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Post by charleselan on Nov 10, 2018 16:51:21 GMT
Following the superb film brought to our attention on El Maestro JM Fangio, by Carl, I was lead to many films on the well known film clip site. Having watched a really excellent film on Mercedes Benz return to GP racing in 1955, I was then lead to a series of films made up of four parts per season of the 1970's grand prix. these were actually broadcast by the TV channel "Motors" and are different in the most part from the sets produced by Duke Marketing. Although I did note that the last two parts from the 1977 season had been withdrawn for copyright reasons following a complaint by Duke.
That fortunately did not affect the one I am attaching here of the 1975 season which has all four parts intact. It was fabulous viewing with footage I had not previously seen, even if the voice over left a little to be desired, but anything is better than Croft!!
Hope you all enjoy.
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Post by René on Nov 10, 2018 21:11:01 GMT
Great stuff JC. There is a lot of wonderful stuff available now so a good idea for a thread!
Let me add my favourite season; 1979!
And the non-championship Race of Champions, a must see! Gilles at his best!
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Post by chrisb on Nov 11, 2018 8:35:55 GMT
great threads chaps, two great years for the red cars, less so for my beauties, but lets be honest there was some superb racing going on,
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Post by Carl on Nov 13, 2018 1:03:47 GMT
John Charles,
Wonderful idea and wonderful films! The narrator seems to have been brought in as a professional announcer and his voice-over slightly precedes what's shown, but he relates what's important and, as you say, is better than David Croft!
Rene,
Also wonderful films! Thanks to you both. Those two seasons are both monumental.
Cheers, Carl
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Post by chrisb on Nov 13, 2018 7:40:48 GMT
by some way or t'other I am discovering an awful lot more material on utub - some in German, some in French and even one or two in Spanish, but the gist of it is that I am seeing a great deal more than I have previously seen, including a German documentary that is entitled 1985 F1 and group C with Stefan Belloff and Manfred Winklehock, I haven't watched all of it as the tragic outcome isn't something I particularly want to be reminded of,
1975 was a very interesting F1 year, with yet another terrible tragedy on November 29th ending the year on a most awful note, still remember that so vividly, terrible just awful,
the GP season and who raced for whom, with Jean Pierre Jabouille racing for Ken, Jarier taking pole position in Argentina and Brazil and our very own Welsh Wizard taking pole at Silverstone, and Niki taking 9 out of 14 poles, pretty impressive. but no one taking the race triple [pole/ fastest lap and win] as I say interesting, with a host of great names and more sadness with Mark Donohue's accident.
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Post by charleselan on Nov 13, 2018 12:36:34 GMT
My overriding memory of the 1975 season was the disastrous British GP at Silverstone where a "monsoon" created mayhem in the race. I actually went to both practice days but for a reason that escapes me I did not go on race day, the only British GP I missed from 1969 to 1992, haven't been since.
I seem to recall that most viewing opportunities in 1975 were severely compromised by the new fangled "Catch Fencing" that had sprouted up everywhere. This ruined most of my photographic opportunities which at that stage were still completed as spectator and not an official member of the press.
However that being said one still had the opportunity of getting a paddock pass and could get up close to the cars parked out the back of the garages, as well as seeing the drivers make their way into the pit boxes. By then this was not quite it used to be as there were barriers making a walk way for the drivers and team personnel, keeping the great unwashed spectator away from making any contact. I did get a good photo of Niki in his civvies going into the Ferrari pit, and one of Vittorio Brambilla heading into the March pit.
That was the year when March tried out the amazing trays on the lower end of the rear wing end plates that protruded out behind the rear wheels. Awesome looking, but were never used in a race.
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Post by chrisb on Nov 13, 2018 21:33:53 GMT
I think my first visit to Silverstone was 1977 but may have gotten there earlier, I was very very fortunate to have been invited to a Goodyear testing session in 1995 and got up real close and not quite personal I did get the chance to meet and speak with a few stars, like Damon, Michael, DC, Johnny Herbert, Jean Alesi amongst others, amazing,
sadly like you John I haven't been to a GP for some years -however if Zandvoort returns then I may well reconsider, seeing it is 37 years since I was last there, ouch...
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Post by Carl on Nov 13, 2018 22:33:36 GMT
...and more sadness with Mark Donohue's accident. 1975 was a very interesting F1 year, with yet another terrible tragedy on November 29th ending the year on a most awful note, still remember that so vividly, terrible just awful, Chris, I remember both sad events. I was one of many who felt uneasy that Mark Donohue had returned at 38 to top-level racing.
By chance in Long Beach, I encountered Graham Hill, there with his new driver, Tony Brise for the F5000 race, two months before their terrible accident, and he smiled graciously and shook my hand.
A great driver returned to the fray, another thought finally safe by wife and family, a future world champion just starting in Formula One, all cruelly taken. As you say, Chris, just awful.
-Carl
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Post by mikael on Jan 28, 2019 8:58:56 GMT
A rather tame subject maybe, but I find the position of the gearstick in the F1 cars of the 60's and 70's kind of interesting. B.R.M. placed the gearstick on the left, which must have been the natural choice for drivers from the U.K. But in the early 70's, they moved it to the right. Lotus, on the other hand, always placed it to the right, at least from the early 60's on. So drivers like Hill and Stewart, who both raced for B.R.M. in the 60's, changed between left-hand and right-hand gearstick position in their career. (And you get the feeling that at B.R.M. the drivers had nothing to say as to where the stick should be placed ...) On a personal (non-racing) note, I grew up with right-hand traffic and right-hand gearstick, but now I have been using left-hand gearstick for quite a number of years (as Japan has left-hand traffic, just like the U.K.) It really doesn't matter very much (for normal (and just occasionally "play") driving, at least) ... but if there's "free choice" it might be more natural for a right-handed person to shift gear with the right hand, after all ...  B.R.M., 1962  Lotus 25, 1962  B.R.M., 1965  B.R.M., 1966  Lotus 49, 1967  Tyrrell, 1971  B.R.M., 1973 |
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Post by René on Jan 28, 2019 12:31:06 GMT
Cool pictures Mikael. I agree it doesn't really matter very much to change gears with your right or left hand. I have driven 'British' cars in the UK and Ireland and you get used to it very fast so for a professional racing driver this should make no difference. I guess it is more a layout choice for the designer/engineer. Come to think of it, I needed more time getting used to the Ferrari gearing of a classic 328 I drove once with first gear where you normally have second gear.   |
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Post by charleselan on Jan 28, 2019 17:50:53 GMT
Great post Mikael.
I hadn't given much thought previously to the position of the gear levers of the past with regard to left and right. Interesting that Team Lotus always had a right hand change and BRM was left handed. This has got me wondering if the positioning was something to do with the activator mechanism on the gearbox itself, e.g. giving the easiest route; but maybe that is too simplistic a theory.
Great pics as well.
JC
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Post by Carl on Jan 28, 2019 22:33:48 GMT
Mikael,
I agree with Rene and John Charles. You bring a unique and fascinating perspective to the conversation, enhanced by great photographs!
The gear lever support structure in the Lotus 25, abrupt and with exposed nuts, must have encouraged smooth gearshifts.
Cheers, Carl
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Post by chrisb on Jan 29, 2019 5:48:45 GMT
Mikael, I echo the above sentiments, and I love the photos - I had never realised that the early BRM's the gear lever was on the left, and actually having been up close and personal to one I am a bit sheepish to say I hadn't noticed, whereas the infamous Lotus queerbox as once nicknamed and another achilles heel to Chapman's greatness, until Hewland got it right that was, with the ZF and Colletti's - and the ZF especially had to be forceful or assertive, Jimmy lost the Monaco GP one year [63?] when as per normal he was miles ahead and he tried to be gentle with the gearbox and it selected two gears at once and spun him into retirement, how Mike Hewland transformed so many lives is an understatement but again not someone who is a garnered as perhaps he deserves,
having driven in many different countries with both left and right sided gear levers I have come to the conclusion that an automatic with tiptronic gears is by far the easiest
but Mikael, these photos are superb!
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Post by mikael on Jan 29, 2019 5:52:29 GMT
But (to continue in the same groove) here's a little mystery: Lotus used the BRM P75 H-16 engine in 1966, together with a BRM T82 6-speed gearbox, for their Lotus 43 - but still, they managed to have the gear lever to the right (while BRM themselves had it to the left).
So it seems, from this example, that Lotus sometimes went to great lengths to have the gear lever in what they thought was the right side: namely the right-hand side.
Lotus 43, 1966, with the gear lever in the right-hand side.
Lotus 43 cockpit.
Clark in the Lotus 43.
A photo from 1966.
The BRM P83 of the same year, 1966. (The gear lever can be seen to the left.)
Addendum: Comparing the Lotus and the BRM on these photos, it seems that Lotus paid much more attention to detail. Anything on the Lotus looks neat and orderly. In comparison, the BRM looks a bit rough and messy ...
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Post by charleselan on Jan 29, 2019 13:03:10 GMT
Bang goes that theory of mine then.
Great photos of the Lotus 43 BRM H16 Mikael. The restored model look absolutely glorious in the correct shade of Lotus Green and yellow.
This topic got me thinking earlier today, where I was convinced that all of the sports prototypes and Can Am cars had what they call in the UK Right Hand Drive (RHD), a featured shared by UK; Japan and Australia with regard to road cars. Checking photos it would appear to be correct, I wonder what the reasoning for this is. Maybe tradition, surely not regulation as rally cars and production based racers have both RHD and LHD.
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