc Formula at 500Race.org.
What a marvelously composed shot this is of Pedro Rodriguez’s BRM P133 at the 1968 British GP at Brands Hatch. You almost couldn’t plan it better: the balance of the reds between the distinctive BRM nose stripe and the pit crew’s coveralls and gas can; the excellent contrast of the team from the background crowd; the angle of Pedro’s #10 and the orientation of the car’s angle in the frame. The nice prominence of the BRM logo on the nose. If there were such a thing at the time, this shot would make a great advertisement for the team.
Unfortunately for Pedro, the race preparation pictured here might not have been as perfect as he’d have liked. Not only was he stuck in position 13 of the grid that weekend, but engine failure forced him out of the race after 52 laps.
Categories
Just a Bit Closer
I’d sure like to see this guy’s footage.
There are dozens of reasons why this image of the grid of the Grand Prix at Reims in 1954 is astounding. I love how simple, almost bucolic, the facilities appear. In this crop, you can’t see the grandstands or pits crowding the grid; making it almost look like the track is in an otherwise empty field. The grid itself is amazing. That’s Fangio (#18) on pole with Kling in the other Mercedes (#20), with Ascari’s Maser (#10) on the front row.
The thing I like most about it, however, is that this single image captures something fundamental about Formula 1 racing that has been spectacularly lost and is unlikely to return: a unique voice from each manufacturer in the design of their racing car. The variety of the design of the machinery on this grid is obvious. The enclosed wheels of the streamliner Mercedes machines is the most immediate example of that, but the rest of the field shows the personalities of each maker shining through as well. This era when the lines between a Formula car and a sportscar were blurred is sorely missed.
The Mercedes machines ran away with it from the start, marking their spectacular return to Grand Prix racing.
Details on the race at eMercedesBenz.
Categories
Fernihough
Naturally, it’s a golf course today. Damnit.
In 1955, however, the Hansen Dam park hosted the 1st Los Angeles Sports Car Races. Ernie McAfee won the day in the #76 Ferrari 750 Monza; completing 67 laps at an average speed of 93mph.
I wonder what you had to do to gain access to the Guild Area VIP parking.
More of the racing program at FScheff’s.