The increasing availability of high quality cameras on the cheap has sure bumped up the amount of excellent shoots and edits on video sharing platforms. It’s becoming a full-time job to dig through all of the marvelous historic and new footage of vintage racing—and I do try. Despite my best efforts I managed to miss this wonderful cut that Motorsport Media NL shot at the 2012 Historic Grand Prix of Zandvoort. Beautifully put together.
Thanks for sending this in, Rudy.
And here’s another look at Tommy Wisdom’s Jaguar C-Type in the ’53 Targa in the opening moments of this film reel from the event.
Oh, Targa. Why can’t we have the Targa back?
Even if it weren’t chock full of fantastic Alfas, this video from Petrolicious would be worth watching just for Manuel’s story of his father catching him taking a turn with a bit too much verve.
Keep up the good work, guys.
Our earlier post about the ex-Team Tyrell championship winning 1961 Cooper T56 for sale had me wanting to see her in action. If you can find Tony Maggs’ Cooper in this very brief clip of a 1961 Monaco Formula Junior race, then you have better eyes than me. The car would have been wearing number 126 for the event.
If the trailer is anything to go on, Ron Howard has taken his look at the rivalry between Hunt and Lauda very seriously. Even better, there are darn few obvious uses of CGI racing in these clips. I don’t know why Hollywood can make perfectly realistic dinosaurs or Gollum, but every instance of CGI auto chases plows straight into uncanny valley and looks like crap.
These weren’t little GoPros hanging off of the Maestro’s Lancia. Each of these cameras had to be loaded with film, started up, and run a few laps. Then they had to do it again and again so that you don’t see the giant camera in the other angles. It’s easy to dismiss the complexity of these earlier onboard films when we can easily toss a half-dozen or more digital video cameras on a car at every possible angle. It’s part of what makes early onboard footage so precious.
Looking through the slow motion montages in this clip, I have to believe it was part of the inspiration for Saul Bass’s racing sequences in Grand Prix.
via Retro Formula 1
With the future of the Nürburgring in some doubt, I think it’s worth celebrating how much of this master class from Hermann Lang (with voice over from Graham Hill) still applies today. Let’s hope that Mr. Lang’s example is applicable for at least another 50 years. Save the Ring!
Thanks for sending this one in, Bret!
I’ve always loved them for their boxy, quintessential, even rudimentary “car shaped” silhouette, but it wasn’t until I spent some time in my buddy Paul’s 2002 that I realized what a sensational little machine it is. Even my dream garage is getting crowded but there’ll always be room for one of these.
I’m not entirely sure that Alberto Ascari would have loved Murray Walker’s introduction in this clip from Walker’s F1 Greats. Once the stats start rolling in I’m sure the mood would have lightened. Tremendous.
What better time than International Women’s Day to showcase more footage from the Suzy Dietrich archive? This time, the 1958 Sebring Endurance Race. Lots of great footage here from the pits of the competitors arriving. Can you imagine this year’s competitors showing up for the race weekend pulling their racing car on an open trailer behind their Cadillac. More should.
Again, many thanks to Cliff Reuter for snatching these precious film reels from the Suzy Dietrich auction and releasing them into the wild.