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Post by charleselan on Apr 9, 2021 17:05:44 GMT
Last night while sifting through YouTube I had brought to my attention a superb little film of the 1938 Donington Grand Prix. I had not seen this before and to be honest i had little idea that the original Donington circuit was like it appeared at that time. It was more like a classic road circuit with large wooded areas and a very narrow and challenging track with undulations and even a place where the cars actually became airborne (I had seen photos showing this previously).
The crowds for both the 1938 and earlier events were positively huge, and just the well known chestnut palings separating them from the tracks grassy run off areas.
Also hugely impressive seeing the cars being driven with such gusto, power sliding out of bends and many a car going off track. I do recall an elderly chap I worked with back in the 1970's who was a motor sport enthusiast and excellent photographer telling me of his trip to the 1938 event and the one thing that stayed with him was the alcohol fuel used by Mercedes Benz and Auto Union cars. He told me that as the cars passed by under the tree covered parts of the circuit he could not breath due to the fumes, that must have been some mighty potent fuel.
The first film here is of the 1938 event won by Tazio Nuvolari in his Auto Union.
The next is a somewhat strange film, or should I say "trailer" to what is a longer film available from Duke, and this has a small bit at the end featuring Bernd Rosemeyer winning the 1937 event in his Auto Union. The colour footage is from the film shot by George Monkhouse that I mentioned in another thread a while back.
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Post by Carl on Apr 9, 2021 18:16:09 GMT
Last night while sifting through YouTube I had brought to my attention a superb little film of the 1939 Donington Grand Prix. I had not seen this before and to be honest i had little idea that the original Donington circuit was like it appeared at that time. It was more like a classic road circuit with large wooded areas and a very narrow and challenging track with undulations and even a place where the cars actually became airborne (I had seen photos showing this previously). The crowds for both the 1939 and earlier events were positively huge, and just the well known chestnut palings separating them from the tracks grassy run off areas. Also hugely impressive seeing the cars being driven with such gusto, power sliding out of bends and many a car going off track. I do recall an elderly chap I worked with back in the 1970's who was a motor sport enthusiast and excellent photographer telling me of his trip to the 1939 event and the one thing that stayed with him was the alcohol fuel used by Mercedes Benz and Auto Union cars. He told me that as the cars passed by under the tree covered parts of the circuit he could not breath due to the fumes, that must have been some mighty potent fuel. The first film here is of the 1939 event won by Tazio Nuvolari in his Auto Union. The next is a somewhat strange film, or should I say "trailer" to what is a longer film available from Duke, and this has a small bit at the end featuring Bernd Rosemeyer winning the 1937 event in his Auto Union. The colour footage is from the film shot by George Monkhouse that I mentioned in another thread a while back. John, Wonderful footage of legendary events! The original course, as you write, was more dangerously challenging than today's Donington. Winner Nuvolari (#4 Auto-Union) is impressively smooth through the hairpin (at 3:48 in the first film) and it is sad to see Bernd Rosemeyer in such robust good health so soon before tragedy.
-Carl
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 10, 2021 7:41:45 GMT
Lovely John. The English cars looked like soapboxes compared to the German vehicles. I loved those Mercs they looked so powerful and purposeful. I think the place where the cars became airborne was called Deers' Leap. I read somewhere that the fuel the German cars were using was an experimental fuel to be used in their war machine hence the eye watering properties. The fuel in the early 80s for the turbo cars also had a big environmental impact! I have a book on that period by that wonderful writer Chris Nixon that I need to read.
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Post by charleselan on Apr 10, 2021 12:19:57 GMT
I just wish those films had been longer, some of the footage was absolutely stunning.
Yes Carl the clip showing Nuvolari at the hairpin was sensational, and one could clearly see that he had mastered the tricky Auto Union, and to perfection.
Strangely the excellent clip showing Rosemeyer somewhat surprised me as I was expecting his to be quite a muscular chap, but his arms in that clip told a very different tale. So therefore one would assume that you did not ned to be a brute of a man to handle those incredible cars/
It was also interesting to hear the narrator say that the German team manager had said that if the Germans had been running the new Maserati in 1938 it would have been a winner as it was potentially better than the Mercs and Auto Unions.
Rob, that fuel used by the turbo cars in 1983 was something else. i have mentioned this several times in the past but when at Brands Hatch for the 1983 European GP I have vivid memories of being at the rear of the pit boxes. The Brabham team had large steel fuel drums outside the garage and the mechanics were syphoning off some into smaller containers and the smell was very similar to cellulose thinners. Apparently all of the fuels used by the various teams back then was hugely carcinogenic, due to some of its proprietary parts.
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 10, 2021 16:53:52 GMT
John in your first clip the commentator mentions Billy Cotton. Was that the famous band leader of those times?
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Post by charleselan on Apr 10, 2021 17:50:15 GMT
John in your first clip the commentator mentions Billy Cotton. Was that the famous band leader of those times? The very self same Rob. Billy Cotton was not only an accomplished band leader but a fine sportsman which included football and of course motor racing. Apparently his high point in motor sport came with an eighth place finish in the British Grand Prix of 1949. His BBC radio and TV shows of the 1950/60's were legendary; "The Billy Cotton Band Show". |
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 10, 2021 17:54:02 GMT
Thanks Charles, I didn't know about his sporting prowess. I have seen his name mentioned many times but never heard anything he did. Must do some research.
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Post by mikael on Apr 18, 2021 10:45:53 GMT
Last night while sifting through YouTube I had brought to my attention a superb little film of the 1938 Donington Grand Prix.
Thank you! Fascinating to watch - especially how they were "on it" for 80 laps, a and racing distance of 250 miles (a bit more than 400 km).
On a related matter, I came across an impressive "home page" made for - or in honour of - Rudolf Caracciola. It includes a number of truly excellent photos.
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Post by René on Apr 18, 2021 11:32:46 GMT
Last night while sifting through YouTube I had brought to my attention a superb little film of the 1938 Donington Grand Prix. Thank you! Fascinating to watch - especially how they were "on it" for 80 laps, a and racing distance of 250 miles (a bit more than 400 km).
On a related matter, I came across an impressive "home page" made for - or in honour of - Rudolf Caracciola. It includes a number of truly excellent photos.
Wonderful site. Thanks for the link!  |
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Post by charleselan on Apr 18, 2021 17:32:04 GMT
Last night while sifting through YouTube I had brought to my attention a superb little film of the 1938 Donington Grand Prix.
Thank you! Fascinating to watch - especially how they were "on it" for 80 laps, a and racing distance of 250 miles (a bit more than 400 km).
On a related matter, I came across an impressive "home page" made for - or in honour of - Rudolf Caracciola. It includes a number of truly excellent photos.
Thank you for the excellent Carraciola site, really beautiful. |
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Post by chrisb on Apr 20, 2021 6:58:35 GMT
Mikael, what a wonderful link, thank you, although Rudi was not my favourite pre-war driver, Rosemayer and Nuvolari were, they were all incredible and Rudi rightly deserves his place in history, those machines were just incredible. I saw Fangio drive one of the pre-war Mercs at Donington [1979] and he was just see sawing at the steering wheel to keep us both attentive and awestruck at the same time and what it must have been like in Rudi's time must have been just out of this world.
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Post by charleselan on Jun 3, 2021 15:39:12 GMT
I came across this great little film about the history of Montjuïc Park, although in Spanish the film content is excellent and shows some parts of the circuit not really seen previously in the more well known films. A very challenging place indeed that really put Monaco in the shade, and so much quicker as well.
It ends with the terrible accident where Rolf Stommelen's Embassy Hill crashed into the crowd with devastating results. Sadly it illustrated the lack of real safety provisions at this great circuit and the lamentable security of the guard rails that resulted in drivers refusing to race.
Such a tragedy as the track was incredible by any standard.
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Post by René on Jun 3, 2021 19:12:30 GMT
Wonderful little film! So interesting to see the evolution of racing over a few decades.
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Post by Carl on Jun 3, 2021 21:29:14 GMT
I came across this great little film about the history of Montjuïc Park, although in Spanish the film content is excellent and shows some parts of the circuit not really seen previously in the more well known films. A very challenging place indeed that really put Monaco in the shade, and so much quicker as well. It ends with the terrible accident where Rolf Stommelen's Embassy Hill crashed into the crowd with devastating results. Sadly it illustrated the lack of real safety provisions at this great circuit and the lamentable security of the guard rails that resulted in drivers refusing to race. Such a tragedy as the track was incredible by any standard. I love the still photograph (at 55 seconds) of driver and riding mechanic both leaning emphatically to assist the balance of their car through a fast chicane. |
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Post by charleselan on Jun 4, 2021 17:09:27 GMT
It was wonderful to see the high wing cars of 1969 in their final ridiculous incarnation. Chapman must have been out of his mind adding all those extensions on his Lotus 49B's, it was an accident waiting to happen and Graham and particularly Jochen were lucky to escape with their lives when they eventually broke.
However they did look spectacular at the time and as a kid I was adding them to my slot cars as the weeks unfolded.
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