39 replies to this topic

[David Beard]

I looked forward to the 1964 Le Mans 24 hrs with great anticipation....to see what the new Ford GTs (I don't think they were immediately called GT40s) might achieve.

In those days there was good radio coverage in the UK...to the exquisite RAF tones of Raymond Baxter.

This 15 year old wrote down everything he said....

[David Beard]

[David Beard]

[David Beard]

[Don Capps]

Originally posted by David Beard
I looked forward to the 1964 Le Mans 24 hrs with great anticipation....to see what the new Ford GTs (I don't think they were immediately called GT40s)

[quibble]Some PR clown created the name "GT40" -- they were never officially designated as anything but "Ford GT" by Ford itself -- ditto Shelby, Holman-Moody, Alan Mann, whomever. We have all fallen into this trap and it is very doubtful that it will be any time soon before it gets straightened out.[/quibble]

I am very happy to see that others still have their notes from those days....

[hans stuck]

cool post david...are there any recordings of baxter doing the 64 le mans or any races? id love to hear them...been collecting LP records of race recordings...I have 1966 le mans and a few others, theyre great. please let me know if you have any leads on baxter recordings...thanks

[David Beard]

Originally posted by hans stuck
cool post david...are there any recordings of baxter doing the 64 le mans or any races? id love to hear them...been collecting LP records of race recordings...I have 1966 le mans and a few others, theyre great. please let me know if you have any leads on baxter recordings...thanks

Well actually...somewhere in my attic is a twin track reel to reel tape spool of all this, recorded from the radio via microphone at the time. Most embarrassingly, I announce each broadcast with my unbroken spotty teenager voice. I wonder how I might get this transferred to CD? (...or perhaps not)

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by David Beard
I wonder how I might get this transferred to CD? (...or perhaps not)

I think Ray Bell's been down that road ....

[dolomite]

Originally posted by David Beard


Well actually...somewhere in my attic is a twin track reel to reel tape spool of all this, recorded from the radio via microphone at the time. Most embarrassingly, I announce each broadcast with my unbroken spotty teenager voice. I wonder how I might get this transferred to CD? (...or perhaps not)

I believe Gary C has the facilities to do this for you (and maybe, if you ask nicely, even edit out your spotty voice....)

[David Beard]

Originally posted by dolomite


I believe Gary C has the facilities to do this for you (and maybe, if you ask nicely, even edit out your spotty voice....)

I need to hear from Gary and his facilities then......

[Cirrus]

Gary C and I were chatting at one of the TNF get togethers about Raymond Baxter's mellifluous commentary style. The moment we both remembered best was the 1973 British Grand Prix when Jackie Stewart spun into the cornfield at Stowe. With the tartan helmet band barely visible above the crop, Baxter's comment was "well - he's really in the agricultural business now!"

I think I've got a nice picture of RB interviewing Jack Brabham at the 1969 International trophy at home. I'll try to dig it out and post it.

[Cirrus]

Silverstone 1969 - Jack Brabham (keeping a tight hold of the cheque) shares a joke with Raymond Baxter. A nattily becardiganned Jochen Rindt looks on.

[Alan Baker]

I can only ever remember Raymond Baxter doing the BBC television commentary, the radio reports from Le Mans for the Beeb were done by Robin Richards, usually assisted by Eric Tobitt. But I cannot be certain that Baxter did not broadcast on radio during the event.

[ghinzani]

Originally posted by Cirrus
Raymond Baxter's mellifluous commentary style.

Thats it in a nutshell - he's still around isnt he? I hope so.

[dolomite]

Originally posted by ghinzani


Thats it in a nutshell - he's still around isnt he? I hope so.

Yes, the BBC wheeled him out during their TV coverage of the last Concorde commercial flight into Heathrow recently.

[2F-001]

Thanks for posting your old notes, David - smashing!

For anyone who hasn't seen / heard it, the fairly widely-available film ''Mountain Legend" - about the 1965 Targa Florio (and worth having) is narrated by Raymond Baxter in the expected style.

O/T alert:
I believe Mr Baxter is related to both the artist, Carl André, (''pile of bricks" at the Tate - always forget the work's proper name) and the singer in a once-famous Brit-pop group, whose name escapes me...

[jph]

he's still around isnt he? I hope so.

His commentaries on the air displays at the Revival Meetings at Goodwood for the last couple of years have introduced a welcome air of both authority and dignity (is it just me, or do others find the word 'warbird' infuriating?) and despite his advancing years, he remains almost word-perfect.

More specifically, as this is a 1964 Le Mans thread, Raymond Baxter provided the commentary for the Rootes publicity film (fairly short, given that the Tigers didn't cover themselves in glory) and also, IIRC, for the Standard-Triumph film of the Spitfires' exploits in that year's race.

[David Beard]

Originally posted by 2F-001
Thanks for posting your old notes, David - smashing!

Thanks Tony. After trying out one of those old dial-up modem things at a friend's house on Thursday night, I was wondering whether many people had managed to see them ;)

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Alan Baker
I can only ever remember Raymond Baxter doing the BBC television commentary, the radio reports from Le Mans for the Beeb were done by Robin Richards, usually assisted by Eric Tobitt. But I cannot be certain that Baxter did not broadcast on radio during the event.

Mellifluous, dulcet, honeyed, mellisonant, melodic, melodious, musical...I was sure it was him on the radio, but until the aforementioned tape has been unearthed from the attic and dispatched to the Hi-Tec Mr C for reproduction, I shall worry that my memory has played tricks.

Years ago I worked for British Leyland at Cowley...in a flurry of awful bodging we produced an Experimental Safety car in conjuction with the Transport & Road Research Laboratory. A film was made to present the project at some conference or other, and Raymond Baxter was hired as The Voice. Suddenly, we all felt professional.

Murray was lovely in his "Trousers on Fire" way (was it Clarkson or Clive James that first said that?), but Raymond was better.

[RTH]

In that year 1964 I was 14 and also well remember listening to the hourly 'on the hour' live reports on my prized transistor radio under the bedclothes right through the night from Le Mans. - Now was that on the 'Light Programme' or the 'Home Service' ? ( we didn't get the 1,2,3,4, until 1967 when sadly the Government closed down 'Pirate Radio ' )

Now I always thought the radio commentary was by Robin Richards , who did have a similar voice type to Raymond Baxter, who I remember as doing all the TV work at that time Murray Walker used to do all the Motor cycle scrambling, trials I.O.M./ racing. John Bolster also did radio reports on car racing.

Robin Richards did our only weekly motoring programme on the Home service on Sunday mornings 'Motoring and the Motorist '

We got BBC2 'Wheelbase' with Gordon Wilkins when that TV channel opened up in 1967 then many years of nothing before 'Top Gear' in the late 70's ?

I particually recall listening to the progress of the Rover-BRM gas turbine car in '64 and again in '65 wondering if it could get to the finish - which it did !

Strange co-incidence I went on to work for a big London British Leyland dealer and some where still have the launch 8 track tape from BL with Shaw Taylor doing the pro-mo voice over for prospective customers of the Austin Allegro in May 1973 - even that didn't help us sell the 200 + we had on the premises on launch day - people just hated the look on sight ( actually despite what everyone tells you they had actually fixed the problems of the old Austin 1300, and it was reliable - just an unattractive package all round including the square steering wheel, I've still got one of those as well ! )

Raymond Baxter was a class act and is missed as a broadcaster.

[Geoff E]

Originally posted by RTH
We got BBC2 'Wheelbase' with Gordon Wilkins when that TV channel opened up in 1967 then many years of nothing before 'Top Gear' in the late 70's ?

Actually, BBC2 and Wheelbase both started in 1964.

http://www.nascr.net...october1964.htm

Note that Top Gear was on the Light Programme at 10pm (also in 1964!).

Also note that the Light Programme went on broadcasting for half the night. I remember in the early 1970s that Radio4 used to shut down about 11.50pm after the shipping forecast.

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by Geoff E


Actually, BBC2 and Wheelbase both started in 1964.

Only if you lived within the reach of the Crystal Palace transmitter. It took nearly two years to reach the whole country. Plus you had to buy a new tv and aerial to pick it up ... BBC2 was never broadcast on 405 lines (VHF), only 625 lines (UHF).

http://www.nascr.net...will/dates2.htm

[Eric McLoughlin]

BBC 2 was set up from the outset to be ready for the beginnings of braodcast colour TV in the UK. The first colour TV broadcast was actually in 1966 when a test transmission was made of the opening of parliament. Proper colour TV began in 1967 although black and white transmissions continued on a diminishing basis into 1974. As late as the mid 1980s some black and white Open University recordings were stll being broadcast.

What was the first GP broadcast on TV in colour I wonder - 1973 German GP? 1973 British GP?

[dolomite]

Originally posted by Eric McLoughlin
What was the first GP broadcast on TV in colour I wonder - 1973 German GP? 1973 British GP?

Somebody on another thread recently stated that they remembered watching the 1970 British GP in colour, which is feasible as it was shown on ITV which I believe had started colour transmissions by that time.

[Geoff E]

Originally posted by dolomite


Somebody on another thread recently stated that they remembered watching the 1970 British GP in colour, which is feasible as it was shown on ITV which I believe had started colour transmissions by that time.

ITV apparently started colour broadcasts in 1969 (for those living in the right area and having the right sort of set ;) ) http://www.tvhistory...itv_colour.html

So what motor racing was BBC showing on 15 Nov 1969?

[RTH]

Was it Autocross in a sea of mud ?

[2F-001]

Well that would have been a waste of colour, wouldn't it!

[RTH]

By the way Tony, - how is the hand and arm ? Have you had the operation yet ?

[nmansellfan]

While we are on the subject of Raymond Baxter, does anyone know when his last BBC commentary on a Grand Prix was? I know that he did the 1973 British GP, but im not aware of anything after that.

[Geoff E]

A first-day cover signed by Baxter:- http://www.f1covers....co.uk/1951b.jpg

[dolomite]

I was reminded last night when re-watching my copy of the film 'Grand Prix' that Raymond Baxter makes a cameo appearance in this. It is he who interviews Nino Barlini on the podium at Brands Hatch following his win in the British GP.

[Ian McKean]

David,

Who on earth was "Hudson" who was third at 5pm?

Thanks! In advance.

Ian

[Carlos Jalife]

Interesting notes and great reading David.
Too bad the Hudson Ferrari (Pedro Rodriguez's) didn't feature much.

By the way, the first GP in coluor might have been the Mexican Gp in 1968. It was a few days after the Olympics in mexico City, which were broadcast in colour, and the equipment was used to do the Mexican GP too. Graham won the championship there. And yes I remember the british GP broadcast in colour in 1970, Jochen Rindt winning in the red Lotus, although the tape was shown in a one hour special program about 1 week later. The first live GP we saw was monza in 1970, but the TV signal started a bit late, it was like 6.20 am in mexico, and when we finally caught it, Pedro, who had been fighting for the lead in the first few laps, was already gone.

[Mike Argetsinger]

Carlos beat me to the punch. But I was just going to say that it was Skip Hudson in the 330P Ferrari entered by N.A.R.T. (Luigi Chinetti) co-driving with Pedro.

[Ian McKean]

Mike,

Just as well you posted because I still had not twigged who Hudson was until of course you provided the name Skip. Thanks.

Ian

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Mike Argetsinger
Carlos beat me to the punch. But I was just going to say that it was Skip Hudson in the 330P Ferrari entered by N.A.R.T. (Luigi Chinetti) co-driving with Pedro.

Thanks Mike and Carlos..without digging out the old mags I had no idea. I made the notes a very long time ago. :

[Ian McKean]

Originally posted by Cirrus
Silverstone 1969 - Jack Brabham (keeping a tight hold of the cheque) shares a joke with Raymond Baxter. A nattily becardiganned Jochen Rindt looks on.

Can anyone recall the brand of jacket that Baxter is wearing? They sold quite well at the time.

Ian

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Ian McKean


Can anyone recall the brand of jacket that Baxter is wearing? They sold quite well at the time.

Ian

A Paddy Hopkirk rally jacket, surely? Always blue.

I won a green (rather novel at the time) rally jacket in about 68 in a competition of some sort in Motoring News (when it was proper job) Someone nicked it from the back seat of my Trickeyesque hot mini...

[RTH]

Puffa ? a long established brand

Ah.................in the late 60's early 70's we all adhered strictly to the gospel according to Mr Clive Trickey - sadly I believe he died a few years ago. I built my racing Mini very much to his pattern

[Ian McKean]

Yes, I too had one of those blue Paddy Hopkirk rally jackets. It came by mail order at what seemed a lot of money then, but when it arrived I wished I'd got a bigger size as the sleeves were a bit short.

But for a few months I felt pretty smart until I realised I wasn't so cool, as anyone who was anyone got given some manufacturer's jacket instead of having to pay real money to Mr Hopkirk.

In fact I am a little surprised that Mr Baxter was still wearing one in 1969!

Ian