"Motorsport" magazine 1961-1989 10
10! I was round there like a shot and filled the boot of my car with 30
years worth of mint condition magazines. The early ones (One Shilling and
Sixpence a copy, that's 7.5p to those to young to remember sd) make
incredible reading. "....but Owen was missing having crashed on the South
Corner seemingly through lack of brakes, he being thrown out unhurt but his
car bent in all directions". "The rear suspension upright on Clark's car
broke with 3 laps to go. He carried on and won with the wheel leaning at a
severe angle" (What was that about realism in GPL? It's certainly missing
non-terminal breakdowns that call on you to nurse the car to the finish -
there was a lot of that in 1968). The banked Monza where they had to pit for
tyres, twice. Road tests of cars like the Jaguar E Type before the 70 mph
speed limit was introduced where they report doing almost 150mph on the M1
motorway (the only one at the time) and on 'A' roads too. And the photos!
The latest in safety equipment (what we now know as Armco, unnamed then)
with spectators sitting on it, dangling their legs over the "racing" side as
the cars flash past. A driver sitting upright in the***pit (no seatbelts,
of course) because burning petrol was leaking down the back of his seat -
for 5 laps! And *several* pictures of Jack Brabham sideways - there was a
joke that went something like "And Brabham is coming round the bend."
"Really? Which way this time: forwards, sideways, or backwards?"
I've got many months of reading ahead of me, I've only scratched the surface
so far. I may transcribe some of the highlights on to a web page if there is
any interest and someone can assure me that I won't be breaking copyright -
doesn't that only last 25 years anyway?.
Tony Whitley
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