I already have a thread on pre-war motor racing in Hungary, but as I have a new book out which deals with postwar-stuff, I thought it'd be best to open a new topic.
So first of all, the book:
Cars made in Hungary since 1945
This is a 104 page, hard-cover book, priced at EUR 29,90 plus p&p. There are home made cars, microcars, sportscars etc. all made in Hungary between 1945-1990.
The second chapter deals with the history of autosport. This is where it gets interesting
Thing is, the era betwen 1945-1963 has not been covered even in Hungarian at all. So I had to do a lot of research. Originally I was just researching the history of a pre-war Maserati, raced by Tibor Szeles in the 1950s, but as I dug deeper, I found more and more fascinating stuff.So the Maserati pictures ended up here:
Der Maserati 3015 - a limited edition book
Back to Cars made in Hungary since 1945, chapter 2. There are about 100 pictures, depicting all kind of cars which raced in Hungary between 1945-1963.
Here are just a few.
And here's a bit of text.
Most of the cars were destroyed or confiscated during the 2nd World War. Many of the racers also perished. Those who returned were not favored by the new political regime and either went into exile or faced harsh punishments, labor camps or even executions.
The new communist regime, which came into power in 1948 favored motorcycle racing. It supported events, cultivated talents and made it one of its pet sports projects.
Autosport on the other hand was tolerated to a very small degree, but was not promoted for many years.
Most of the car races between 1946 and 1961 were held as part of motorcycle races.
After the war there were precious few racecars. A few Bugatti lingered, mostly in battered condition. A Maserati and a BMW 328 left here by the Festetics family, when they escaped to France, one or two Alfa Romeo cars, a couple of Fiats – there was not a huge selection to choose from.
However suddenly more and more BMW 328 cars appeared, and the number of Alfa Romeo cars have also increased. Though no official account exists on how these cars arrived to Hungary, several former members of the racing fraternity confirmed a story which is described in greater detail in the book.
The first real post-war championship for cars was announced in 1951. Usually therre were only two categories: sub-1100 cc and over 1100 cc.
In 1952 the official body of car racing became the National Physical Education and Sport Committee (OTSB) – as the Hungarian Automobile Club was in shambles. The Ministry of Transportation and Postal Affairs issued an official decree, which sanctioned race car building. Cars could only be built at official workshops – private effort was not allowed.
Mechanics used wrecked cars, leftover parts – anything they could get their hands on. Old Lancia cars were favored, because of their tough rear suspensions. Sometimes the Ministry provided a wrecked car or some parts to a workshop to build a racing car out of it – among others, Bugatti cars were scavenged for chassis and body parts.
And so on
I stopped at 1963 where makeshift racing cars were slowly replaced by East German Formula Jr racers and also rally racing gathered steam.
Now, if you are going to order any of the two books, you can do it either via the websites I linked - then please send me a short PM so I get my comission
, or send me a PM and I'll arrange everything for you.
Edited by pnegyesi, 22 October 2012 - 08:02.
