4 replies to this topic

[SGM]

I apologise in advance if this has already been posted about but a friend sent me a link to the Scottish film archive (now known as Moving Images). There is some great footage of early motor racing and hillclimbing on the site and the quality of some of the films is surprisingly good. For anyone doing research into historic racing etc. it may prove a valuable research tool. There are films on other interesting topics as well including motorbikes and I found a film on the Bennie rail plane. Fascinating stuff.

https://movingimage.nls.uk/search

[Pullman99]

The Scottish Film Archive is a real treasure trove of images and does indeed hold many items on transport including motorsport. Much of the footage on Scottish motor racing and hillclimbing cam from films shot by James Anderson whose family garage business (they became a large Rootes Group distributor) was based at Newton Mearns on the South-West of Glasgow. He had built a series of "Anderson Specials" mainly for hillclimbing and the continually developed surviving car is part of the collection of Glasgow Museums. An article in the Daily Record h(link below) contains some background to this.

https://www.dailyrec...-built-11867516

I came across this material, and also met James Anderson, when I was working in museums some years ago and it is truly fascinating. It includes footage of the hillclimb at Bo'ness and the Rest and be Thankful as well as Formula One at Turnberry featuring Mike Hawthorn in the Thinwall Special and Ken Wharton (I think) in the BRM.   And, of course, the truly wonderful Bennie Railplane at Milngavie (pronounced Mull Guy in case you were wondering) with its test track above the LMS mainline. Excellent to see this important resource highlighted in this Forum

Edited by Pullman99, 03 January 2020 - 15:02.

[SGM]

Was it one of the Anderson Specials I saw that had a camera mounted to it as they drove around the countryside? It was a neat looking little sports car. A very early form of race cam I guess!

Coincidentally, after posting yesterday I watched a 1950 Rest and Be Thankful hillclimb video on the site. There was a lot of footage of the officials and the course car etc which gives a real feel for the times. If I ever make it to the UK, Rest and Be Thankful will be on my list of places to visit.

[Michael Oliver]

I'll second all the positive comments above, as I've just spent a most enjoyable day exploring this archive. Much of the footage is a bit older than my normal period of interest, so the only car I could personally identify was Willie Forbes in his Lotus 35-BMW at a 1966 SMRC meeting at Ingliston shot in colour (Ref no 9912) which includes quite a few single-seaters as well as saloons and GTs.

In film 3655 there is around a minute of what appears to be footage of cars racing down a straight at Brooklands at 5 minutes 20 seconds.

Film 3108 is an approx 9-minute film about a kart meeting in Aberdeen in 1960, which is mildly entertaining and captures the very amateur nature of the sport at the time.

2120 is the already-mentioned film of the Rest and be Thankful hillclimb in 1950, in gorgeous colour and with tons of atmosphere.

For Lotuseers, 1519 (Home and Away No. 8) shows at around four and a half minutes, some footage of the now demolished Casino Hotel on Taggs Island, scene of some fairly riotous Club Lotus dinners in the late 50s/early 60s, plus it also includes some shots from the 1956 Rest and be Thankful hillclimb from 5m 45s.

Finally, I found film 7341 (Anderson Cars: Anderson Special On the Road) to be fascinating and it encouraged me to spend more time looking up an article in Motor Sport which is shown in the film. What an innovative car! Self-built horizontally opposed 4- and 8-cylinder engines and the later car featured four wheel drive too, as well as innovative suspension...

[Vitesse2]

In film 3655 there is around a minute of what appears to be footage of cars racing down a straight at Brooklands at 5 minutes 20 seconds...

Yes, definitely Brooklands. Finishing Straight. Cameraman would have been standing in the public enclosure, just after The Fork, looking towards the Byfleet Banking.