Vintage F1

Great shots and cars.

Ah, those were the days!

 

I took some pictures when these cars were (among others) racing in Hockenheim last May. Take a look here: http://farout.fa.funpic.de/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=2 (Mainly on pages 2 and 3 of the album)

 

i remember when they were at the usgp in indy. hearing the v12s screaming down that long straight was awesome

 

You learn from your mistakes, its Kubica by the way

 

I'm always amazed how the seat and thus the driver are just high up in the air, from a structural standpoint. Especially at the sides there's to protect them, just the bodywork which can't take any serious forces. Today a driver is sitting deep down with the monocoque up to his head, looking at those vintage F1, the driver was rather sitting on top of the car instead of in it...

 

Thanks for the photos Michael.

I actually saw most of these cars race in their day. Part of my photo collection on slides that I have to get converted so I can share all of you.

Yes, of course, I was a very very young child at the time. Must have sold newspapers and lemonade to buy that Nikon equipment.

 

Yeah, how's that slide scanner working for ya?

Totally disagree. Street races are a lot harder to win and don't have to look like this. That's a stupid US version of a cobbled together street race. Just look at the pics from Monaco and it doesn't have to look like that. Melbourne doesn't look like that either and I'm sure Singapore will also not be an eye sore.

Not sure I agree: The pics you show are of late seventies/early eighties cars. Not that many people got killed in those. I remember Depailler and de Angelis. Depailler was killed by the catch fences left in Hockenheim after a motorcycle race, de Angelis lost a wing and got airborne, but was really done in by the lack of medical attention because they had no helicopter etc on stand by (that changed the rules for practice days). Structurally those cars were very strong. Point in case is Watson's horror accident in Monza: The car was engulfed in a fire ball (quickly extinguished), broke apart (absorbing energy) with the driver cell left in tact and he walked away. Berger had another horror accident exploding into a fireball in Imola and basically walked away.
Villeneuve's death was most likely caused by the flimsy anchor points of the seatbelts. Not sure whether he would have survived hadn't he been thrown out of the car, but it is likely. Those anchor points were a known weakness on the Ferrari and not representative of all the cars of that era.

Pironi, Surer and Laffite had bad leg injuries, that's probably the bigger problem with those cars as the feet were basically mixed in with the front axle. No firewall as in today's cars. But not really life threatening. Regazzoni had a bad crash, but that was basically because there was no escape route/sand trap/tire wall. Same goes for Senna.

In the early seventies people died mostly because of fires, issues that these cars no longer had.

I'm not denying that today's car are safer. They are. But calling these particular cars structurally unsafe I wouldn't. Also I really don't want to see any more guards and protective devices around the drivers. As you point out: They are so much tucked in, they're becoming hard to see. "Invisible" drivers is another reason I'm no fan of GT racing.

 

Those are some nice looking cars.

 

Thanks for posrting.

Any Ferraris?

 

hgp fields are on the rise. great cars and still very pretty to look at. gp cars today are ....kinda big and ugly!

 

I ran with HGP for two years in a Brabham BT42. They put on a great show with beautiful cars and very good drivers. While the rasp of Ferrari F1s is always a highlight of any HGP event, the sound of Cosworth DFV powered cars at full song is pretty special as well. If you get a chance to see these cars run, it's a treat you shouldn't miss. In fact, the only downer about driving an Historic F1 car was that I couldn't be a spectator as well!

...Keith

 

Well Keith I would be very happy to come to your rescue so you can spectate instead of having to alway's mess with that silly driving burden LOL !

Gregg

 

Gregg:

Thanks for the offer. Had you seen me race, I think you would realize how appropriate the word rescue is. However, marriage and two kids already "rescued" me a couple of years ago. In truth, I jumped from Formula Junior to F1 and it took me a full year to adjust to the pace and those huge racing slicks. By the second year, I was running with the pack. Driving an F1 car at 8/10ths is quite easy and quick but the last two 10ths, particularly in the twisty bits, takes serious stones and skill.

My Brabham is now in the hands of a new owner in the UK. I'd like to think I'll get back in an F1 car when my kids are grown but it's bloody expensive and requires serious commitment. I'm restoring a Lotus 69 Formula Ford which will more than suffice when I need a racing fix.

For what it's worth, my diaper changing times are really competitive these days though!

...Keith

 

Good stuff Keith and thank's for humoring me! When you get a chance I'm sure we all would love to see some pic's of the Lotus you are restoring. Back in the mid-'90's I help a guy who was restoring a Formula Atlantic car, well I was the tool fetcher but what a joy it was just to be involved even in the smallest sense.

Merry Christmas,
Gregg

 

Fantastic stuff...when the driver still meant alot....THANKS!

 

The other thing that was great about these cars, particularly in the 70s, was that they all looked very different. Every team was trying different things from an aero perspective to go faster. Even though the vast majority of the cars used DFV power, the cars themselves were all so unique and identifyable. I venture to say that if you painted all of the current F1 cars black, you would be hard pressed to identify one from the other.

 

Yep, and different engines also. V-12s, Flat-12s, Turbos, V-8s, man I do miss those days.

 

Ha! That reminds me of my first visit to Long Beach in 1979. I had a seat in one of the front rows of a prime grandstand at the Queen's hairpin, which sounds pretty good, eh? But I was so low that all I could see of the cars as they went by were the driver's head, roll bar and rear wing!!

 

Historic Grand Prix is great; I just wish they would come to Road Atlanta at least once.

Back in 1998, Bud Moeller let me sit in his Ferrari 312 T5; still one of the great thrills of my life. Thanks again, Bud.