13 replies to this topic

[Manel Baró]

It appears that back in the fifties, the Americans drivers/organizers were more safety minded than their Europeans coleagues. Perhaps could you supply some info of the relevant motoracing crash helmets and goggles manufacturers/ suppliers of the period on both sides of the pond.Tks

[Vitesse2]

In Europe, the obvious answer is Herbert Johnson. Strangely, the company history on their website makes no mention of motor sport:

http://www.herbert-j...uk/history.html

Moss, Fangio, Brooks and many others wore Herbert Johnson helmets.

[Buford]

I recall my Quarter Midget helmet was a McCal Midgeteer. They made helmets for Indy Car drivers too.

[Joe Bosworth]

I really felt safe in my Cromwell until I got my Toptex!

Regards

[Paul Parker]

Apart from the obvious Bell helmets of the early '60s as worn by Phil Hill, I recall that the very distictive split lens goggles so favoured by American racers of this period were marketed under the name Sala Sport.

Of course the passage of 40+ years and ever advancing anno domino might be misleading! I also recall buying some one piece rubber framed goggles a la 1960s F1, plastic rather than glass (the sort worn by Clark, Surtees, Hill et al) that were typically protected against stones, debris etc., by black tape on the upper part of the lens.

These were American tank style and I think were branded Trackstar.

Anyway it is all a very long time ago so apologies if I have got it wrong.

[Martin Roessler]

I have a DRAX HELM that my dad was using in the mid/end 50's...
cheers marty

[soubriquet]

A little late, but in the early 60s, my brother was using a pudding basin helmet by Everoak, and his split lens goggles were Stadium Mk something or other.

[T54]

While the Brits were still wearing Cromwells (I still have mine... ), American suppliers had already checked the need for fire and better head protection from the mid 1950's, as their form of racing was decidedly more dangerous than even that practiced in Europe, due to the generally greater impact speeds at Indy.
Before Dupont de Nemours as it was then called, invented aramid and polyamid synthetic fibers that became Nomex, other companies such as Goodyear tried aluminized racing suits as well as cotton or wool dipped in boric acid.
Only one problem with both: they restrict greatly the ability to the human body to perspire, causing hyperthermia rather quickly. So most drivers just ignored them, and when Dave MacDonald and Eddie Sachs died of terrible burns at the 1965 Indy 500, things began to change. Slowly.

Thanks God for some modern racing suits that have at last, resolved both problems, that of the ability to evacuate perspiration without quitting, and provide adequate fire protection.

The best period American helmets were actually not the Bell but the Buco, that offered better energy absorbtion as shown by period early Snell testing. The best racing suit at the time was made in Indianapolis by the Hinchman company, and was worn pretty much by all the Brits who visited the Speedway and returned home with both Buco helmets and Hinchman suits. Clark, Hill, Brabham, were wearing those while Surtees and Bandini were faithful to Les Leston's or "Dunlop" cotton suits...

[Gerr]

The July 1957 issue of SCI has an article by Dr. George Snively on the first Pete Snell Memorial Fund tests (with cadavers) on five popular brands of helmets available at the time.

Only, the Toptex (a Police motorcycle design) passed the test due mainly to the non-resilient liner which absorbed impact rather than transmitting it to the skull. The others all had too soft a liner.


Bell. Minor skull fracture. Design being revised.
Gentex. Severe skull fractures. Also being changed.
Cromwell. Affords NO protection. Severe skull fractures.
Anderson. The shell was too weak to withstand sudden impacts.
McHal. Does not absorb shock.
Machpi. Nine skull fractures.

The editorial in the same issue mentions that the Machpi had been banned in the SCCA New england region. Also mentioned is that three of the helmet manufacturers are recalling their product for re-lining with non-resilient foam plastic.

Aviation and tank goggles were generally available in Military Surplus shops. AN spec, Willson, Fischer and Polaroid.

[HiRich]

Originally posted by Gerr
The July 1957 issue of SCI has an article by Dr. George Snively on the first Pete Snell Memorial Fund tests

I thought it was earlier, but you have it in front of you. The tests were hugely controversial, and covered at great length in the various magazines (as covered in the late Bob Norton's collection). As ever with safety developments, many people criticised the need, the motives and the results.
I may be wrong, working from memory), but I recall that Bell put up much of the money for the tests, which some found suspicious. I'm also pretty sure that Bell didn't just modify their design - they deleted the model and bought the Toptex design.
Fifty years on, Snively's work proved spot on. The principles of a rigid shell and deformable liner have barely been improved.

[lanciaman]

"I also recall buying some one piece rubber framed goggles a la 1960s F1, plastic rather than glass (the sort worn by Clark, Surtees, Hill et al) that were typically protected against stones, debris etc., by black tape on the upper part of the lens. "

I taped mine off at the top to cut down on sun glare. I started out wearing the split lens aces-high type goggles, but the inexpensive rubber one piece goggles with their replaceable lenses were much more practical. And besides, somebody stole mye split lens goggles in the paddock (and I would like them back, please).

[lanciaman]

"The best racing suit at the time was made in Indianapolis by the Hinchman company, and was worn pretty much by all the Brits who visited the Speedway and returned home with both Buco helmets and Hinchman suits. "

Lew Hinchman was a friend of mine. Despite what Bill Simpson likes to say, Lew put the first Nomex suits on race car drivers (IIRC, 1965). Lew was an eccentric but generous fellow. My wife was given a suit by Andy Granatelli of STP for our SCCA racing and when I went with her to Hinchman's Indianapolis shop for her custom fitting, Lew asked me what I had for my own suit. I'd been given a suit by Lee Kunzman, one of his old spare ones, but Lew wouldn't have any of that: he made me a suit to match my wife's, gratis. This represented no small amount of $ to a poor racer in those days. This began a life long friendship with Lew and his wife Bert, both of whom have alas left the building.

Hinchman suits were far superior to anything else on the market, fit wonderfully, and looked great. Lew often replaced damaged suits without charge, or made free repairs. He was friend to many racers. Ultimately he had a falling out with Goodyear, who bought many suits from him, and he slowly became a second tier provider. He was never much interested in building a bigger company than he had, saying that it had given him everything he wanted, and he didn't want to have to work harder just to pay more taxes.

[T54]

Lanciaman, you nailed it. Bill Simpson got way too much credit for what he actually did for the advancement of driver safety, basically steal the Goodyear suit contract from Lee Hinchman. Lee is a nice man and the true pioneer in those days, Bill has a big mouth and a temper.
Not including the helmet situation until the early 1990's, the true driver's personal-equipment safety advancements since the mid 1970's have been done in France, not in Torrance or Indianapolis.

[Vitesse2]

Possibly a one-off and I don't know whose it was or how it got to Indy, but when Rudi Caracciola had his accident there in 1946 he was reportedly wearing a borrowed British Army tank driver's helmet.