Topic: Iconic images and images of icons

[nicanary]

I'm going to use this thread to post interesting images that I have found which are not necessarily suitable as puzzle pictures. This first item is of one of the dealer-entered MGB cars at the infamous 1965 Sebring 12-hour race - these were works cars but crewed by US based teams. The storm only lasted 40 minutes, but at one point the water was 3 feet deep in parts of the pits complex, and many of the powerful prototype cars couldn't stay out. The winning Chaparral had to slow down to 10mph at times.

Austin-Healey had entered a couple of Sprites. The BMC Competitions Dept. focused on rallying, and thus had to use rally drivers when they wanted to enter a road race - they had Rauno Aaltonen, Timo Makinen and Paddy Hopkirk in these cars, and they had a field day when the monsoon was in force, overtaking just about everything in sight. They simply didn't slow down.

[Ultra]

I love this thread concept!

Awesome pic....

[nicanary]

Here's a photo of Jack Fairman high on the banking at Monza during the 1957 Race Of Two Worlds, now popularly known as "Monzanapolis". The Italians had decided that it would be good publicity to stage this event, and offered enough financial incentive to get a decent field of American roadsters to make the Atlantic crossing. European opposition was feeble, with David Murray looking at the cash on offer, and sending over 3 D-types with appropriate gear ratios.

The banking at Monza is steep, and then some. It's very difficult to climb, let alone stand upright. The bends at Indianapolis in comparison have only a slight gradient.  "Jolly" Jack realised that he had an advantage with his 4-speed box, and at the rolling start he used the gears to good advantage. The American drivers had only 2 speeds, and took a few seconds to get moving - Jack went up the banking rather like cyclists at a velodrome and used the slingshot effect to enhance his speed. As a consequence he led the first lap against all expectations, although it didn't last.

Local legend has it that the guard rail at the top of the banking still has traces of Ault & Wiborg Flag Metallic Blue, and even some smearing of tan leather from the bonnet straps. Fanciful idea, but I rather like legends.

I wish I could find a photo of Jack lifting the Aston Martin out of the ditch at Nurburgring in 1959. Not his finest moment, but a race which confirmed the genius of Stirling Moss in sports cars when up against it.

[nicanary]

Jackie Stewart leads Graham Hill in BRM 2.0-litre P261s at the 1966 German Grand Prix. This was the year of the "return to power", but sadly it was a bit of a damp squib. Even though the teams knew the new regulations well in advance, so few of them were prepared - only the wily old campaigner Jack Brabham had really thought it through. Ferrari simply adapted what was essentially a sports car engine, Maserati promised Cooper a new design which turned out to be an update of the venerable 250F, AAR's V12 was too long in making, Lotus waited for the over-complicated BRM H16, and so it goes on. Poor Bruce McLaren tried all sorts, even sleeving-down a Ford Indy engine and in desperation trying Serenissima power (not).

On tight and twisty circuits a bored-out Climax or BRM engine could produce results, and that's what's happening here. Quite why BRM would turn the clock back and endeavour to engineer another over-complicated design after the V16 debacle, is anyone's guess.

This image dates just 8 weeks after the disastrous 1966 Belgian Grand Prix, when heavy rain out in the boondocks caused many runners to end up in the ditch. The fearless Jochen Rindt was executing 360degree spins on the straights! Jackie Stewart famously ended his race upside down in a ditch, with petrol pouring down on him - he was rescued by Graham Hill and Bob Bondurant and reputedly had a spanner taped to his steering wheel for the rest of the season to help him get out by himself. It was the start of his campaign for safer racing and safer circuits which caused much consternation at the time. Yet he was far from a coward when the flag dropped, as this photo shows. As brave as anyone.

[Ultra]

Awesome pic and story.  Thx for sharing!

[Paul Jaray]

Nice thread indeed!
I was trying to find back a picture of a Mercedes pre-silberpfeil (with its paint on) I saw on Facebook...the story it widely known but it's a cool pic nevertheless...

[nicanary]

Nice thread indeed!
I was trying to find back a picture of a Mercedes pre-silberpfeil (with its paint on) I saw on Facebook...the story it widely known but it's a cool pic nevertheless...

Out of curiosity, I just had a look on Google Images, and you're right - no pictures of a painted car except for models. There must be some in existence, because M-B had a very efficient PR department.

[Paul Jaray]

I have it...I'd just have to find it back. It was a nice shot of it taken from above.
Here it is!

[nicanary]

The moment that broke an 11-year old's heart. Stirling lies unconscious before he is removed - my hero would race no more at the top level. No point in raking up what might or might not have happened, accidents are part of the sport. It's so sad that the great man didn't give himself enough time to rehabilitate, and took what most people now consider to be a premature decision.

The season could have been mighty interesting - Enzo had taken a momentous decision. He had allowed a pukka GP car to be prepared and raced by another team away from Maranello. That year's car was pretty mediocre but in the hands of a maestro it might have won a race or two, and Stirling was in his element when the odds were against him. We would never know.

[nicanary]

Nice thread indeed!
I was trying to find back a picture of a Mercedes pre-silberpfeil (with its paint on) I saw on Facebook...the story it widely known but it's a cool pic nevertheless...

I've just found this photo of the original W25 before testing. It does not have the later headrest and appears to be painted white.

[nicanary]

Paul Frere was a Belgian journalist who was more than a bit useful behind the wheel of a racing car. He was reasonably quick, and very reliable. He had no trouble getting a drive at Le Mans, and even got the "guest" drive for Ferrari at the 1956 Belgian Grand Prix, where he finished second overall, admittedly after other faster cars had fallen by the wayside.  He won his class in the Mille Miglia in a Chrysler Saratoga - imagine tackling the Raticosa and Futa passes in that great hulk, complete with drum brakes.

He seems to have made no enemies in his life - he is regarded with great affection as a man who could write about motor racing with a degree of authority, because he had walked the walk.

THis is him winning the 1954 Spa Production Car Race, at an average speed of 93mph, in a Chrysler New Yorker - I think this is the hairpin at La Source.

[nicanary]

This photo shows Frere at the same spot, on his way to 2nd in a World Championship Grand Prix. If you showed Hollywood the script, they'd say it was too far-fetched.

[nicanary]

It's August 1966, and the Rothmans 12-hour race at Surfers Paradise. The race is won by a Ferrari 250LM of Scuderia Veloce driven by Andy Buchanan and none other than Jackie Stewart - I have no idea what he was doing "Down Under" at that time of year, the European aces usually only travelling for the Tasman series in December-March.

The wiining car is seen here overtaking one of the entries in the sub-2000cc sports car class. The ubiquitous Mini-Moke.........

[nicanary]

October 1959, and the BRM team are testing at Goodwood in preparation for the next season. They have for comparison purposes the last of the P25 front-engined cars, and the first of the rear-engined P48 cars. BRM had realised they couldn't compete any more with the agile Coopers and Tony Rudd had been ordered to make this new car as soon as possible. So the front end was literally from a P25, hacksawed off Jean Behra's old car, and a new rear end fixed on.

A revised version of the P48 did well the next year, showing some promise, and after the hiatus of the Climax-powered season, BRM finally came good in 1962. Their supporters had waited an awfully long time.

[nicanary]

Back in the days when the Targa Florio was a real "man's" event, the entrants used to select cars and drivers very carefully.  The sinuous course was pretty miuch unsuitable for very powerful cars (Porsche sent a 917 one year, and after one lap the driver said "enough") and some constructors made cars just for this event.  The one driver they all wanted was Nino Vaccarella, the headmaster of a local school, who knew every twist and turn of the track. He was a very competent driver, fast enough without being spectacular, but he brought two things to the team - his local knowledge, and the support of the locals. They cheered so loudly he could hear them above the noise of his engine. He drove for Ferrari more than any other team, and this is him in 1966 in the too-powerful Ferrari P3 he shared with Lorenzo Bandini. The other Scuderia cars that year were 206S models, much more nimble on the course, and which fared better in appalling weather conditions - the car shows signs of the mud which coated much of the track.

[nicanary]

Here's some typical graffiti which plastered any available wall, and the road surface, at "Targa Time". This is many years after the event, and is still clear enough to show the name "Nino".

[nicanary]

New Zealand driver Chris Amon has sadly passed away at the age of 73 after a battle with cancer. All the usual websites will carry obituaries which will detail his career - all I'm going to say is that he was one of the sport's "nice guys" and deserved far more success than he achieved. Having said that, Chris himself always argued that he was successful, because he lived long enough to retire, when so many of his friends met a tragic end. After Lauda's infamous crash at the Nurburgring Chris took off his helmet and walked away.

[nicanary]

Early in 1963, probably very cold, and Jack Brabham is at Goodwood testing his new sports car, the BT5. Two cars were built and entered that season by Ian Walker, but they weren't a match for the Lotus 23. The car was revised as the BT8 for the following season, and was a big success.

Four great drivers on view from the Antipodes. On the left is the irrepressible Paul Hawkins, and to the right are the tall and tough-as-old-boots Frank Gardner, Black Jack himself and the gentle giant Denny Hulme. A set of guys you wouldn't want to upset in a dark alley.

[nicanary]

The last of the great city-to-city races, the infamous 1903 Paris-Madrid. The most common image of the winning Mors of Fernand Gabriel shows it at the start, but this one shows just why those races were considered so dangerous. A giant engine, virtually no brakes, archaic suspension systems, poorly maintained roads. Spectators who were oblivious to the dangers.

[nicanary]

Ayrton Senna da Silva didn't rate his rivals too highly. I believe he had a grudging respect for Alain Prost, but that's about it. This is famously the only man he had to give way to during his stellar career - one Terry Fullerton (who???!!!), his team mate during his early karting days, and a rival who could regularly beat him. Fullerton's career petered out because of poor decisions, not being in the right place at the right time. Senna turned out to be fairly good.

[nicanary]

I idolised Stirling Moss as a child, and held his racing mechanic Alf Francis in awe. He has always had a mystique about him, as if he held magic powers.  Genial Rob Walker had endless patience and an almost bottomless wallet, or so it seemed, and the little team often took the wrong turning up an expensive cul-de-sac. Moss and Francis were always looking for an advantage over their rivals, and more often than not it all ended in tears. This is the Cooper-BRM which they built for the 1959 season - an adapted T45 fitted with a powerful BRM engine loaned to them by the patriotic Alfred Owen. It was a handful, and only raced once, at the Aintree 200 at the start of the season - Moss practiced in it at Monaco but decided not to bother any more. BRM got their engine back, and the Cooper was sold on.

[Carnut]

I idolised Stirling Moss as a child,

I still do!
Maybe I just haven't grown up yet...

[nicanary]

I idolised Stirling Moss as a child,

I still do!
Maybe I just haven't grown up yet...

The greatest living Englishman? He must be in with a shout.

[nicanary]

This is the tragic Lee Bible, who died when he took on a drive he simply wasn't cut out to do - previous pilot Ray Keech was offered the seat but turned it down, and Bible should have taken this as a warning. Sadly the promise of fame and fortune won. We've had the Triplex Special as a puizzle - what a monster, all brawn and no technical sophistication, an accident waiting to happen. Poor Bible never stood a chance.

[nicanary]

The Triplex as it ended up. Best thing for it.