72 replies to this topic

[zepunishment]

What would you consider to be the golden eras of motorsport across the various disciplines? For example, Group B and Group C are commonly considered to be so in rallying and sportscars respectively. However, what are the periods that would fit the bill to you, and can they be narrowed down to definite years? 90s CART? Late 60's f1? Early 90s f1? Please feel free to include lots of photos to support your case!

[pacificquay]

Nothing is ever as bad now as people think it is and nothing was ever as good as people think it was ;)

[Amphicar]

I've already posted this a couple of times over the years but it fits the bill so:

 

I reckon one's definition of "the golden age of motor racing" probably correlates pretty closely to when one started watching and following motor racing. For me that was the early 1960s so, as far as I am concerned, that decade is the golden age. I never saw Nuvolari, Fangio or Moss race but I did see Jim Clark, Dan Gurney, Graham Hill, John Surtees and Jackie Stewart (to name but a few) and in the cases of Clark and Hill, I was able to see them race three different types of car (F1, sports cars and saloons) on a single day at a circuit that I could get to on my bicycle and at a price I could afford from my paper-round earnings. It was also a decade of great variety and innovation in car and engine design - not only in Formula 1 but also sports cars and at the Indy 500.

[Atreiu]

F1 between 83 and 88, the turbo champs:

 

Piquet, Lauda, Prost, Senna. Who, not coincidently, all won titles under different engine regulations/configurations. Senna aside, all won titles for different teams.

Edited by Atreiu, 03 December 2014 - 19:47.

[JHSingo]

Super Touring in BTCC, without doubt. So almost the entire of the 90s.

 

Today's NGTCs do nothing for me in comparison. And it's a shame there's no global touring car specification today like Super Touring was.

[Peter Perfect]

I've already posted this a couple of times over the years but it fits the bill so:

 

I reckon one's definition of "the golden age of motor racing" probably correlates pretty closely to when one started watching and following motor racing. For me that was the early 1960s so, as far as I am concerned, that decade is the golden age. I never saw Nuvolari, Fangio or Moss race but I did see Jim Clark, Dan Gurney, Graham Hill, John Surtees and Jackie Stewart (to name but a few) and in the cases of Clark and Hill, I was able to see them race three different types of car (F1, sports cars and saloons) on a single day at a circuit that I could get to on my bicycle and at a price I could afford from my paper-round earnings. It was also a decade of great variety and innovation in car and engine design - not only in Formula 1 but also sports cars and at the Indy 500.

 

I think that's what it's all about. For me it's the late 80's early 90's F1 with Senna/Prost/Mansell/Hill/Schumacher/... and the resurgence of Williams.

[ollebompa]

WEC/WSC Group C era.

Edited by ollebompa, 03 December 2014 - 20:34.

[pRy]

The Mika and Michael years. Short but full of complete respect for each other on and off track. For me that was the best era I've watched.

http://4.bp.blogspot.../elizalde01.jpg

Edited by pRy, 03 December 2014 - 20:47.

[DampMongoose]

From my lifetime 80's Group C, Group B rally. ETCC, F1 turbos, most of the proper circuits in a decent form...

50's 60's real road racing. Le mans, Mille Miglia, Targa Florio. Reims, Pescara, Mugello, Spa, drivers in all types of cars...

[WalterTrout]

2005-2010 were amazing seasons for F1.

[Risil]

2002-2006 MotoGP was an extraordinary period for technical, sporting and entertainment reasons.

 

World Superbike in 1994-2002 was like a two-wheeled Super Touring. They both look better with every passing year.

 

IMSA GTP from the mid eighties to around 1992 was even better than Group C too.

[scheivlak]

F1: Later sixties/early seventies for me, a time full of experiment, innovation and diversity and some truly great drivers driving sportscars, F2, Indy, whatever as well.

Mid eighties are next, the turbo era - again a time of innovation and diversity. Last few years aren't bad either, as the voting threads in the Bets&Games forum show.

Lamest era: the mid nineties especially are refuellling became possible. A lot of ugly cars and too many boring races. Talentwise it was the weakest era as well, after the likes of Senna, Prost, Mansell and Piquet disappeared.

 

Sports cars: top years are 1964-1967 and 1970-1971 for me,  the years of the Great Battles. Group C circa 1987-1991 next.

The last few years endurance racing gets better and better but I find these cars so damn ugly...... and still a bit slow.

 

CART was pretty much fantastic from the later eighties on until the fatal split after 1995 - the Eurosport years for me. 

[Risil]

CART's 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and (less so) 2000 seasons set a pretty high bar. The racing on the ovals got progressively worse and they stopped visiting Indy. But the quality of drivers, standard of equipment, spectacle and drama made up for that.

Edited by Risil, 03 December 2014 - 21:57.

[SanDiegoGo]

F1 - mid 80's to mid 90's

 

Rally - The McRae years.

[Myrvold]

I'm really not sure what I feel is the golden era. But I feel we are in a "rusty" era right now.
 

Every era which have one or more of this criterias have chance to become a golden era, the more, the better.

A) Danger, the drivers feels like gladiators. "How do they do that". "How do they dare to do it!", "It's just crazy!!!"

B) Danger, The tracks feels "vanilla", they are made from terrain, and where it is feasible to drive. Not a man-made "Tilkedrome".

C) Pushing the Limits, The Cars are pushing the limits, they are monsters, they don't have too much electronic help, but they have power, they are monsters.

 

D) Edge of the seat fighting. The races produce tight racing, with many opportunities to pass (doesn't need to be pass), the passes have to be "real", not aided.

[Risil]

Eras that seem golden looking back were often a smelly fog at the time. So I try to suspend judgement on anything too modern and just ask myself whether I'm entertained and feel like learning more about it.

[George Costanza]

F1 has to be: Senna-Prost-Schumacher years. 1984-2000.

 

DTM: 1990s.... BTCC: 1990s.  

[nordschleife]

If Gilles Villeneuve was in it, it was golden, because anything - anything - could happen.

[Dan333SP]

As a stateside fan, my golden era for sportscars would be ALMS in 1999 and again in 2008. '99 had huge grids and the BMW taking on the Panoz, 2008 had epic battles in great looking cars that essentially mimicked Indycar with the teams and drivers for Acura and Porsche, plus the diesel Audis. The GT racing between Ferrari and Porsche was classic that year as well,

 

In terms of general sportscar racing that I didn't witness in person, '70-'71 with the 5L Ferrari/Porsche battles.

 

CART would be '98-'99.

 

For me, F1 would be '66-'67, first two years of 3L and last 2 years of no wings/sponsorship. Best looking cars ever to race in the sport, arguably. Of the "modern" era, my golden age would be the MSC/Hakkinen fights between '98 and '01. Miss those days.

[SKL]

F1- late 80's to mid 90's...    CART in same era, before TG F**ked it all up... was lucky enough to see the golden years of CART at Road America each summer.   Also have to mention Can-Am during the McLaren and 917 Donohue-Penske era.   Watching Donohue at RA is something you don't forget!!

[Marc Sproule]

took my first racing pics in '74, last ones in '97.

 

i reckon that was a pretty good era to be part of.......in there you will find f1, formula atlantic, imsa, new era can am and cart

 

https://www.flickr.c...681980@N03/sets

Edited by Marc Sproule, 04 December 2014 - 06:28.

[Jimisgod]

CART, from roughly 1985 to 2001.

 

BTCC, roughly 1989 to 2000.

 

V8SC, roughly 1999 to 2007, then the last two years have been very good.

 

F1, impossible to tell. Each era had different strengths and weaknesses.

 

Sportscars/WEC/Group C or whatever you want to call it, roughly ~1967 to ~1973 then ~1985 to 1998.

 

WRC, the Group B era and then 1992 to 2000.

Edited by Jimisgod, 04 December 2014 - 05:48.

[Fulcrum]

CART from 1985 to 1992
F1 60s-80s
DTM 90s

Edited by Fulcrum, 04 December 2014 - 08:36.

[Richard T]

Sportscars are entering one 

 

F1... I'd say 2006-2012

[ollebompa]

Sportscars are entering one 

 

F1... I'd say 2006-2012

 

Absolutely.

[Collombin]

Rallying has to be the Group B era.

F1, the late 60s I guess. The fact that Can Am and sportscar racing were also in their golden eras then would have been cool too.

Indy? I would very happily have spent the 1952-1972 period there.

Whilst in the US I would also program the De Lorean to visit the board track era of the 1920s to see the glorious and beautiful Millers at full pelt.

[Henri Greuter]

For rallying, I think I'd start in 1974, up to the Gp B era. '74-79 included because of the Stratos!

 

 

Indy: the late 20's saw magnificent cars by Miller, still beauties to behold. if the racing they provided elsewhere but indy was good?

Indy: the 60s!

CART: 1985-1995 was great, that includes Indy.

CART  1996-1999 also still a great series despite the lack of indy.

 

F1: 74-79 since the Cosworth finally got opposition from V12s and because of the variety among the Cosworth cars.

 

Sportscars: 1969-1971 (512 & 917, need I say more?)

                   the Gp C era 1982-1990.

 

                 

Henri

[DrivenF1]

No such thing as a golden era in F1 to me.

 

Each era in any racing series has its own strengths and weaknesses. I've been following F1 intently for the last 20-21 years and this year was one of the best years for racing throughout the field. But it has been missing things too.

 

I think F1 is between a rock and a hard place. The more it brings in measures to help overtaking, the more people complain about the lack of purity. The more it aims to be technology relevant (green), the more people whine. The more it attempts to be become the pinnacle of motorsport through innovation, the more teams that threaten to leave because of costs.

 

It's a bloody tough balancing act to manage.

[crbassassin]

For nascar, its the 90's.

[ezequiel]

And it's a shame there's no global touring car specification today like Super Touring was.

 

Now there is, it seems http://www.autosport...t.php/id/117032

[bc681]

Don't think this year will ever fall into that title

[FerrariV12]

Based on my own experiences/opinion (therefore excluding stuff I was too young to remember first hand, like F1's first turbo era, Group B rallying or Group C sportscars):

 

IndyCar/CART - 1993-1999 (it stayed strong another two years but had begun its downhill slide pretty much when the new millennium came along for me)

 

WRC - 1993-2001

 

BTCC - 1992-1999

 

DTM - 1993-1996

 

Sportscars - For me Le Mans peaked at a point around 1999, but sportscars as a whole including a world championship as well as the big one - I think I'll actually chalk one up for the present/near future there

[crooky369]

Late 90s for me... When I started watching Motorsport funnily enough.

Decent championship battles in F1, strong Le Mans lineup with all the manufacturers in 98 and 99, very strong BTCC grids, multiple world class British rally drivers.

So yeah there's a reason for it not just sentimental reasons.

[paipa]

Chariot racing 125–50 BC before Julius Caesar rebuilt the Circus Maximus. In the Byzantine era 750–775 AD under Constantine V wasn't bad, but never really matched the Roman golden era.

[speedman13]

1935 to 1939

[Fastcake]

Now there is, it seems http://www.autosport...t.php/id/117032

That's a sensible idea. What is wrong with the FIA lately?

[santori]

My personal golden era of rallying was from the late eighties to the mid 2000s. That's partly just because of when I became interested in it, but I think also the combined level of competition, excitement, and safety was at its highest.

[427MkIV]

For nascar, its the 90's.

I'd say the '80s when the cars were more varied, more like the showroom versions they didn't have restrictor plates and you didn't have the big multi-car teams.

For USAC/CART, I'd go back to the 50s and the prime years of the roadsters, through the rear-engine revolution and up the the CART/IRL split. Somay great drivers, great cars and varied tracks, even Brands Hatch.

 

The original Can-Am and IMSA GTP/GTO/GTU were great years for sportscars in the US.

 

And any period that has spec cars or BoP is the opposite of a golden era.  

Edited by 427MkIV, 04 December 2014 - 15:26.

[917k]

No such thing as a golden era in F1 to me.

 

Each era in any racing series has its own strengths and weaknesses. I've been following F1 intently for the last 20-21 years and this year was one of the best years for racing throughout the field. But it has been missing things too.

 

I think F1 is between a rock and a hard place. The more it brings in measures to help overtaking, the more people complain about the lack of purity. The more it aims to be technology relevant (green), the more people whine. The more it attempts to be become the pinnacle of motorsport through innovation, the more teams that threaten to leave because of costs.

 

It's a bloody tough balancing act to manage.

 

One of the better posts I have read here.....so sensible.

[RS2000]

It's inevitably when you first took an interest. When that "golden era" corresponds to British drivers first assuming the mantle in F1 (1958) it's a no-brainer.

 

Amazing how so many want to recall the "Group B era" of rallying with rose-tinted spectacles. Virtually no one within the sport then does. That aberration nearly killed the sport (and I write as one who actually drove a GpB car on Internationals).

[Collombin]

The same could be said of the 1982 F1 season.

Cars that were incredibly uncomfortable to drive, lots of politics, tragedy and ill will, yet nowadays people unconnected to the sport at the time rave about it.

[jonpollak]

I've already posted this a couple of times over the years but it fits the bill so:
 
I reckon one's definition of "the golden age of motor racing" probably correlates pretty closely to when one started watching and following motor racing. For me that was the early 1960s so, as far as I am concerned, that decade is the golden age. I never saw Nuvolari, Fangio or Moss race but I did see Jim Clark, Dan Gurney, Graham Hill, John Surtees and Jackie Stewart (to name but a few) and in the cases of Clark and Hill, I was able to see them race three different types of car (F1, sports cars and saloons) on a single day at a circuit that I could get to on my bicycle and at a price I could afford from my paper-round earnings. It was also a decade of great variety and innovation in car and engine design - not only in Formula 1 but also sports cars and at the Indy 500.[/size]

Yep...that's the answer.

Jp

[JHSingo]

Now there is, it seems http://www.autosport...t.php/id/117032

 

When I read that headline I was excited, but the fact is it's still not true.

 

It's a mess. You've got WTCC doing its own thing, TC3 which seems to be something that could rival it but isn't allowed World Championship status, STCC running those weird Solution F silhouette things, NGTC, DTM only being a touring car in name, because they're really not, and V8 Supercars as well.

 

If I had my way, every touring car championship would conform to the 2017 V8 (or not) Supercars rules. That seems like a common sense platform, but there are far too many politics involved these days that we'll probably never see something like Super Touring again, where pretty much every touring car series on the planet ran to those regs.

Edited by JHSingo, 04 December 2014 - 18:33.

[kwikmike]

In my opinion:

Formula 1:    1974 - 1994

CART:           1989 - 1999

Sportscars:   1973 - 1986 / 2015 - ?

DTM:             1992 - 1995

Rally/WRC:    1974 - 1986 / 1993 - 2001

Edited by kwikmike, 04 December 2014 - 18:42.

[Amphicar]

Yep...that's the answer.

Jp

Thanks Jp - of course my definition is basically nostalgia viewed through rose-tinted specs. In reality most of the races I watched back then were decided more by car reliability (actually car unreliability) than anything else.

 

In 1967, which would probably be the golden year in my golden era, Graham Hill, Dan Gurney and Jackie Stewart only managed to finish 7 championship Grands Prix between them - NGH saw the chequered flag in three, while DSG and JYS  only managed two each.

 

On the other hand In 1967 Dan Gurney raced in Nascar, USAC (IndyCar), F1, the Le Mans 24 hour race and Trans-Am. During that year he won 1 USAC race, two F1 races, the Le Mans 24 hour race. So perhaps it really was the golden era! 

[Fastcake]

When I read that headline I was excited, but the fact is it's still not true.

 

It's a mess. You've got WTCC doing its own thing, TC3 which seems to be something that could rival it but isn't allowed World Championship status, STCC running those weird Solution F silhouette things, NGTC, DTM only being a touring car in name, because they're really not, and V8 Supercars as well.

 

If I had my way, every touring car championship would conform to the 2017 V8 (or not) Supercars rules. That seems like a common sense platform, but there are far too many politics involved these days that we'll probably never see something like Super Touring again, where pretty much every touring car series on the planet ran to those regs.

 

You can't force the various touring car championships to run any set of regulations. They are all independently run, and if they don't like the common platform you have created they will simply not use it, and carry on running their existing regulations. All the FIA can do is to create a set of regulations that are available for adoption, and then hope that enough series will choose to take advantage of using the common platform, provided that the platform is cost effective and desirable of course.

 

Which is exactly what they have done. The FIA picked up the NGTC rules as their new approved national series, which is a sensible choice considering how successful they have been in the BTCC. I would presume that a number of championships will make the change, else there wouldn't have been the push to create a common rule set.

 

So to bring this back on topic, touring cars "golden era" is almost certainly the Super Touring era. And we're not likely to see that again, as it proved to be completely unsustainable. But after the mire touring cars found themselves in the 2000s, we may well start to see a revival in the sport.

[Sheepmachine]

For me personally 2003, F1 that year was great (one of the best). Wrc was thrilling just a shame it ended the way it did for Richard Burns. BTCC was great too and who can forget F3000 and Bjorn wirdheim's early celebration in Monaco!

[midgrid]

Super Touring in BTCC, without doubt. So almost the entire of the 90s.

 

Today's NGTCs do nothing for me in comparison. And it's a shame there's no global touring car specification today like Super Touring was.

 

Excellent timing - the FIA has just today adopted the current BTCC regulations as one of two templates for national-level series (I know it's not the same thing, but it was too good to miss). 

[stenovitz]

Well, at least I'm pretty sure the sound of Auto Union Typ C was better than today's F1 lawnmovers.

Experiencing that monster at the old and then very much bumpy Nürburgring in the 1930ies at racing speed must have been quite a spectacle. But I can't actually tell.

After having read tons of materials during a couple of decades, I THINK the Grand Prix races before the 1950 world championship introduction were a blast in most occations.

I wished I was older, so I had been able to attend the 1972 (my year of birth) Targa Florio endurance race witnessing prototypes like the Ferrari 312PB slicing through Sicily's vulcanic landscapes, small dirt roads and through small villages with 140 mph speed and only straw bales as security.

One thing I remember, though, was the 1988 Le Mans with the Group C racers down the non-chikaned Mulsanne straght. That's the race that got me hooked to Le Mans. Not because of the action, just because of pure speed and sound :-)

[jonpollak]

@Amphicar.
1967 the year of my first GP at Monaco thanks to Dad.

We were lucky weren't we?
Jp

Edited by jonpollak, 05 December 2014 - 01:18.