Here it is, the first post-war road race in the UK: the 1947 race at Gransden Lodge Aerodrome, Cambridgeshire.
Category: Video
Justin Lapriore has returned to Amelia Island for their 2014 concours and, just as in previous years, has created an absolutely stunning document of the event.
I can think of worse ways to start the day than rising before dawn with a Ferrari 330 P4. I love that the owner has that license plate. Hell, I love that he even has it plated.
You can really see that Justin’s reputation within the Amelia participants has grown alongside his growing video artistry. What used to be beautifully shot scenes of the cars simply passing by has expanded to give him a greater level of access: clipping a camera on the wing of Jochen Mass’ McLaren or going handheld inches off the bumper of Can-Am cars as they roll out of garages and along fairways. Wonderful, close detail shots with equally enthralling exhaust notes. Riding shotgun with Hurley Haywood ain’t bad either.
An aspect of the film that I enjoy is that the pure glory of these machines shares the stage with shots of the people that make these events happen. You start to get an idea of how much work a concours d’elegance truly is.
It’s one thing to gain this level of access, it’s another thing to do something with the opportunity. Justin Lapriore has delivered again on that front and many others. Great stuff, Justin.
Categories
Period Barchetta Extravaganza Film
Wow. Just wow.
British Pathé has uploaded their full newsreel archive to YouTube; which means they’re finally embeddable. I’ll be digging through the reels and posting some favorites here in the coming weeks.
“If you’ve known The Bridge at speed, you’re now in for an emotional jolt.”
True words. In addition to the truck motor under the bonnet, Daniel Stanfill’s hopped-up Austin Healey was also equipped with a miniature camera lens mounted under his rearview. It’s hard to remember how precious and rare this kind of footage was before the GoPro came on the scene and made this kind of footage a matter of course. Footage like this—particularly amateur footage—from 1957 is almost unheard of.
It’s amazing to me how very much these kinks and bends look like rural roads and how little they look like a world class racing facility. We’ve grown so accustomed to wide runoffs and debris catching fences that we’ve forgotten that the greatest racing courses were inspired by twisting country lanes and not inspired by maximum camera angles.
The insightful commentary by John Connolly speaking from his experience with Bridgehampton as his home track is a welcome peek into the track and her history. Hard to believe that he’s describing Bridgehampton of thirty years later as being just as sandy as we see here, where sections of the track are almost completely obscured by windswept sand drifts.
This was one of the good ones. Remember the Bridge.
via Andy Hartwell, who posted this to the Vintage Road Racing Archives.
Categories
Against All Odds: Datsun BRE Racing
It must have seemed absurd at the time when BRE and Datsun decided to take on Alfa, BMW and the other more established sports sedan racing teams. Naturally there’s great film here from Road America, Riverside, and other iconic tracks, but the interview footage and shots from the shop and offices give a fantastic peek into the team and the challenge they faced.
From the grindhouse narration; John Morton and Mike Downs at the top of their game; and the atmosphere of the golden era of the Trans Am Series: this sure is fun to watch. The trackside bikinis don’t hurt either.
One of the great liveries of the 70s. Thanks for sending this in, Craig!
If you liked that taste above of James Garner’s 1969 documentary The Racing Scene, and you happen to be an Amazon Prime member, you’ll be pleased to know that the film is streaming for free on Amazon Instant.
I have a feeling I know what I’ll be doing over the lunch hour today.
Thanks for letting us know, Heath!
Categories
Gordinis at Interlagos
Damn those little Gordinis are cool.
via Bandiera Quardriculada.
Categories
More Camoradi at Sebring (and Elsewhere)
The earlier post of John Shea’s photo of the 1960 Sebring Camoradi Porsche 356 piloted by Joe Sheppard made me start digging around for more of the Camoradi effort at Sebring. This is some marvelous stuff narrated by Camoradi cofounder Fred K. Gamble. What a priceless insight into the formative years of America’s “olympic motor racing team”. Feel free to skip to about a minute 15 in to bypass the introductory text.
That’s part one of the video above, continued in part two below. Magnificent.
It looks like you can get a LOT closer to the stars at the Maranello Ferrari Museum than I would have thought. Mattia Merli shot this remarkable collection of F-car details three years ago, so they might have come to their senses in the meantime. Then again, this footage looks like it pre-dates the newer architecturally marvelous facility. I’m not sure I’d be able to resist climbing into the pilot’s seat without at least a symbolic barrier between me and these gorgeous prancing horses.