Jim Clark Half A Century On...........

[charleselan]

Apr 4, 2018 7:17:32 GMT robmarsh said:

JC that pic you posted of Jim Clark in the Lotus 25 at Silverstone in 1963 was the very picture that captured my attention in a boys annual I was given for Christmas. It was the seed that germinated into the massive passion I have for motor sport. Thanks for sharing.

Rob,

I came across that very picture over the weekend when I was redirected to a site that featured photographic work of an English guy of the period. Some really lovely shots on the site and in high quality like this one at the 1963 British GP.

Here is another great shot by the same chap in the same race:-

[robmarsh]

Thanks JC another beautiful pic of Jim Clark and his Lotus. It must have been a beautiful English summer day. It's funny how cars epitomise an era like the Lotus Cortina or even the Mk 1 Cortina along with the Mini do. I always aspired to a Cortina, preferably modified, or even Mk1 Escort. Sadly I had to make do with a Renault 4.

[charleselan]

Apr 4, 2018 14:09:15 GMT robmarsh said:

Thanks JC another beautiful pic of Jim Clark and his Lotus. It must have been a beautiful English summer day. It's funny how cars epitomise an era like the Lotus Cortina or even the Mk 1 Cortina along with the Mini do. I always aspired to a Cortina, preferably modified, or even Mk1 Escort. Sadly I had to make do with a Renault 4.

Rob,

I had to wait quite a while before getting my Cortina; a 1965 Airflow model bought for 150GBP in 1971. Never did get the Lotus Cortina sadly but became entranced with an Elan in late 1973.

The Mk1 Escort was a fantastic car and I sampled quite a few during my "gap year" before college as I worked in a print company at that time and often was asked to collect or deliver material to different locations and was given various salesmen's company cars to do the run. My dad later had several different versions which were all great little cars but usually the basic models.

However I was captivated by the Escort Twin Cam that a local milk delivery guy actually used to deliver the milk to my grand parents village in 1971, seeing this amazing car with the boot up and filled with milk crates was almost bizarre. A fantastic car, that sounded as good as it looked, and I wanted one.

JC

[charleselan]

Rob,

You may have to make do with a Renault 4, however I am not sure if you know this or not but they are now very collectable, one can't even pick one up cheap here in France. Like the Citröen 2CV/Dyane they have become very collectable, tremendous vehicles.

JC 

[charleselan]

Another great study of this amazing driver at work in the "works" Mk 1 Lotus Cortina:-

[René]

Jimmy's 'Ferrari ride'



1965 French Grand Prix, Clermont-Ferrand. John Surtees (who finished 3rd) gives Jimmy (who finished 1st, what else?) a lift on his Ferrari.

[charleselan]

Jim's ride on the back of Big John's Ferrari 158 would have been the result of one of many breakdowns he experienced in practice. His number one car with the 32 valve Coventry Climax engine gave a huge amount of trouble at Clermont Ferrand, even the short stroke flat plain crank engined Lotus 33 that was his back up car. In the end Jim raced the old R6 car that was originally a Lotus 25, and still won by a country mile .

Of course it isn't allowed to pick someone up on your race car these days, far too dangerous!

[René]

Yes of course, that must have been during practice. Still a great photo with two absolute great men of our sport.

[René]

Some great on-board footage. The grand master at work.

[robmarsh]

John Charles I few pages back you mentioned that Aryton Senna's eyes reminded you of Jim Clark's eyes. Last night I was watching a clip on the 1967 Dutch GP on youtube and I was struck by how much the body language of both car and driver in Lotus no 5, Jim's car, reminded me of Senna in the McLaren MP 4/4 and MP4/5. I noticed a very slight similarity in the nose shapes but the likeness really struck me and was rather uncanny.

[Carl]

Apr 5, 2018 12:03:31 GMT charleselan said:

Jim's ride on the back of Big John's Ferrari 158 would have been the result of one of many breakdowns he experienced in practice. His number one car with the 32 valve Coventry Climax engine gave a huge amount of trouble at Clermont Ferrand, even the short stroke flat plain crank engined Lotus 33 that was his back up car. In the end Jim raced the old R6 car that was originally a Lotus 25, and still won by a country mile .

Of course it isn't allowed to pick someone up on your race car these days, far too dangerous!

Of course.  Doing so might break a winglet or bargeboard!

[charleselan]

Apr 5, 2018 15:31:25 GMT robmarsh said:

John Charles I few pages back you mentioned that Aryton Senna's eyes reminded you of Jim Clark's eyes. Last night I was watching a clip on the 1967 Dutch GP on youtube and I was struck by how much the body language of both car and driver in Lotus no 5, Jim's car, reminded me of Senna in the McLaren MP 4/4 and MP4/5. I noticed a very slight similarity in the nose shapes but the likeness really struck me and was rather uncanny.

The likeness struck me many years ago Rob. Some very good comparatives drawn there with regard to the "body language" of the two's cars in action. I have always been aware of some striking facial features and expressions Jim & Ayrton shared, just uncanny at times.

[robmarsh]

Apr 5, 2018 10:14:21 GMT charleselan said:

Rob,

You may have to make do with a Renault 4, however I am not sure if you know this or not but they are now very collectable, one can't even pick one up cheap here in France. Like the Citröen 2CV/Dyane they have become very collectable, tremendous vehicles.

JC 

Thanks JC I didn't know that. Initially I had to put up with a lot of flack from my petrol head friends who likened my R4 to a pop-up toaster.  They weren't so rude though when they needed a lift because their modified fords had broken down. In my time the local taxi companies all used R4s and in fact my brother sold ours to a taxi company for the same price we had paid for it new some eight years earlier. It was affectionately known around town as the red dent owing to all the body damage suffered as the bodywork was very thin. In fact people said if that car was not seen at a party then the party was not worth going to.  I remember one Monday morning, after a party filled weekend, I was taking my audit team out on  an audit of the Police Association. This young first year clerk, who came from a rural town and was rather naive, recoiled in shock as she opened the back door and a full beer bottle rolled out and burst at her feet. I actually was pleased to own that car and under the skin it was a very good little machine. 

[charleselan]

Apr 6, 2018 6:37:58 GMT robmarsh said:

Apr 5, 2018 10:14:21 GMT charleselan said:

Rob,

You may have to make do with a Renault 4, however I am not sure if you know this or not but they are now very collectable, one can't even pick one up cheap here in France. Like the Citröen 2CV/Dyane they have become very collectable, tremendous vehicles.

JC 

Thanks JC I didn't know that. Initially I had to put up with a lot of flack from my petrol head friends who likened my R4 to a pop-up toaster.  They weren't so rude though when they needed a lift because their modified fords had broken down. In my time the local taxi companies all used R4s and in fact my brother sold ours to a taxi company for the same price we had paid for it new some eight years earlier. It was affectionately known around town as the red dent owing to all the body damage suffered as the bodywork was very thin. In fact people said if that car was not seen at a party then the party was not worth going to.  I remember one Monday morning, after a party filled weekend, I was taking my audit team out on  an audit of the Police Association. This young first year clerk, who came from a rural town and was rather naive, recoiled in shock as she opened the back door and a full beer bottle rolled out and burst at her feet. I actually was pleased to own that car and under the skin it was a very good little machine. 

A fantastic set of stories Rob all related to your Renault 4. I meant to add yesterday that Gordon Murray rates the R4 as one of the great all time cars, he has a beautifully restored version which I believe he uses quite a bit.

When back in the UK during last February I was at a birthday party and my friends and I were chatting with a guy they knew who had just bought a R4 for restoration as he and his wife loved the cars and had many in the past.

[René]

Sideways



1967 British Grand Prix