Classic Motorsport Photos

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Once again at Brands, Vic Elford and Pedro Rodriguez fighting their Porsche 917Ks out of Druids in a downpour during the 1970 running of the 1000km. Rodriguez won the race by a margin of 5 laps.

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Small sequel to this:

Rodriguez actually span out at Druids at that moment but still recovered to win by five laps!

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Marshall hanging around at the apex of a 180mph corner.

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The Porsche 908/3, a car designed to take on circuits like the Nurburgring and the Targa Florio. Here is Brian Redman driving the car in its debut event at the 1970 Targa Florio. Redman and co-driver Jo Siffert won the race with teammates Pedro Rodriguez and Leo Kinnunen placing 2nd in a sister 908/3.

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Along with the 908/3's success in the 1970 Targa Florio, these 3 Porsche 911S swept the podium in the GT 2.0 class also.

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The fabled #722 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR of Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson showing battle scars the car suffered during its winning run in the 1955 Mille Miglia.

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This photo I posted earlier in the "I can't believe they raced it" thread but it fits here perfectly.

A group of Italians laughing at a Isetta running the Mille Miglia in 1954.

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A group of Italians laughing at a Isetta running the Mille Miglia in 1954.

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I still think this is one of the silliest vintage photos I've seen in regards to racing! :D:lol:

I'd probably throw that pic I posted of the Rolls Royce Blue Bird in the I can't Believe They Raced It thread too, since my mind keeps telling me it is NUTS that there existed such a vehicle in 1933 that could go anywhere near that speed! And to think production cars took basically up until the 90s and 00s to approach that speed....most racecars as well!
 
John Surtees, 1966 Belgian Grand Prix

Car: Ferrari 218 (3.0L V12)
Finished: 1st


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John Love, 1967 South African Grand Prix

Car: Customer Cooper T79 (2.8L Climax I4)
Finished: 2nd (Yes, that one race he so nearly won!)


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Graham Hill, 1968 German Grand Prix

Car: Lotus 49 (3.0L Cosworth V8)
Finished: 2nd


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Enzo Ferrari, Niki Lauda, Luca di Montezemolo

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André Pilette, Lister Jaguar BHL105, Eläintarhanajo May 10th 1959, after a fairly heavy practice crash.

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Ayrton Senna, 1984 Monegasque Grand Prix

Car: Toleman TG184 (1.5L t/c Hart I4)
Finished: 2nd


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Stefan Bellof, 1984 Monegasque Grand Prix


Car: Tyrrell 012 (3.0L Cosworth V8)
Finished: 3rd DSQ


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Nigel Mansell, 1984 Monegasque Grand Prix

Car: Lotus 95T (1.5L t/c Renault V6)
Finished: Ret


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Bernd Rosemeyer at Donington Park in 1937. This was to be the great German driver's last Grand Prix victory, before being killed in a land speed record attempt.
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Rudolf Caracciola at Pescara in 1938.
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Herman Lang at Belgrade in 1939. The event was held on the day that Britain declared war on Germany. The race was won by Nuvolari in a Type D Auto Union. With the dark clouds of war descending on the European continent, the great days of the Silver Arrows were over.
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Herman Lang at Belgrade in 1939. The event was held on the day that Britain declared war on Germany. The race was won by Nuvolari in a Type D Auto Union. With the dark clouds of war descending on the European continent, the great days of the Silver Arrows were over.

That sounds like it would make a great film.

A few shots of Hans Herrmann's accident at AVUS, 1959.

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Small sequel to this:

Rodriguez actually span out at Druids at that moment but still recovered to win by five laps!

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It's also worth taking note of how narrow the tyres they used were for this race due to the horrendous conditions. Check out how non flush the wheels are:
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I might as well post this one up:

1967 Le Mans 24 Hours
Ford bring their new MKIV to face Ferrari for the first time. Dan Gurney adopts a tactic for saving the brakes, whereby they coast 50-100 yards before the braking zone of Mulsanne corner and convinces AJ Foyt to do the same. The brakes would quickly be overheated by, among other heavy braking zones, the 220mph to 30 mph stop into Mulsanne corner in the comparatively heavy MKIV causing the brake discs to crack. They used this tactic throughout the whole weekend causing media to speculate that they would be uncompetitive in the race. They took the lead in the second hour and led until the end of the race, setting a new distance record of 3251 miles, taking the index of thermal efficiency award and beating the second placed Ferrari by 32 miles. To this day it is the only all American win at Le Mans.
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When handed the traditional bottle of champagne Gurney decided to spray the crowd with it, starting a tradition that endures to the present day:
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During the race in the darkness of the night Mario Andretti suffered a horror crash in the Esses. Mario claims that it was a result of one of the mechanics putting the front brake pads in backwards, though another theory is that Andretti did not adjust the caliper piston by pushing the brake pedal down before setting off. Either way, the full roll cage that the MKIV was equipped with almost certainly saved his life, along with the bladders within the fuel tanks. Roger Mckluskey's and Jo Schlesser's MKIIs crashed avoiding the wreckage:
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The MKIV only ever raced at 2 events, the 1967 12 hours of Sebring and the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. It won both before it was outlawed by the 3.0 limit imposed on prototypes for the 1968 season.
 
Prior to the start of the Dutch GP in 1966. Jack Brabham decided to take a jab at the press by arriving on the grid wearing a fake beard and using a walking cane. Black Jack lapped the field to win the Dutch GP and 4 straight wins that year gave him his 3rd World Championship.

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Where Grand Prix Cars & Sports Cars Diverged

Grand Prix events first came about in 1906. Right through the 1920s, and the debuts of classic events such as the German Grand Prix and Monegasque Grand Prix, and the opening of classic circuits such as the Nürburgring and Monza, there was no real distinction between grand prix cars for the Grand Epreuve races and sports cars for the Targa Florio and 24 Hours Of Le Mans.

That is, until the arrival of the Alfa Romeo Tipo A, pictured below, in 1931. Where the length of the Florio and Le Mans demanded two seats for the drivers and mechanics, and fenders to protect the drivers from dust, stones and gravel, the shorter races at Monza and Nurburg, with their at that time smooth new surfaces, saw Alfa Romeo build cars for performance rather than endurance.


This then, is one of the first cars built specifically for Grand Prix racing with its Voitture and Libre rules and would spawn the subsequent Auto Unions, Mercedes-Benzes and ultimately Formula One. A modern photo for clarity's sake.

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Compare with a sports car of the same era; an Alfa Romeo 8C at the 1932 Mille Miglia. Bigger, heavier, two seats and clear arched fenders.

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It is still a general design distinction today after all this time; sports cars are closed wheel and two seated while Grand Prix cars are open wheeled and single seated.
 
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Old pseudo-F1 in Australia? Yes.

Surfers Paradise looks a lot less metropolitan in the 1960s. Are you sure it isn't somewhere like Phillip Island?
 
Surfers Paradise looks a lot less metropolitan in the 1960s. Are you sure it isn't somewhere like Phillip Island?

Must be the old International Raceway which would have been on the outskirts back then. The modern street circuit didn't open until the early 90s. Four years after the IR closed.

Curious shot from the same track in 1966. A race-spec Morris Mini Moke being driven by Charlie Smith/Bo Seton in a 12 hour endurance race. Jackie Stewart's Ferrari 250 LM charging in from behind.

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I don't have any more JPEG, fortunately.
 
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A Lola T210C, the perfect rallycross car.

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The driver is Anton van de Kamp, somewhere around 1972, since it was the start of '73 when open top cars were banned. Fitted with a Ford V4.
 
Le bump.

Here's something interesting - 1990 might be one of the more modern photos in here, but this has some interesting historical context for RX.

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1990 was one of the last years Beetles were eligible for ERX. The European homologations had run out by the end of the 80s, so the 1303 cars had to be converted to 1302 spec. This enabled them to use a homologation loophole, since they could apply with documents from a Fusca 113 and be classed as a new car. This picture shows Per Holck in his Fusca imitation.
 
I can't believe Scientology sponsored a racecar. :lol:
 
DK
I can't believe Scientology sponsored a racecar. :lol:
Dianetics featured as Dianetique on one of the Spice Pontiacs at Le Mans in the mid-80s, and caused quite a stir amongst drivers, as a few campaigned for it to be removed, including the car's own drivers.
 
Nice photo of Jim Clark at Indianapolis. I really like the yellow piping and exhaust.

The car looks awfully similar to a Formula One car. I wonder how great the difference was between a USAC car and an F1 car at that time.

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Nice photo of Jim Clark at Indianapolis. I really like the yellow piping and exhaust.

The car looks awfully similar to a Formula One car. I wonder how great the difference was between a USAC car and an F1 car at that time.

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The car pictured, the '65 winner Lotus 38, designed by Len Terry, differed significantly from the F1 Lotus 25/33 with its 1.5 liter Climax.

It had a full monocoque, as opposed to a bathtub-style, with 3 fuel cells, including one behind the seat. It had proper rollover bar and seatbelts, lacking in the F1, and obviously a much more powerful 4-cam 4.2 liter Ford V-8 with ZF two-speed transaxle.
 
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