15 replies to this topic

[mariner]

I just happened on a copy of the July 1958 Motor Sport at a classic car show, maybe the best 50p I ever spent. 

 

It has coverage of the British and \French GP's plus DSJ's very long article on the Monza 500 mile race between the USAC and European cars. DSJ wrote an  unusually long race report and a big feature on the cars.

 

It is pretty clear he got really excited about the high speed track racing and the wiliingness of the Indy drivers to race wheel to wheel at 180 mph. He covers the  sheer bravery of Musso in a evil handling Ferrari and goes into more detail on Moss's mental state before and during race then I recall him writing elsewhere. 

 

DSJ's enthusiasm for this event has whetted my appetite for more on it. Are there any videos out there showing the racing please apart from this one?

 

[Vitesse2]

German home movie (no sound)

 

[Vitesse2]

Italian newsreels:

 

https://patrimonio.a...Page=0&jsonVal={%22jsonVal%22:{%22query%22:%22monza%201958%22,%22startDate%22:%22%22,%22endDate%22:%22%22,%22fieldDate%22:%22dataNormal%22,%22_perPage%22:20,%22archiveType_string%22:%22xDamsCineLuce%22}}

 

https://patrimonio.a...Page=0&jsonVal={%22jsonVal%22:{%22query%22:%22monza%201958%22,%22startDate%22:%22%22,%22endDate%22:%22%22,%22fieldDate%22:%22dataNormal%22,%22_perPage%22:20,%22archiveType_string%22:%22xDamsCineLuce%22}}

 

https://patrimonio.a...Page=0&jsonVal={%22jsonVal%22:{%22query%22:%22monza%201958%22,%22startDate%22:%22%22,%22endDate%22:%22%22,%22fieldDate%22:%22dataNormal%22,%22_perPage%22:20,%22archiveType_string%22:%22xDamsCineLuce%22}}

[mariner]

Thank you so much, this forum never ceases to amaze me in terms of knowledge.

 

The racing sure looked exciting, I know A J Foyt ran in 58 , he must have been quite young then  Probably a big adventure goin g to Italy for many of the USAC guys who were too young for any WW2 experience, like Foyt.

[Hati]

 

Whaaat. They drove the oval anti-clockwise?!?! I've always thought that they drove it clockwise, like GP track. Were all oval races in that direction?

 

I thought so mainly because in games there is a long version where lap consists of oval and GP track, has there ever been real races with that combination?

[Vitesse2]

Turning right would have confused the Americans.

 

Monza was designed so that the oval could be used separately or as part of a road/oval circuit. But, like Montlhéry, where there was a similar option, it was intended to be a clockwise oval. Again like Montlhéry, it was run clockwise for long-distance record attempts. And of course, if you ran road/oval races anti-clockwise on the oval section, then you'd have had to run the road circuit 'the wrong way round'!

[Collombin]

Volume 26 of the Motorfilms Quarterly DVD series has a superb colour film of the 1957 running, which would presumably also be of interest?

[Porsche718]

At the 1958 event, didn't the Formula Junior race use the banked circuit, but in the opposite direction to 500 mile race - IIRC?

[Paul Parker]

Whaaat. They drove the oval anti-clockwise?!?! I've always thought that they drove it clockwise, like GP track. Were all oval races in that direction?

 

I thought so mainly because in games there is a long version where lap consists of oval and GP track, has there ever been real races with that combination?

 

So what happened to the rest of the film?

 

It was very good while it lasted but as usual in period and beyond, motor racing per se was not given proper coverage by the broadcast media, presumably there was more footage, perhaps it still exists somewhere.

[Henri Greuter]

Whaaat. They drove the oval anti-clockwise?!?! I've always thought that they drove it clockwise, like GP track. Were all oval races in that direction?

 

I thought so mainly because in games there is a long version where lap consists of oval and GP track, has there ever been real races with that combination?

 

 

Turning right would have confused the Americans.

 

Monza was designed so that the oval could be used separately or as part of a road/oval circuit. But, like Montlhéry, where there was a similar option, it was intended to be a clockwise oval. Again like Montlhéry, it was run clockwise for long-distance record attempts. And of course, if you ran road/oval races anti-clockwise on the oval section, then you'd have had to run the road circuit 'the wrong way round'!

 

 

1958 was the second (and last) race, It all started in 1957 with the intention to attract the American cars&stars of Indy to Europe. So the event hat to mimmick Indy as much as possible: thus running anti-clockwise.

Besides that, given the manner how the American built cars were set up and even built to drive on anti-clockwise tracks, there was little to no choise. Those big roadsters were very uneasy to drive when turning to the right due to their setup and weight distribution. (most of the weight on the left wheels)

[lotuspoweredbyford]

We sent some video and audio of this race out for preservation, so hopefully soon we will have some good news on that project....

[Henri Greuter]

We sent some video and audio of this race out for preservation, so hopefully soon we will have some good news on that project....

 

I hope that the '57 footage was included too if there was some of that.....

[lotuspoweredbyford]

I hope that the '57 footage was included too if there was some of that.....

 

Not that I recall, but it's a couple million feet of film total for the project, so it's possible it was in there. I will double-check the list.

Edited by lotuspoweredbyford, 17 May 2018 - 17:30.

[Henri Greuter]

Not that I recall, but it's a couple million feet of film total for the project, so it's possible it was in there. I will double-check the list.

 

Would be a bit embarassing if '57 material appears within the '58 report...

 

I tell this because many years ago, before the internet was operational I won a photo identifying contest with Autosport magazine where they had printed a picture of the '58 race and every entry save 2 answered it was '57. I was declared the winner because my entry was the first to arrive with the correct answer....

[D-Type]

This reminds me of a lovingly produced website about the Moroccan Grand Prix.  The narrative was excellent, but unfortunately the compiler had mixed up pictures of the 1957 non-Championship race with those from the 1958 Championship race.

[lotuspoweredbyford]

Would be a bit embarassing if '57 material appears within the '58 report...

I tell this because many years ago, before the internet was operational I won a photo identifying contest with Autosport magazine where they had printed a picture of the '58 race and every entry save 2 answered it was '57. I was declared the winner because my entry was the first to arrive with the correct answer....

I don’t believe that would be an issue.

We sent a thousand cans of film, all were clearly marked, I just need to see if one of them was 1957 or not.

Edited by lotuspoweredbyford, 18 May 2018 - 01:43.