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[Roger Clark]

In 1969, Denis Jenkinson wrote:

"Earlier this year in Italy I bought a collection of 12 coloured postcards of racing cars, principally because the top one on the pack was a very good photo of a P4 Ferrari prototype. The set cost about 10s and were very neatly packed in a cardboard frame, but as I looked through them I became a bit disturbed. Eagle, Honda and Brabham Grand Prix cars were fine, and the colours were good, but there were three in the set, of a Ferrari, a BRM and a McLaren that appeared to be driven by the same driver, at least as far as the helmet colours were concerned. The captions on the back said Amon, Stewart and McLaren, and while the first one clearly was Amon, the second was not Stewart, and the third one was obviously Rindt. "Now wait a minute," I thought, "when did Rindt ever driver a McLaren?" The photo was taken at Monza, passing an empty grandstand which was puzzling. The BRM pertaining to be Stewart in an H-16 car was obviously the wrong colour green, whereas the other photos were very good colour reproductions. While scanning the H-16 photo the penny dropped, for in the background was a lot of camera equipment. Rindt was not in a McLaren, he was in an old Formula Three car faked to look like a McLaren, and the H-16 BRM was another film-phoney, with a "stand-in" in the cockpit. Amon in the genuine Ferrari V12 was wearing the James Garner red, white and blue sequence crash hat, which somehow was being worn by Rindt in the phoney McLaren at a later date, and the unknown "extra" in the BRM somewhere else.

"So thanks to Hollywood coming to Europe and "doing good for the sport", a very nice and well-balanced selection of colour postcards has been upset by the introduction, unwittingly I am sure, of two fake cars. However, perhaps I am wrong for this set could become very valuable like a series of stamps with the wrong perforations, or those classic Italian 500-lire coins on which the engraver had the sails of a boat blowing in one direction and the flag in the opposite direction! Perhaps in 20 years time my 10s collection of picture postcards will be become a collectors item and Southeby's Auction will raise £100 for them. Perhaps! If they do I'll buy Frankenheimer the dinner he always promised me but never got round to buying, at which he was going to ask me why I did not like his film.

"I am sure Hollywood’s invasion of the Grand Prix paddock did someone some good somewhere, but so far it has not been very obvious."

Has anyone seen these photos? I would rather like to see Rindt in a Formula 3 car, faked to look like a McLaren and wearing the Amon/Aron helmet.

[marat]

There was on Franco Varani 's old site a picture of one of the Grand Prix film cars instead
of the real Amon car.
But difficult to say if Rindt was driving.