That's next. I actually VHS taped 95% of the F1 races shown on TV from about 1976 to 1985. Also the original IROC, LeMans, domestic road racing events. Not sure what I was thinking, and probably most on SLP speed, so quality not so good, but, better than nothing to me as a race fan. Then I have the four F1 related films released on Laser Disc. Including a special on a little known driver named Ayrton Senna. I have a LD player, in storage. So conversion to DVD, hopefully in this lifetime.
Let me see, whether I can "top" that: I got all year end reviews of F1 from 1950 to present. Oh wait, there were no year end reviews before 1970 you say. True. One year I bought up all F1 videos I could find from these guys: http://www.motorsportcollector.com/ They got lots of great tapes and I digitized them all and reassembled and re-edited them in the sequence of the F1 races. Added some CGI points tables and voila! Not ideal, but a tad better than just reading about the fifties and sixties.
I took these photos at the Watkins Glen F1GP in 1980. I have a few more as well as some Glen vintage race photos from 2000 that I'll post later. Enjoy! Don Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Excellent senor Butler. I just about 300 more slides, when I get back to Florida in December I will hope to scan and post.
I recently sold my entire autogtaphed photo collection to a good local friend, also on FChat. With the exception of the IROC press photo, I took all the rest and had them autographed (some are below). The idea was to photo the drivers in their cars, helmet on, visor up. When I started this 1970-1989 Photo Thread, I was asked by a few of the posters to put my photos and stories in a book form. Well the deal with my friend is that I will provide the originals and he will put the photos into a book format using his publishing experience. I hope this will be ready by Spring. Apparently anyone can then buy a copy on line. I have no idea of the how muches, and the wheres and when, but will post something when I know. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have more on slides - Santa will need to bring the gadget to transfer them. Out with the old...In with the new Champions. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
More. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That was a sad day at Watkins Glen: not only did we say goodbye to Scheckter, but also to the Glen as the U.S. GP site, and in my opinion, none of the venues since have equalled it.
That goes without saying. What are our choices, Las Vegas, Detroit, Phoenix, Indy? Aside from losing the venue, you lose access that we had 30 years ago. We will never get the (driver) candids that we did back then, drivers mostly come out of the garage, into their cars, drive, and come back in directly to the garage. You don't see drivers milling around like they used to, and you never will. THAT is the real loss, from ALL venues.
I have one interesting story that I have told on here before but I think it was before the early computer crash at F/C so I think it is gone. While was in training at Ferrari of Houston, getting ready to move into the Ferrari of Dallas location Giuseppe Risi had me working on the salesfloor. I had always loved Ferrari's but had never had the opportunity to get close to them and really get to know them close up. While there I poured over every bit of Ferrari information I could get my hands on so I could at least talk intelligently with someone about them. Just outside my office sat the 333SP that had placed 6th overall and 1st in class at Lemans. I had been all over the car and knew about every spec (or I thought I did) that you could know about the car. On the weekend of the Houston GP when Mario Andretti was being recognized as "Driver of the Century" I was in the showroom working. I looked up and noticed a black 550 Maranello pull up outside and out stepped an older gentleman, nattily attired, and with him a very genteel appearing lady. They came into the showroom and the lady inquired as to the location of the ladies room. The older gentleman began to look over the 333SP as I escorted the lady to the powder room. I came back and struck up a conversation with the man. I said something like "very interesting car, isn't it?" or something similar. He said, "I notice it has a sequential shifter. I personally prefer the regular box shifter myself". I immediately picked up that he knew a little about the cars. I asked him if he had ever had the opportunity to have one of the Ferrari's on the track? He answered that he had logged a few hours of seat time and fully enjoyed it. I realized about that time that I had never introduced myself so I extended my hand and said "I am so sorry. I just became so interested in discussing this car with you that I failed to introduce myself, my name is James Dunne". He returned the handshake and said "it is a pleasure to meet you James, my name is Stirling Moss". Needless to say, my knees almost buckled and I must have turned white and then very red-faced. Imagine, me standing there talking to Stirling Moss like I had something I could tell him about a race car. I don't think so. He has probably forgotten more about race cars than I could ever hope to know. But he was very kind and we continued to talk (or maybe I was just mumbling by this time) until his wife returned. He introduced her to me and I asked, since he had been knighted by the Queen and now referred to as Sir Stirling Moss, if I should refer to her as Lady Moss? She said "oh, most certainly not. I have no royal blood in me and if I had it is probably diluted with the scotch by now". About this time Mr. Risi came downstairs out of his office and I stepped aside to let him take over the conversation. I found out that Stirling Moss had flown into Houston to present Mario with the award and Mr. Risi had loaned him the 550 Maranello to drive while in town. One thing that did upset Stirling just a little was that his schedule did not allow him to stay and witness the GP as he had to fly back out the morning after the award ceremony. They stayed around just a few more minutes before departing for the airport. Not five minutes after they left I looked up again to see two men, a father and son duo, coming in the showroom.............Mario and Michael Andretti. I just let Mr. Risi greet them and I retreated to my office. There was nothing I could say to them that would make any sense at that point. Oh, before he left Stirling Moss signed several of his pictures in a coffee table book of racing history that I had on my desk..........That,,,,,was a GREAT day.... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great story. My SM story is I was shooting at Mid-Ohio amny many years ago, likely a CanAm race, saw Moss going into a portable potty, so I waited for him to exit. Took his picture, he chased me laughing. I gave that photo to my friend that bought my entire photo collection. Moss is a true gentleman. But thankfully not a fast runner.
I recently sold my autographed collection of 126 driver photos I took, with the agreement that the buyer, a good friend, would receive my cooperation in creating a photo book of all of these photos, the ones in this thread, and more that I have yet to digitize. These photos do not appear in this thread, and include virtually every well known driver in the world in the 1970s (see below). I still have the original negs/slides. He is in the publishing business, along with being an automotive photographer and Ferrari owner, so I hope by March there will be an actual book of my photos along with the stories behind them. No money in this, just the thrill of having a coffee table book of my photos. For those of you still interested, stay tuned. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm still interested. More books, less cost? Otherwise, can I just have the pictures when you guys are done with them?
<chuckle> I hadn't looked at this thread in a while. Look close at the uniforms above and you might see a name you know
Great thread! I have some old Drag Racing photos I can post once I pull the scanner out of the box. Of some historical significance too.
I am not surprised at all with how cordial drivers are or were prior to the 1980's. All of the ones I met in the 70's were very nice, just normal guys like you and me. In the 80's there was a major shift to snottiness among many drivers, F1 and Indy, but certainly not all of them. In the 90's it got worse. Since then I don't know how it is. But folks also have to realize that with the money in the sport, the business side, the commercialism, MOST of the drivers are pulled every which way nowadays, and they don't know if ANYBODY that approaches them has an alterior motive for anything, and I see this even trickling down to local 1/2 mile dirt tracks.
Here's a shot of what I believe is Jungle Jim Liberman at Englishtown in 1974. If memory serves, this is the NHRA Summernationals. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like many people have light jackets, so it's possible it's one of the Wednesday "specials" they used to run at Raceway Park. It's also possible it's another driver (Jake Crimmins, maybe?) - I say this because it doesn't look EXACTLY like the cars Liberman ran. If you don't recall Jungle Jim, he was the original John Force - he ran a multi-car team, and a few different drivers. Since he was in high demand, but couldn't physically be everywhere at once, he would have the cars match racing all over the country simultaneously. What I can tell is that it's a Vega Funny Car, and in 1975 these bodies changed to the more "aero" style (similar to the Chevy Monza). The car is blue, as opposed to red, which is the color Liberman ran in 1975. The car says "Quaker State" over the front fender, which Liberman had as a sponsor, but those rims are not the same as on the car Liberman usually ran (they had 5 spokes like a Cragar rim), but I believe he changed in 1974. Near as I can tell, that's the year of this photo. It is my picture, sorry for the low quality - it's scanned. I have a few more of these with local runners such as the Swensen & Lani car, but this is really the jewel. Jungle Jim Liberman was killed in a car accident in 1977, in the midst of his prime. Back in that era, he was among the most popular drivers in drag racing. *****EDIT****** Ok - I've confirmed - this is the 1974 Summernationals, and the car IS Jungle Jim Liberman. I have a pic of Don Schumacher (current team owner and father of Tony Schumacher) and Al Bergler at the same event. The Swensen & Lani car in my pics was driven by Jake Crimmins at this race. This race is notable because it is the first NHRA final round that Liberman made, but he lost to Al Segrini. It was in 1975 that he won this race, but alas, I don't have pics from that one. Image Unavailable, Please Login
You are quite correct, but I have found some of today's drivers to be cordial, in the right circumstance. Ran into Schumacher in a hotel elevator prior to a race, very nice, but when the doors opened and he was faced with 100 people looking for an autograph, he ran. I don't blame him.
