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Searching for a helmet

Started by Barry Boor , Jul 30 2016 18:41

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26 replies to this topic

#1 Barry Boor

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Posted 30 July 2016 - 18:41

Knowing that many TNF members are or were racers themselves can anyone identify exactly what make of crash helmet this is?

And..... does anyone have an old one laying around that they no longer need?

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#2 swintex

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Posted 30 July 2016 - 18:48

No idea about the helmet Barry, but I can confidently say the the lettering is in Adrian Frutiger's very fine Univers, not Helvetica or Arial!

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#3 Barry Boor

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Posted 30 July 2016 - 18:53

Or maybe this one?

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#4 Barry Boor

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Posted 30 July 2016 - 18:54

Interesting, Richard, but we aren't trying to reproduce the helmet in that much detail.

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#5 Eaglenindy

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Posted 30 July 2016 - 21:15

Looks the same as my Bell "Star" helmet from the mid to late 70's

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#6 E1pix

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Posted 30 July 2016 - 21:43

Bell Star was my pick as well.

I'd say "without question," but then I'd be wrong.

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#7 Sebastian Tombs

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Posted 30 July 2016 - 23:17

Yep, looks pretty similar to my Bell Star in '79...no triple-layer Nomex then :well:

ST :wave:

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#8 E1pix

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Posted 30 July 2016 - 23:45

Whew. :cool:

Plus-4? :up:

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#9 raceannouncer2003

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 00:10

Maybe I could bring mine to Monaco in 2018 !

Vince H.

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#10 JacnGille

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 02:21

Add me to the Bell Star answer list.

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#11 Jack-the-Lad

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 05:43

Add me to the Bell Star answer list.

Same here!

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#12 swintex

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 06:08

Or maybe this one?

Now that looks like Paul Renner's Futura.

30 years older than Univers.

I'm working on the name on the car.

Sorry for the delay :wave:

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#13 JacnGille

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 15:57

I'm working on the name on the car.

François Migault???

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#14 Vitesse2

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 16:00

François Migault???

Think he's referring to the font ...

And as the car is the Connew, I think Barry probably knows who the driver is! :lol:

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#15 Cirrus

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 18:38

Barry - my first full-face helmet was a Trackstar (a Japanese VERY close copy of a Bell Star). I had a partial clearout of my loft a few months ago but I don't remember throwing the helmet away so, if it's still up there, you're more than welcome to it. The foam lining was perishing when I last looked but if you're after something to put on the back wing of the Connew for effect then I'm sure it would suffice.

... don't think there's a DG300 in the loft as well but I'll have a look

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#16 Pat Clarke

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 19:05

Barry,

Both are Bell Star 1, the first model with a flip up visor.

The similar but later Bell Star 2 has a slightly wider window and visor to match.

The giveaway is the position of the tear off posts.

There is one for sale here on EBay, the price being what you have to expect these days.

http://www.ebay.com....7sAAOSw0fhXl7EN

Pat

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#17 E1pix

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 19:31

Pat, am I wrong that what must have been the Bell Star 2 had quite a bit less window height?

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#18 swintex

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 20:19

François Migault???

Think he's referring to the font ...

Sorry. Yes.

It's very similar to Futura, but I wonder whether maybe it was signwritten, which might account for some of the idiosyncrasies.

It might not be that important to some, but I think, if it's worth recreating, it's worth trying to get some of the smaller details right too.

But I do fully accept that getting the letter style of the driver's name wrong won't cause the rear wheels to fall off

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#19 E1pix

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 22:33

… It might not be that important to some, but I think, if it's worth recreating, it's worth trying to get some of the smaller details right too...

Being I sign-painted over 500 race cars in the '70s and '80s, couldn't agree more! :clap:

It's undeniably amazing to me to see someone spending hundreds of thousands on a vintage race car... only to go to a hack vinyl shop and apparently proclaim "close enough…"

… And it's almost enough to make me break out the quills again… almost...

On the helmet lettering, I concur the second helmet uses Futura Bold or a sign painter's close rendition. Recommended over the first helmet's style for sure.

I can add that once a good sign guy understands font design, there's times a "self-created" font looks almost identical to an existing font family.

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#20 Barry Boor

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 22:37

I feel that I should point out that while we would like to obtain an old helmet of the type worn by François the intention is to paint it red and yellow but not decorate it with the name as we feel that wouldn't be quite the tight thing to do.

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#21 E1pix

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 22:44

Can I ask why not?

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#22 Sebastian Tombs

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 22:44

Whew.

Plus-4?

Plus 8

ST :wave:

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#23 E1pix

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Posted 31 July 2016 - 22:51

My Dad had a Plus-4… and I used to know Anatoly Arutunoff, probably the most-famous, later-day Morgan racer in the States (Peter Revson likely the most-famed of all, racing one in the '60s). "Toly" won the SCCA Runoffs twice, but had the first taken away in '73 from some seemingly-suspect, over-anxious tech inspecting. He got even in '77.

I used to steer my Dad's all the way to the races at Road America as a kid.

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#24 Sebastian Tombs

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Posted 02 August 2016 - 23:38

My Dad had a Plus-4… and I used to know Anatoly Arutunoff, probably the most-famous, later-day Morgan racer in the States (Peter Revson likely the most-famed of all, racing one in the '60s). "Toly" won the SCCA Runoffs twice, but had the first taken away in '73 from some seemingly-suspect, over-anxious tech inspecting. He got even in '77.

I used to steer my Dad's all the way to the races at Road America as a kid.

Ah, Tulsa Toly...fastest 4/4 driver ever in Old No 55. That car has recently been acquired from Toly by Duncan Charlton, a well-known Morgan nut from Austin TX so you might see it out again :up: