A gem of a period piece on iPlayer

A gem of a period piece on iPlayer

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Grassbox

Original Poster:

16 posts

83 months

Sunday 20th August 2017
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To be found buried on iPlayer: 24 Hours at Le Mans- a Tuesday Documentary from 1982 covering the 1981 race and focussing on the fortunes of Alan De Cadenet ( cast as have a go hero toff in the mould of Birkin and the Bentley boys) and Guy Edwards ( face of late 20th century hard- nosed commercialism), with a cameo or two from ultimate winner Derek Bell.
Well worth a watch despite some teeth itchingly clipped accents from narrator and competitors alike.
An interesting year in retrospect as it marked the changeover from the old group 5/6 rules to Group C and the 956 etc, and my god France looked so much more foreign then!


wsn03

1,923 posts

100 months

Sunday 20th August 2017
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Brilliant, thanks for the heads up, looking forward to watching it

E36GUY

5,906 posts

217 months

Monday 21st August 2017
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Great documentary that. Back in the days were barely even lip service given to safety. Look at all the people just hanging around in the pit lane!!

davidd

6,443 posts

283 months

Monday 21st August 2017
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E36GUY said:
Great documentary that. Back in the days were barely even lip service given to safety. Look at all the people just hanging around in the pit lane!!
I liked those chaps walking down the main straight into the pits when the cars were running!

Grassbox

Original Poster:

16 posts

83 months

Monday 21st August 2017
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But for the cars and some iffy fashions the whole thing -safety standards , sideshows and all -seemed to have the feel of an era at least 20 years earlier!
Spotted the Kremer 917 in one shot for that genuine 1960's feel.

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 22nd August 2017
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I was just going to post about this. Really interesting film, proper period stuff.

the fury

593 posts

241 months

Tuesday 22nd August 2017
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Brilliant doc! Amazing how basic it all looked then. Aside from the racing, I went first time in 1999 so the strippers were no surprise but the 'fat lady' was a shock!

greeny12

300 posts

218 months

Wednesday 23rd August 2017
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That, ladies & gentleman, is Le Mans.

Not the overblown, closed off, corporate dollar chasing, stag party infested version of today.

So glad there was still a little bit of that left when I started going in the mid-90s.

What a find, thanks for posting.

marcosgt

11,011 posts

175 months

Wednesday 23rd August 2017
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greeny12 said:
That, ladies & gentleman, is Le Mans.

Not the overblown, closed off, corporate dollar chasing, stag party infested version of today.

So glad there was still a little bit of that left when I started going in the mid-90s.

What a find, thanks for posting.
Was great.

That was my third Le Mans, started going in 1979.

I gave up going in the early 2000s, for a variety of reasons, but mostly because it's too corporate now...

The early days were pretty interesting and of course in the mid eighties Group C came along😍

M

Grassbox

Original Poster:

16 posts

83 months

Wednesday 23rd August 2017
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And for those of us stuck at home at the time there was no wall-to-wall live streaming/ Eurosport/ Radio Le Mans but about thirty seconds per hour of Simon Taylor from the circuit after the news on Radio 2. Still exciting, still addictive though.

My first visit was 2000 ( not a classic) and the tide of commercialism was well and truly flowing by then sadly.

struttob

345 posts

148 months

Wednesday 23rd August 2017
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greeny12 said:
That, ladies & gentleman, is Le Mans.

Not the overblown, closed off, corporate dollar chasing, stag party infested version of today.

So glad there was still a little bit of that left when I started going in the mid-90s.

What a find, thanks for posting.
That WAS Le Mans - my second year and looking back I cannot believe how different it is now, it has been a slow evolution over all the years and not all for the better (though much is better - toilets for one thing)

Bob

marcosgt

11,011 posts

175 months

Thursday 24th August 2017
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struttob said:
That WAS Le Mans - my second year and looking back I cannot believe how different it is now, it has been a slow evolution over all the years and not all for the better (though much is better - toilets for one thing)

Bob
Ha ha - Where's your sense of adventure? biggrin

M

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 24th August 2017
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My Mother used to go with a coach trip from the pub she went to back in the Silk Cut Jag era. She has told me tales of tents in the camp sites with queues of men waiting to "perform" with the lady inside eek

greeny12

300 posts

218 months

Thursday 24th August 2017
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As another interesting sociological aside, it was striking to note from the documentary that in those days an obese woman was considered such a curiosity that she starred in a fairground sideshow. Nowadays you can regularly see the same on the high streets of any provincial town...

wsn03

1,923 posts

100 months

Friday 25th August 2017
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Enjoyed that, thanks. Ive only been going since 2008, and to put things in perspective im not a car race fan in any way, my thing is motorcycle racing. However Le Mans is Le Mans, there's nothing else quite like it and im hooked.

But for a guy who cant let go of the 1970s, never thought id say this, but i think i prefer how it all looks now to how it looked back then!?
Maybe presentation, technology helping with coverage etc, but to me its still theatre but without being ruined by corporate hospitality.

Edited by wsn03 on Friday 25th August 10:23


Edited by wsn03 on Friday 25th August 14:10

vincegail

2,456 posts

154 months

Friday 25th August 2017
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Grahamdub said:
She has told me tales of tents in the camp sites with queues of men waiting to "perform" with the lady inside eek
Never have seen that at Le Mans (first visit 1996) but once at the Hungarian GP in 1999. 3 'ladies' standing against a wall with 3 queues of Neanderthals lining up. Not a pretty sight. Glad I've missed that part of Le Mans 'nostalgia'.

struttob

345 posts

148 months

Friday 25th August 2017
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marcosgt said:
struttob said:
That WAS Le Mans - my second year and looking back I cannot believe how different it is now, it has been a slow evolution over all the years and not all for the better (though much is better - toilets for one thing)

Bob
Ha ha - Where's your sense of adventure? biggrin

M
My sense of adventure was stifled by my sense of smell largely back then - we used to go for days without a crap ! you modern day visitors don't know how good you have it.

Bob

wsn03

1,923 posts

100 months

Friday 25th August 2017
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struttob said:
marcosgt said:
struttob said:
That WAS Le Mans - my second year and looking back I cannot believe how different it is now, it has been a slow evolution over all the years and not all for the better (though much is better - toilets for one thing)

Bob
Ha ha - Where's your sense of adventure? biggrin

M
My sense of adventure was stifled by my sense of smell largely back then - we used to go for days without a crap ! you modern day visitors don't know how good you have it.

Bob
My first trip in 2008 had one grotty toilet block...just concrete holes on the floor, absolutely rank. Dont know which site it was but it was massive, near the grandstand (ish), and just had that one stty filthy toilet block for about a thousand people.

Bloke with motorised sofa was there, i think the mechanic off Wheeler Dealers, anyone know what site that would be?

Edit: I think it was Houx Annexe perhaps, and bloke on sofa might not have been Ed, looking on internet there was a different bloke driving it, Ed drove one on tv in UK i think.

Big site with loads of trees, crap bogs

Edited by wsn03 on Friday 25th August 19:21

vincegail

2,456 posts

154 months

Friday 25th August 2017
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Sounds like Houx, with the yellow concrete toilet building in the middle of the campsite.

giveitfish

4,030 posts

213 months

Friday 25th August 2017
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Just caught up with this. Great to watch, good quality too being shot on film instead of low-res video tape.

I loved how candid all the drivers were, that's something I think we've lost these days as everyone is so sensitive for sponsors.

I don't miss the casual attitude to safety and death though - a driver killed in one crash and marshal killed in separate incident along with two other serious injuries (one marshal lost an arm according to wiki). All that barely got a passing mention, although you could see Edwards struggling to contain his reaction to his friends accident.