Racing drivers smoking

[dinkel]

48 and I know him - Targa Florio!

[G321]

dinkel said:

48 and I know him - Targa Florio!

I'm 38 and I know him. Vic Elford

[dinkel]

Lauda indeed.


There seem to be more JH pics WITH than WITHOUT a ciggie.

[heebeegeetee]

coppice said:

The Man. I suspect few people under 50 will know of him but he really was one hell of a driver. F1 , Sports Protoypes and rallying - in one year . God like..

Forgive me, didn't he win the Monte Carlo rally outright for Porsche then came 4th in the Monaco GP the same year, or am I dreaming?

[coppice]

Not far off - in 1968 he won the Monte Carlo Rally in a 911; a week later (a bloody WEEK !) he won Daytona 24 hours in a Porsche 907 ; he then finished his first Grand Prix - French(in the wet )4th in a Cooper .Oh - and he won the Targa Florio the same year . Eat your heart out Lewis and Nico.....

[Jim Campbell]

G321 said:

I'm 38 and I know him. Vic Elford

Read his book at 19.

[coppice]

I am delighted so many young whippersnappers have heard of him . Viv is hugely underrated and - amazingly - still alive and well .Not too many people have ..err..spanked a 917 and are still here. I also give you Richard Attwood (who may or may not have enjoyed a Senior Service).

[dinkel]

Vic Elford - was he in the shadow of the period heroes? Or maybe he wasnt that keen on publicity.

Wiki: Elford lap records included: Targa Florio, Nurburgring, Daytona, Sebring, Norisring, Monza, Buenos Aires, Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, Riverside and Le Mans.

Wiki: Although he raced 5 years for Porsche, Elford also raced for Ford, Triumph, Lancia, Alfa-Romeo, Ferrari, Chaparral, Shadow, Cooper, Lola, Chevron, Subaru. He also drove McLaren in F1 & CanAm, Chevrolet in TransAm.


Vic Elford and Umberto Maglioli - 1968 Targa Florio.

[coppice]

I 'd put Vic (not bloody Viv as I mis-typed above .. )in the league of drivers like Brian Redman and Jackie Oliver- hugely quick , but for whatever reason they didn't quite make it in F1. I can highly recommend the Motor Sport podcast with Brian Redman - a very brave man and a great raconteur.

If it had not been for Porsche successes at Le Mans I would put Derek Bell in the same category .

[dinkel]

Who wants to live forever?

[v8250]

coppice said:

I can highly recommend the Motor Sport podcast with Brian Redman - a very brave man and a great raconteur.

This +1. I haven't listened to this podcast for ages...and Christ, it makes one realize how safe motorsport is these days and hearing Andretti's description how quick the original turbo charged cars were...

http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/race/sports-cars...

http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/race/sports-cars...

[coppice]

I bow to few in my admiration of Lewis ' sheer speed but ,Christ on a bike, little spats like Nico and Lewis sound so adolescent compared to the tough guy personae of grown ups like Andretti and Lauda , Reggazoni and Ickx.

[bigothunter]

coppice said:

I am delighted so many young whippersnappers have heard of him . Viv is hugely underrated and - amazingly - still alive and well .Not too many people have ..err..spanked a 917 and are still here. I also give you Richard Attwood (who may or may not have enjoyed a Senior Service).

Vic Elford passed away on March 13, 2022 aged 86 - RIP

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/obitua...

Edited by bigothunter on Wednesday 26th July 11:05

[ChevronB19]

Long-standing (and possibly apocryphal) story that Mike Hawthorn used to dip down below the dashboard of the D Type in order to be able to light a fag as he started on the Mulsanne Straight.

[bigothunter]

coppice said:

I bow to few in my admiration of Lewis ' sheer speed but ,Christ on a bike, little spats like Nico and Lewis sound so adolescent compared to the tough guy personae of grown ups like Andretti and Lauda , Reggazoni and Ickx.

Or James...

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

Seb Loeb, the GOAT

[coppice]

bigothunter said:

Or James...

Yes, thank God we now don't have too many bread roll throwing public schoolboys with an attendant cast of hoorays ...

I loved the whole Hesketh thing in period , although even then I did wonder what was so anti -establishment about a 22 year old peer spaffing a fortune on F1 .

I've recently reviewed James Page's excellent book about Hesketh (review on speedreaders.info ) and revisiting the story, fifty years later, my inner class warrior wonders what I saw in the team . On his day, Hunt was wonderful driver to watch , and the 308 was a lovely car , but the stench of unearned privilege and entitlement on Le Patron's part is hard to take

[Kuwahara]

Not a racing driver but Sheens AGV with hole drilled for a quick puff…

[bumskins]

bigothunter said:

Vic Elford passed away on March 13, 2022 aged 86 - RIP

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/obitua...

Edited by bigothunter on Wednesday 26th July 11:05

fk I missed that, saddens me and it's a shame, but as his previous race feats (and smoking habit!) will attest, given how many drivers' lives were claimed during the 1960s/70s it's quite surprising Quick Vic made old bones! Testament to his skill perhaps.. always held him in high regard, his ability to drag the maximum pace out of anything on 4 wheels was superb.

[dinkel]

Cheers for the holy Batman ressurection