Originally intended as a commemorative gift for Jimmy himself, modelmaker Henri Baigent’s work took on an additional weight of importance in the wake of Clark’s death. Whenever I see these kinds of amazing artifacts being built I can’t help but wonder where this little marvel is today. At the time, Ford and Firestone provided Henri with technical drawings and even the appropriate rubber compound to create the model in 1:12 scale. Now if he’d just built 12 of them we could be driving it around Silverstone: That’s how this works, right? When the models are this exact I can’t be sure.
Via Motorsport Magazine [the best]
Tag: Lotus 49
Classic Race Simulators rents out a variety of handmade replica mid-late 60s Formula 1 cockpits for use with racing simulators for what looks to be an incredibly immersive experience. I’ve long fantasized about crafting a racing simulator station for my home gaming needs but the boy-racer aesthetic of most of the rigs has never appealed… I don’t know why I didn’t think of something like this earlier.
It’s a shame that they only rent them out, because there is almost certainly a market for these on a sales basis. They look to be quite gorgeously executed but there would probably be opportunities for improvement that the incredibly crafty race sim community would leap on—that flappy paddle shifter on the Logitech G27 sticks out like a sore thumb. But the idea of the tube itself as a bare rig… it definitely gets the mental wheels turning. The racing sim community’s demands for realism are unlimited and steering hubs like those made by Fanatec (and I’m sure there are others) will allow you to modify the inputs to match the era and add any steering wheel. Equipped with a quick-release hub, you could even swap your Momo Prototipo or Nardi Classic right out of the sim racing rig and pop it into your car in the garage.
Check out a video of one in action at Race Retro a couple of years back.
I find the relationship between the medium and the subject of an artist’s work fascinating. In an Instagram filtered landscape, we’re used to seeing contemporary imagery processed to look vintage. Illustrator Arthur Schening has taken the opposite approach. These representations of 50 year old (and more) racing cars crafted in a very modern aesthetic makes for a compelling balance. Arthur’s illustration style is something akin to what we’re used to seeing as a representation of architectural renderings or a more polished take on fashion illustration. Schening has taken this aesthetic reminiscent of Wallpaper Magazine’s hayday under Tyler Brûlé and applied it to old sheet metal in brilliant technicolor saturation. I dig them.
Prints of these and more at his site.
Here’s something you aren’t likely to see again: A team owner and his pit crew rebuilding a gearbox in pit lane.
Just because Colin Chapman was in a shirt and tie doesn’t mean he couldn’t get his hands dirty in a Hewland from time to time.