21 replies to this topic

[Keir]

This one should be fun!!!
For me , in the car department,
The 1961 Ferrari 156, aka "Sharknose"
This car always looked right, the real shame is that none exist today, save for Chris Rea's replica. Truly a work of art.
As for engines,
The V12 Matras!!!
If you never got to hear this one at full song, more's the pity. When the Matra wailed by, you not only heard it, you felt it.
Driver,
This one's easy
Chris Amon
He had all the talent, but was so human that you never felt detached from him like Stewart and co. If you focused on his bad luck, you missed the mastery of his driving.
There was no one like him before ,during or after. As with my previous choices, all "One of a Kind"

------------------
"I Was Born Ready"

[Art]

Favorite car Mercedes. w196s also known as 300 SLR tube frame magnesium body. Inboard planatry gear driven brakes offser pivoting rear end. Was raced with or without air brake. Engine 196r or 196 s straight eight two 4 cylinder engines on a common block. Direct fuel injection desmodramic valves. Power take off in the center of the block to reduce crank distortion and reduce clutch rpm. Favorite driver Sterling Moss GP & Sports Cars every race was a sprint race a known car braker would not back off with huge leads. Watch Michael Schumacher and you will see a lot of Sterling Moss.

[Dennis David]

... We waited again. Then they came.

Far away in the distance we heard an angry, deep-throated roaring - as someone once remarked, like hungry lions impatient for the arena. A few moments later, Manfred von Brauchitsch, red helmeted, brought a great, silver projectile snaking down the hill, and close behind, his teammate Rudolf Caracciola, then at the height of his great career. The two cars took the hairpin, von Brauchitsch almost sideways, and rocketed away out of sight with long plumes of rubber smoke trailing from their huge rear tyres, in a deafening crash of sound.

The startled Pressmen gazed at each other, awe-struck.

"Strewth," gasped one of them, "so that's what they're like!"

That was what they were like. ...


Need I say more? Caracciola, W125


------------------
Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[AD]

The best looking car ever in F1 in my opinion in F1 was the 1967 Lotus, the 25 I think. It was a beautiful car as it was slim and just looked very fast.

[Ray Bell]

Best looking car - the Eagle you can see on the airborne thread will do, although the first monocoque Brabham (BT33?) wasn't too bad.
Engine, for its time the M196, later on the Cosworth and various Hondas. Can't cope with the V10 idea, myself.
Drivers? too hard to decide. FJ, NL, KR, there are so many.

[karlcars]

Juan Fangio in the Type 159 Alfa in 1951 does it for me. Great car, great driver.

------------------
Karl Ludvigsen

[Eric McLoughlin]

The Lotus 25 first ran in 1962 and evolved into the 33. It was (and still is) a very pretty car. I've always liked the Lotus 16 (as I've said elsewhere on the BB). It could have been the ultimate front engined GP car but Lotus never sorted out its reliability and fragility problems (eg. duff gearbox)and the writing was on the wall anyway for front engined cars. Its replacement, the rear engined 18, was rather boxy and utilitarian but it was a winner.

Favourite driver - I don't really have one now. As a kid Jim Clark and Graham Hill were my heroes. I've always liked Damon Hill, more for his persona than as a driver.

Favourite engine - thats a bit more escoteric. I think the sound of an engine is its soul and on sound only I'd propose Ferrari's 1995 V12, the last GP 12 cylinder they produced and a real screamer. Autosport said this week that the new Mercedes Ilmor in this year's McLaren sounds fantastic because of the way the exhausts exit through the rear diffuser. We'll find out in a few weeks.

[This message has been edited by Eric McLoughlin (edited 02-14-2000).]

[Don Capps]

The Car? Maserati 250F/1, the first GP car I actually touched. It was love (or lust?) at first sight. I have to add the Alfa 158, the Bugatti 35 series, the Dino 156 from 1961, the 1967 Eagle, and the Lotus 25/33, 49 and 72.

The Engine? Another vote for that damn Matra! Geez, was it something! And votes to the Offy (Really!), the DFV, and the Chevy 427 crammed into the rear of a Can-Am car...

The Driver? Really, really, really tough. Stirling Moss, Juan Fangio, Jim Clark, Bernd Rosemeyer, Gilles Villeneuve, and Mario Andretti spring immediately to mind. They are followed with only the slightest gap by Jackie Stewart, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Alberto Ascari, Bill Vukovich, and Graham Hill. Let me add Tim Flock, Alan Kulwicki, Curtis Turner, Richard Petty, and David Pearson as well.



------------------
Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

Semper Gumbi: If this was easy, we’d have the solution already…

[Ray Bell]

I forgot Matich! And there are people around who reckon Alf Barrett was greater. I suppose there could be a case for Allan Tomlinson to get a mention, but it really is too hard...

[buddyt]

How can I choose one, there are so many. Is a Gurney eagle with the weslake V12 a car or moving work of art? The Mercedes-Benz W196 with the streamline body that Fangio won the 1954 Italian GP to me is beauty itself. The sound of a cosworth cackling on overrun in the back of a Lotus 78 is the sound of music.

[Fast One]

This is reallly tough! If I limit it to cars, drivers, and engines from AFTER I began following racing, I'd say the Matra or Honda V-12's. The Honda sounded pretty wild, but I'm not sure if it wasn't because it was sick. The engine that captured my imagination more than any other was one that never made it to the track: the Coventry Climax 1.5 liter Flat 16, with pistons that would fit in the palm of your hand! As a teenager, this engine really captured my imagination! I always regretted it never made it to the track.

As for a car, the BRM of '64/'65 always defined clean lines to me, as did Bruce McLaren's '67 Mclaren-BRM. But the sexiest cat was the Lotus 38(?) that ran at Indy. Great proportions that made everything else out there look obsolete.

By now you know Fearless John was the hero of my youth. But Gurney, Clark, Amon and others impressed me too.

And we haven't even mentioned sports cars...

[Bruce]

This sort of thing changes almost daily for me (depending on what painting I'm working on!) but for now - favourite car - 1964 Ferrari - modern era? 1985 JPS Lotus (more for the livery than anything else....

Favourite engine? BRM V16... nothing sounded quite like it...

Favourite driver? Gilles Villeneuve.

[desmo]

I gave my favorite F1 cars (Brabham BT44 & Lotus 72) in another recent thread, but probably my favorite all-time racer is the Porsche 917-30 for it's sheer audacity. The ultimate.

I'm going to have to think about the driver some more.





Here's why this page took so long to download!



[This message has been edited by desmo (edited 02-15-2000).]

[Dino]

Nice one, Keir!
Favourite car: Eiffeland
Favourite engine: Life W12
Favourite driver: Michael Schumacher.

Oh no, this is too bad to be true.
Let's give it some more thought.
As in beautiful cars the already mentioned Dino 156 'Sharknose' and the striking Merc's and Lotusses are great.
As my best memories are more from the aerodynamic age I'd like to add some wings. The Ferrari 126C (not the short one!) or 643, the Lotusses were in any form striking in their JPS-black and gold, some of the front-wingless cars were somehow geometrically very beautiful, Senna's '91 MP46 as well.

Favourite engine? Hmmm hearing all the screaming Matra's in your topic I sure believe you all it has to be an awesome sound, but ..... never heard it.
The 2000 McLaren sounds fairly impressive, so I'll stick to that one.

Well and finally an even more subjective question. Favourite driver? Well, I can't say anyone else but Ayrton Senna, but beside him Stefan Beloff is a personal fav, in F1 as well as his awesome performances in the Porsche 956. Ronnie Peterson ends up my rostrum.
In a more nostalgic approach, I'd say Wimille, Carraciola and Varzi.


------------------
Greetz,
Dino

Ecurie Historique d'Avantgarde

The Edge ... where the masses spectate, a chosen few compete and only one defines!

[Tarnik]

Well, this one is tough. For driver I'll have to say Dan Gurney, he was one of the greatest American drivers and a real winner all around. His Eagle was beautiful and fast, but for some reason I've always liked the BT24 of Brabham or the 1988 McLaren (MP4/8 I think), it always seemed sleek, powerful and agressive. As for engine, the Matra V12 was wailing (and huge!), the '00 McLaren small and also shreiking.

[ZippyD]

My favorite driver is probably Niki(the rat) Lauda. It's a difficult choice. Niki was the classic driver: tough, dedicated, single minded, knowledgeable, sympathetic to machinery and most of all fast as hell.
He did lack a bit in the personality department early in his career but after his near death ride at the Ring he really loosened up. His battles with James Hunt and later Alain Prost were a sight to behold.
As far as favorite car, I'd have to say the Brabham BT44 driven by Carlos Reutman and Carlos Pace of the mid 70s. It was a beautifully designed car by Gordon Murray(GOD). Clean, mean and made to be seen. Some people think its a very antiseptic looking car, lacking in personality but I think it looks so smooth.

------------------
"Pete, Do you sometimes get tired? Lately I have been getting tired. Very tired."

[MattFoster]

I was doing a search of the threads and this one caught my eye.

As far as Cars are concerned that's a darn hard choice but if push came to shove I would have to pick the 1982 Ligier JS21 it was sooo beautiful, unfortunately I don't know have to add pictures to posts so I can't show an example.

Engines are even harder to pick but the Alfa V12 was amazing as was the Lamborghini v12 that was in the Larrouse, both sounded sooo sooo sweet.

Driver is easy, it would have to be Andrea de Cesaris. I chose him as my favorite as soon as they started showing F1 "live" in Australia in 1981 and I stayed loyal right through to the end of his career. He was not the best by any means but he was much better than his reputation. He was always good value for money.

cheers everyone
Matt

[GT Action Photo]

I have to go along with Mr. Ludvigsen, its' J.M.F.
in the 1951 Alfa Romeo Tipo 159 Alfetta.


(Photo: GT Action Photo)

Don Capps named the engine - the Chevy 510 C.I.D. Can-Am.
I worked at the Chevrolet Central Lab. at the GM Tech. Center and we did Brinell hardness test on the cylinder block castings before they were sent out for machining.


(Photo: GT Action Photo)

desmo-is that my Porsche 917-30 photo ?
Ok to use it, but give me a credit (Photo: GT Action Photo)

With kind regards,
Gary Trobaugh

[C F Eick]

Nice thread! It's nice to see cars, engines and drivers mentioned that never would get any attention if it was a thread of the "greatest ever" car/engine/driver type. Here anyone can advocate for what he is most passionate about, great!

Favorite race car? I suppose that "race car" means any car used for some kind of competition. In that case I'd like to include some rally car, probably the awesome Audi Quattro S1 Evo used at Pike's Peak in 1987. Approximately 600 hp on gravel will always produce something worth seeing...

However, I won't be satisfied if I'm not allowed to mention some tarmac racers too. The Porsche 917K does something really special for me, I can't explain what it is, but perhaps a combination of the looks, the power, the sound, the engineering(I'm not talking about the early cars ), the domination and of course its drivers(Rodriguez, Siffert, Elford, Herrmann, Kinnunen, Larrousse etc) give some clue to why I feel like I do about them.

The Mercedes W125 and the Auto Union C-Type come pretty close though, explanation unnecessary...

A Ferrari must(?) also be mentioned, but which one? Well, pick any of the 330 P3/P4/412 P cars or a 512M or a 712 CanAm Spyder and I will be very satisfied!

Oh, the Alfa 159 is OK too!

Favorite Engine? Well, here I'm more mainstream. Matra V12, BRM 1.5 litre V16, Chevy 510 CanAm or basically any Ferrari V12 would do the trick.

Favorite Driver? I thought about it for a long while and although there are many that I find very strong sympathies for (Gurney, Varzi, Surtees, Peterson for example) there actually is one driver who stands out: Hermann Lang! As for the 917, I can't explain what it is, but in my world Lang is one of the most underrated drivers ever. I don't remember the exact position he got in the MOTOR SPORT Top 100 list but it was well below 50-60, behind Seaman!!! Well, I disagree...not that I don't respect Seaman BTW. Unfortunately the war prevented his further career so we will never know what would have happened otherwise, but I'm sure he would have been among the very best, actually he already was in 1939!

/C F Eick

[Joe Fan]

Favorite Driver: Masten Gregory!! He was the real definition of a racer who put his life on the line (admittedly didn't expect to live past 30) for the love and thrill of the sport. His quote of "If I should die, just bury me wherever. Along the side of the road would be fine." is one that comes from the heart of a racer.

He didn't have to have top line equipment to compete like so many top drivers required (or else they would retire) and he didn't race for the money or glory of it all. Masten just loved racing and he wasn't one of those perfumed princes (sorry Don I had to borrow your term here) like many of today's drivers. Racing was in his blood which is why it was too difficult for him to announce his retirement. He enjoyed the role of the underdog, relishing the possibility of stealing a win away from the factory teams. A former mechanic that worked for a team Masten once drove for seen my article and sent me an e-mail stating that Masten was a real pleasure to work with.

Favorite engine: the DFV and BRM V16

Favorite car: There are many but I have always liked the Mercedes-Benz W196 streamliners, Ford GT40s and just about any 60's Lotus Grand Prix car.

[Uncle Davy]

Joe,

Great article on Masten Gregory.

Favorites? Sorry, nothing original, but I gotta be honest.

Engine, as far as pure sound: Matra V-12. 1970: The absolute SCREECH in the confined spaces of Monaco from a balcony at the Bristol as Beltoise and Pescarolo passed by on approach to Ste. Devote. I think I may have incurred Pete Townsend-level
hearing loss as a result.

Driver: Gotta go with the childhood heroes, Jim Clark and Dan Gurney. Met Jimmy at Indy a couple of times, but never got to see him in F1; never met Dan, but did get to see him drive in F1.

Car: 1967-era Eagle. Loved the article in MotorSport earlier this year with the restored Eagle and the Lotus 49.
Saw Dan drive the Eagle at the 'Ring in 1968, but it had aero add-ons to try to keep it competitive which detracted from its original sleek form.

Also loved the McLaren M7A; orange never looked so good.

[Eagle104]

Here's a shocker for ya.....Dan Gurney..1967 Eagle..Gurney-Weslake V12..Goodyear tires.