Categories
Historic Racing Photos

Corvettes in Nassau. 1956.

Dick Thompson’s Corvette at the 1965 Nassau Speed Week
Nassau grid 1956

They didn’t set the world on fire with their showing but even though none of them finished higher than 19th for the main event, the Corvettes that made the trip across the Caribbean to attend the 1956 Bahamas Speed Week sure looked damned good on the streets of Nassau.

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Vintage Racing Advertising

Formula 1 or Family Saloon

The new world champion Mario Andretti chose Ferodo disc brake pads for his Lotus Ford.
Ferodo have now provided the disc brake pads for 18 consecutive World Championship winners.
Whatever your car, Formula 1 or family saloon, Ferodo have disc brake pads and brake linings for it which will give you first class braking. For the last 18 years the world champions have selected Ferodo.
Countless other motorists throughout the world have as well. Ferodo stop at nothing to ensure you stop safely every time.
Ferodo disk linings and disc brake pads.
Ferodo Limited, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Stockport, Cheshire, SK12 6JP.

Categories
Historic Racing Photos

Factories at Work: In The Ford Wind Tunnel

You’d think that Ford would have rested a bit after achieving their drubbing of Ferrari and bringing LeMans victory home. But whether it was just momentum or to silence critics that suggested that the GT40 was more Lola than Ford, FoMoCo decided to bring the design of the next iteration of the GT car more in-house. Keeping the mighty 7 liter of the previous generation, they sculpted a new shape around it in partnership with Kar Kraft. Getting those strings placed right to measure the wind movement over the shape helped refine the aerodynamics of the project that would eventually become the GT40 Mk IV.

More at The Magnetic Brain. Thanks for sending this in, Skeeters.

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Automotive Art Racing Ephemera

Topps World on Wheels: Kurtis

Ready to trade? Forget the baseball cards and grab your deck of Topps World on Wheels series. This time: Kurtis.

From the card’s reverse:

This new American sports car is sold either as in the picture, or in separate parts! Then the buyer can have the pleasure of putting it together, if he wishes. The Kurtis is powered by a Hudson motor, with a top speed from 120 to 165 mph, depending on the type of motor installed. Cadillac, Chrysler, DeSoto, Lincoln, and Mercury motors can be installed, at around $3,000.

More cards from the World on Wheels series in the archives.

Categories
Historic Racing Photos

Not Every Vintage Motorsport Can Make a Comeback

Nor should they all. Then again, I’d sure like to see a rekindling of the New York/DC rivalry of Auto Polo’s heyday; when nightly Auto Polo matches could be attended in the Northeast United States. From the Auto Polo Wikipedia page: “A tally of the damages encountered by Hankinson’s British and American auto polo teams in 1924 revealed 1564 broken wheels, 538 burst tires, 66 broken axles, 10 cracked engines and six cars completely destroyed during the course of the year.”

Sounds like fun, right?

Best use of running boards ever.

More photos at Klyker.

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Classic Cycle Video

Onboard for the 2013 Vintage Revival Montlhéry

If you liked this week’s photos from 2013 Vintage Revival MontlhĂ©ry, then I have a feeling you’ll like the view from a 1918 Indian racer.

Categories
Lost Track Video

More Onboard at the SĂĽdschleife

Yesterday’s post had me craving more of the forgotten Sudschleife and now I’m sure of it: If the Nordschleife weren’t right next door this would have been considered a fantastic track.

Categories
Lost Track Video

Formula Vees on the NĂĽrbugring SĂĽdschleife

It was only the big events that were raced on the combined glory of the North and South loops of the NĂĽrburgring into it’s complete 17 mile configuration. Of course, the Nordschleife got all the fame and left it’s little brother SĂĽdschleife to languish away alone: oft-forgotten and little loved (even in its prime) compared to the more challenging technical turns of the Nordschleife.

Today, while much of the public roads remain, the connecting pathways to the Nordschleife were destroyed during the construction of the GP circuit. This Formula Vee race from 1968 though, shows the SĂĽdschleife in all its glory. It must be hard to be considered great when the basis for comparison is the Nordschleife but on it’s own this looks like a hell of a track. Also, helicopter footage of the F-V race? Who would have thought….

Let’s hope at the Nordschleife lives on in more than just videos of this kind 50 years from now.

Categories
Historic Racing Photos Porsche

Wading Through the 1965 Sebring

Daytona Cobra in the pits at the 1965 Sebring

In the hours leading up to the start of the 1965 running of the Sebring 12 hours race, it seemed like a perfect day for racing. A bit hot maybe at 94° but that wasn’t unusual for a Florida afternoon—even in March. There were rumors of hard weather on the way, but radio jamming between the US and Cuba meant that there was no solid local weather report available trackside.

Cobra and 904 throwing rooster tails at the 1965 Sebring

After 6 hours of racing the sky began to threaten rain. An hour later, at 5:25 pm the sky opened up. By the time the race was over, prototype drivers were saying that their cars were filling up to their elbows with rainwater. It sounds like hyperbole until you see the photos. Rain delay? What’s a rain delay?

MGB throws a bow wake at the 1965 Sebring

There’s endurance racing, and then there’s endurance racing.

More on the race and the spectacular conditions it was run in at Sportscars.tv. Some photos from BARC Boys, Via Retro and The Inside Line.

Categories
Racing Ephemera

Now Where is That Ventilation Flap Control?

Refresh your memory on where to disengage your bonnet lock release with these scans from the Alfa-Romeo Giulietta owners manual.