RE: Pic Of The Week: F1's Golden Years

RE: Pic Of The Week: F1's Golden Years

Friday 28th January 2011

Pic Of The Week: F1's Golden Years

Brands Hatch, and some Lotus 79s - is this F1 perfection?


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Yesterday's story about F1 Racing imagining an F1 car for 2020 with the help of Pat Symonds has had the PH office reminiscing about our favourite F1 cars and eras - and we reckon today's POTW might just about be F1's sweet spot.

It's the start of the 1978 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, with Mario Andretti leading Ronnie Peterson into Paddock Hill bend, followed closely by the rest of the pack.

1978 was also a season that had everything. There were great tracks (see exhibit 'A' of Brands Hatch), technological battles with Renault turbo engines beginning to take on the ageing Cosworth DFV, and clever aero tricks such as the Lotus 79's ground-effect or the innovative but controversial (and soon banned) Brabham fan car coming to the fore.

In the championship-winning Lotus 79 you also had (to these eyes at least) one of the most elegantly proportioned racing cars ever, and with a cracking colour scheme, to boot. If it wasn't for the lack of driver safety - Lotus driver Ronnie Peterson tragically lost his life in a first-lap accident at the Italian GP.

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PS - as an extra POTW bonus feature (and due to popular demand), here's the BMW 3.0 CSL of Hans Joachim Stuck and Jacky Ickx at the 'Ring in 1974, demonstrating some serious commitment, and certainly getting rather more air than the 2010 M3 GT2 we featured last week...

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Author
Discussion

Dodgey_Rog

Original Poster:

1,986 posts

259 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Aaaaahhhhhh, Lotus 1, 2!!!

Riggers

1,859 posts

177 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Dodgey_Rog said:
Aaaaahhhhhh, Lotus 1, 2!!!
Although not at the end - both Lotuses, unusually, retired with mechanical problems...

Sprint Rich

118 posts

180 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Dodgey_Rog said:
Aaaaahhhhhh, Lotus 1, 2!!!
1,2, - 24,25.

Escorttom

45 posts

175 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Gotta be the batmobile for me. MMMMMMMmmmMMMM

goron59

397 posts

170 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Dodgey_Rog said:
Aaaaahhhhhh, Lotus 1, 2!!!
Then they started making office software with Lotus 1-2-3.

alecbarclay

54 posts

217 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Very, very good................ except for the tobacco sponsorship on many of the teams livery (Gitanes just visible at the back).

Turbobanana

6,159 posts

200 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Thank you.

Not so much for the F1 pic: that's OK, but I've been looking for a large version of the CSL for ages. In my opinion one of the greatest Motorsport pictures ever taken, and 1974 as well: imagine - no digital review so the photographer had to shoot a whole reel of film and not know if he got the shot until it had been deceloped...

wackojacko

8,581 posts

189 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Fantastic Pictures from the 'Golden age' ......... Desktop background changed biggrin

CampDavid

9,145 posts

197 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Twin monitor Mac setup is extremely useful when POTW pulls a couple of stonkers like this out of the bag smile

900T-R

20,404 posts

256 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
I seem to vaguely remember Ronnie Peterson lost his life in that starting lap accident at Monza in an older Lotus (78?) as his car was crashed in practice/qualy and there was no Lotus 79 T-car left?

g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
CSL = WIN. smile

hesnotthemessiah

2,121 posts

203 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Excellent time for F1 (the 70s I mean). I watched the 75' Season on ESPN a couple of weeks ago. Nikki Lauda won the Championship in the Ferrari. Very exciting stuff.

Kaiser_Wull

149 posts

179 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
900T-R said:
I seem to vaguely remember Ronnie Peterson lost his life in that starting lap accident at Monza in an older Lotus (78?) as his car was crashed in practice/qualy and there was no Lotus 79 T-car left?
Ronnie Peterson was indeed killed at the wheel of a Lotus 78, which was his 'T' car. There was a 79 'T' car available that weekend but I can't remember if it was also damaged before the race or if it was reserved for Ronnie's team-mate.

Ronnie was one of the most naturally talented and spectacular drivers in the history of F1. He should have won a world championship, as should Gilles Villeneuve and Stirling Moss.

Lawrence5

1,253 posts

234 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Modern F1 needs more Lotus's in the field wink

My favourite F1 car ever....

AdamPT

191 posts

162 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
that flying CSL has got to be my favourite motor-racing pic of all time...why are touring cars so crap these days?

PAUL. S

2,627 posts

245 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
I was there that day, great memories, we snuck into the pits and saw all the drivers after the race, everybody did it.

Banjo47

178 posts

225 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
alecbarclay said:
except for the tobacco sponsorship on many of the teams livery (Gitanes just visible at the back).
What a pathetic observation. Remember the picture of James Hunt having just won, fag in one hand, beer in the other, with gogeous bird sitting on the garland decked Marlboro sponsored car. Proper days.

soad

32,825 posts

175 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
AdamPT said:
that flying CSL has got to be my favourite motor-racing pic of all time
Ditto, so much character and presence!

DaveShark

413 posts

186 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
I'l see your 1978 and raise you:




dinkel

26,884 posts

257 months

Friday 28th January 2011
quotequote all
Kaiser_Wull said:
Ronnie Peterson was one of the most naturally talented and spectacular drivers in the history of F1. He should have won a world championship, as should Gilles Villeneuve and Stirling Moss.
yes

My 1st F1 hero. I have a snap of his earlier F1 somewhere. Those were the days. Grid full of DFVs is second to none when it comes to sound.