136 replies to this topic

[David Beard]

As a very ordinary household in a very quiet Buckinghamshire village, I realise now that we were “on line” unusually early with black and white television compared with our neighbours. I had already been taken to Silverstone, 30 or so miles away as a six year old in 1955, so when the TV arrived I pounced upon any motor sport featured with relish. And surprisingly, if my memory is anything to go by, there was plenty to enjoy…..

Of course, every GP was not covered live in those days, but the Sportsview programme included a report on at least the most memorable ones. Presented by the silver moustachioed Peter Dimock, I think it was broadcast on Wednesdays at around 8.00pm. Fangio’s 250F epics in 1957 were reported…I’m pretty sure the Rouen win was featured, and clearly recall the report on his wonderful Nurburgring performance of the same year.

The European Grand Prix at Aintree in 1957 is well etched into my black and white TV memory. Much as I wanted Moss win at all costs, I recall being baffled that he could take over Brooks’s Vanwall when required. The most enduring image is of the black faced, white goggle outline, victorious Stirling.

I can remember too watching the Goodwood debut of the unpainted toothpaste tube. Its appearance soon after at Monaco is a clear TV recollection, too.

I watched a very worrying demonstration by Bristow at Brands…this unheard of character seemed to be capable of challenging my hero Moss. I now figure this must have been the Kentish 100 F2 race in August 1959. Hill at Oulton Park is another TV recollection in a Lotus 11 or 15…but a race much interrupted by other things…mainly horse racing I’m sure.

A winter regular was those trials cars in the Buckinghamshire mud at Wendover..the only name I can now recall is Rex Chapel (sp?) Strange that Chapman started the Lotus competition pedigree in this branch of or sport. Trials must have made quite a mark on TV, because to this day I often tell people I am going to watch a hillclimb, and find they don’t know about the speed type but ask about mud and bouncing passengers.

Ken Wharton driving tests: They always seemed to involve an impressive Irish team, and was always excellent entertainment. Dermot Carnegie?? Frogeye Sprites to the fore.

“Autopoint “ was a bit later: at Bagshot, think. Clark and Issigonis in a twin engined Moke. A Steyr Puch Haflinger 4wd device appeared. (He doesn’t half fling her about” quipped Baxter.

They are just some of my recollections of early motorsport TV in the UK. I would be interested to know what other TNFers were watching in other parts of the world at the same time.

[Geoff E]

Originally posted by David Beard
“Autopoint “ was a bit later: at Bagshot, think. Clark and Issigonis in a twin engined Moke. A Steyr Puch Haflinger 4wd device appeared. (He doesn’t half fling her about” quipped Baxter.

The Standard 8 engined "Bug" a small khaki vehicle which didn't seem to do anything very well!

London Motor Club v The Army wasn't it?

[FrankB]

Originally posted by David Beard
Ken Wharton driving tests: They always seemed to involve an impressive Irish team, and was always excellent entertainment. Dermot Carnegie?? Frogeye Sprites to the fore.

Were these the car agilty tests... a series of manoevres carried out against the clock - reversing into a "garage" and then driving out... slaloming along a line of cones etc, and always seeming to come from a seafront somewhere - Scarborough comes to mind.

Our first TV arrived in the early sixties, and any motorsport related coverage at the weekend would be on, with Dad and I watching avidly. One memory is of aerial pictures from Monza, and the picture being almost black as the camera (I now realise) was trying to deal with the bright sunlight one moment and then the darker shadows in amongst the trees.

[Ray Bell]

We were at my aunt and uncle's place...

My uncle was pretty keen on racing and there was a live telecast on from Bathurst. Today I realise it must have been the AGP of 1958.

My parents weren't happy for us to be watching this dangerous motor racing stuff, so we were mostly encouraged to go outside... however I did see a fair bit of a dice between a couple of old Holdens.

Today I realise that was the first telecast of Bathurst... the first live telecast from west of the Great Dividing Range and a real landmark in Australian television...

[KJJ]

One early TV memory I have is from the Snetterton F1 meeting in 1964 and some young chap called Jackie Stewart driving away from the field in the Formula Three race in torrential rain. Now someone will tell me that the race wasn't televised, that usually happens!!

[MCS]

Mid sixties - Silverstone (black and white). I was absolutely entranced.

Even to-day I can remember lying down, resting on my elbows watching Clark, Hill, Surtees, Brabham, McLaren, etc...

Up until that point my bedroom walls were adorned with pictures of Denis Law, George Best, Pat Crerand, Pele and so on.

I took them down and pinned up the solitary picture I had (from a comic) of Jim Clark.

My mother was concerned, my father was intrigued - or so he says these days - and that was the beginning of it...

Never, ever underestimate the power of moving images... somebody once said.

But, of course, it was much, much more than than that.

Mark

[ensign14]

I can remember the Monaco GP 1978 on the first ever Sunday Grandstand. I cannot however remember the end - only Watson leading from the start.

It made an impact on me because I remember at school when we were asked to draw some cars I drew a JPS Lotus. (And I don't smoke.)

I can also remember some Aurora footage from 1979 on Grandstand itself - the Keegan-Kennedy incident - but have more memories from 1981 onwards.

[Jack-the-Lad]

My earliest TV racing memory is the 1961 USGP at Watkins Glen. Phil Hill, my boyhood (and still) hero had wrapped up the World Championship at Monza. I was on pins and needles for weeks, waiting to see my hero in action on live TV (very rare in those days) in the beautiful shark-nose. I can still feel the disappointment when it was announced that Enzo Ferrari had decided not to ship the team across the Atlantic and that Hill would be relegated to an "expert analyst" role. Of course, I'm sure my disappointment was insignificant compared to Phil's, having been denied the chance to race in his home country as the newly-crowned champion. Innes Ireland drove to a well deserved victory.

Two years later I saw Phil race in person for the first time, at the Sebring 12 Hours, the first race I ever attended.

Jack

[Vitesse2]

Being a smidgin younger than David, my earliest TV memories are from (I think) 1963, when BBC covered Le Mans - I think it was live, too. Might be 1964: we got our first multi-channel set that year, but I do remember that that Le Mans was on the old 10-inch BBC-only Bush set. Chances are I'd watched racing before that (we had TV from 1956, my father being "on the box" at the time), but I have no earlier definite memories ....

I remember the driving tests, trials and autopoint too: I think the autopoints were actually filmed at Chobham, which was (still is?) the main tank testing ground. Then there was motorcycle scrambling, with commentary by some chap called Walker.....

I watched the first ever Rallycross too: at Lydden Hill, I think, but it might have been Brands.

And as I've posted before, I was watching TV coverage of the BOAC 500 on April 7th 1968, when Raymond Baxter had to break into his commentary with the news from Hockenheim ....

[Alan Cox]

I was only thinking about those Autopoints last week (although I had forgotten that that was what they were called) and wishing we still had such entertainment to brighten a winter Saturday afternoon. I recall that Graham Hill used to turn out for the London Motor Club and would fling a trials car (Cannon?) around on some of the tests. Surely quite an easy formula to resurrect, one would think - get some recently retired GP drivers to form a team, but the MoD would probably have to scratch around to find some suitable equipment following the cut-backs.

Recalling the '57 British GP, the BBC played some extracts from their TV coverage on today's Grandstand, before the horse racing from Aintree, so it's clear to see that they haven't wiped everything from so long ago. It was still very watchable and Raymond Baxter's commentary takes you back there in an instant.

I also recall the 1963 Guards Trophy from August Bank Holiday Brands, when Penske's Zerex Special won, and I've still got some snatches of commentary recorded onto a very early portable tape recorder!

[dolomite]

Originally posted by ensign14
I can remember the Monaco GP 1978 on the first ever Sunday Grandstand. I cannot however remember the end - only Watson leading from the start.

I watched that - the live coverage of Monaco 78 was actually on ITV. The BBC Grand Prix programme then went out for the first time ever that evening, with highlights of the same race.

[FrankB]

Originally posted by dolomite


I watched that - the live coverage of Monaco 78 was actually on ITV.

Was it really? I honestly can't remember which channels the coverage was on, but I had the fond assumption that Auntie had always shown the GPs until that upstart ITV came along a few years ago and stole it from her!

[CJE]

Here in the US, motor racing on TV was a rarity until cable TV in the 1980's. About all that was available was "Wide World of Sports" on ABC. They would show clips from various races weeks, sometimes months, after they were run - never live. My 1st memory was the infamous start-line explosion of Don Garlits front-engine dragster at Lions Dragway in 1970 which started the rear-engine dragster revolution.

The second memory I have is 2 CanAm races shown live on NBC network in 1971 or 1972 from Watkins Glen and MidOhio, I believe. This was virtually unheard of and a real treat for a young kid who had numerous slot cars of the very CanAm machines racing! (BTW: somebody was selling video tapes of these 2 broadcasts 4-5 years ago in Vintage Motorsport magazine - I've tried to track them down but they are no longer available. Anybody know anything of these tapes?)

Another early memory was the 1978 GP at Monza on Wide World of Sports where Ronnie Peterson was killed in that firey crash. I was knew nothing of F1 at the time, but the race intrigued so much that I started doing research to figure out just what this F1 thing was all about!

[Ray Bell]

I wonder how much influence the Channel 7 (Sydney) development of the on board camera had on popularising race telecasts?

It was certainly a big thing when the 1963 national telecast of the Bathurst 500 happened... running the whole race, start to finish. But even bigger when they had the camera in the car (1977?) and even more so when they started talking to the drivers as they raced...

[Paul Newby]

Ray, the first year for the in car camera was 1979 in Peter Williamson's Toyota Celica. Of course in those days the commentators thought nothing of asking Willo the odd question in mid race - indeed his in-car comments were a source of wonder. Channel 7 soon realised you couldn't ask every driver to talk mid race, and nowadays its not done, except under safety car periods.

I think 1977 may have been the "year of the axe!"

[philippe7]

My first memory of motor racing on TV ? Definitely the Italian GP of 1970 , one of the first ever live GP's on french TV . At just 13 years of age , I had just started developing an interest in car racing and was thrilled at the prospect of watching the race .....with the bonus that I was staying with an uncle and aunt who had a coulour TV set, unlike the B&W we had at home....

I remember the schock of learning about Jochen Rindt's death from the startline commentator ( hadn't heard the news earlier ) , and the surprise at seeing this unknown newcomer Ragga-something , of whom I hadn't heard before, win the race.

[ian senior]

It's all a bit vague, but the memory is there all the same.

1962, or perhaps '63, or even '61. Saloon car racing, can't remember the circuit, but lots of Jag mk2's, and the name "Bruce McLaren" featuring prominently. Lots of spins too. I remember enjoying it, but it took a good few years after that for the bug to really bite. It's odd, as I loved cars from an early age, but racing never really "took" for some reason.

I recall seeing more motor cycle scrambling and sporting trials on the telly rather than actual circuit racing.

The next big one was Monaco in 1967, with Bandini's awful accident. That really upset me. It was the first time I really noticed motor racing.

[RTH]

It would be fantastic to see some of the early 50's/60's TV coverage again as above mentioned - I wonder if any of it still exists in any form and if it could be found and re-issued.

In those years Murray Walker's distinctive voice meaned 'Scrambling ' and "Arthur Lampkin"
Raymond Baxter was really the car racing specialist of the time,- sadly there was never anything like enough of it on and we could go many weeks with nothing. Now we have quantity without the quality.

[Gary Davies]

David, marvellous thread - I, too, was growing up in "a very ordinary household in a very quiet Buckinghamshire village" at just that time (I'm a 1948 model). In my case the Bucks village was Tylers Green; where were you?

It's late at night here, one's visiting Darwin presently and there's just a bit of humidity around, so one's just quietly shagged out ...
but there's just enough energy left to post this Brockbank cartoon. For me, it absolutely captures the roller coaster of elation and disappointment involved in watching out for motor racing on the Beeb back in the sixties.

[Danny Skehan]

Now exactly TV – but I remember going to the cinema to see Grand Prix footage on Movetone news reports as coverage was very sparse in the 50’s. Perhaps this film stock is still available? Also seem to remember a great race with a “breadvan” Ferrari and of course the autotests on BBC.

[ian senior]

Originally posted by Vanwall
David, marvellous thread - I, too, was growing up in "a very ordinary household in a very quiet Buckinghamshire village" at just that time (I'm a 1948 model). In my case the Bucks village was Tylers Green; where were you?

It's late at night here, one's visiting Darwin presently and there's just a bit of humidity around, so one's just quietly shagged out ...
but there's just enough energy left to post this Brockbank cartoon. For me, it absolutely captures the roller coaster of elation and disappointment involved in watching out for motor racing on the Beeb back in the sixties.

The BBC are still playing these games, and it's not just motor sport that suffers. Those of us listening to Sunderland v Ipswich yesterday on Radio 5 had the commentary interrupted by some horseyculture. We were promised faithfully that we would return to the game before it finished. So we got the horse race, then a lot of waffle about something called the Grand National, which doesn't take place until next March, and then a return to the footie after the match had ended. B****y nags.

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by Danny Skehan
Now exactly TV – but I remember going to the cinema to see Grand Prix footage on Movetone news reports as coverage was very sparse in the 50’s. Perhaps this film stock is still available? Also seem to remember a great race with a “breadvan” Ferrari and of course the autotests on BBC.

CBS/Fox did a video compilation of British Movietone footage in 1988, as part of a series called Silver Heritage. It covers 1929-79, with extracts from all sorts of events: a Bentley Drivers Club Concours, several Brighton Runs, a number of Brooklands races, even some from Indy and a short clip of US dirt track ovals. There's some GP footage, including action shots of "that shunt" at Silverstone in 1973, but it's by no means all that Movietone have.

If you check out British Movietone's website, you'll find they have absolutely hundreds of race reports available. Unfortunately, they are only interested in selling rights to video producers and TV companies. :

For anyone wanting to hunt for it, the tape is called "Motoring & Racing 1929-1979". It was number 7 in the Silver Heritage series and the CBS/Fox catalogue number was 1674.

[bill moffat]

Originally posted by Geoff E


The Standard 8 engined "Bug" a small khaki vehicle which didn't seem to do anything very well!

Unlike the 6-wheeled Alvis (? Stalwart) that climbed every mountain and forded every stream to great effect.

[Tweddell]

when could live-reports from the track be seen in TV first?

the first one I was told ,was the 1000km at the Ring ,1966 ,in German television, when a Porsche 904 was entered by ZDF -TV, driven by Paul Frere and Rainer Guenzler (a well-known German TV man). This 904 had a tv sender onboard, a helicopter followed him along the 22km track to pick up the signals, sending them to another place and from there to the TV main-station in Wiesbaden.
The live-report from this much remembered race, when the Chaparral with Joakim Bonnier and Phil Hill won its most famous victory, came to german tv-spectators living-rooms during the whole sunday in 1 hour sequenzes, and the best was: with many inboard-camera pictures live.
in our days this is a quite normal view, but in those days it was spectacular.

unfortunately I could not see this early version of live-inboard- report, as I was at the Ring so see it all, ....live....

[David Beard]

Originally posted by bill moffat



Unlike the 6-wheeled Alvis (? Stalwart) that climbed every mountain and forded every stream to great effect.

Perhaps we will see a rose jointed, ventilated disc braked version leading the field at the Revival next year, as a crowd pleaser? No racing history, but no matter. Gerry Marshall would have no trouble overtaking on the grass in that one.;)

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by ian senior
...

That's absolutely brilliant!

And, of course, horse racing isn't nearly as well covered on British TV as it is in Australia...

[Frank S]

I don't remember seeing motor races on TV between 1952-3 and middle 70s.

As a thoughtless, baseball-obsessed child I could name every Major Leaguer and say something about the history of every team, local and Major, but had no real interest in car racing. Until.

Until a new friend whose father had more than a little interest in racing invited me to Carrell Speedway. From then on, I couldn't get enough.

My family's idea of watching television was to glance at sets glowing in the display windows of merchants, as we walked past. I watched a bit, now and then, visiting the homes of friends. I wrote a rhyme about the effect of my lack of TV manners on subsequent invitations (there were none). I didn't know how to behave in a living-room dominated by a "big" screen.

What I did see was the occasional race among "the Jalops". The TV pictures were so ill-defined it was like radio with something to focus on. Among the announcers was Dick Lane, who will be forever remembered as the professional "wrestling" voice whose enthusiastic comment, "WHOA NELLY ! " became part of the argot of the region. I don't remember if he announced "Moto Polo", a kind of football in cars that had roll-over hoops as bodywork: they were meant to roll on over to upright whenever contact in the course of booting an eight-foot ball resulted in upset.

Broadcast TV in the late 40s/early 50s in Los Angles was a time of exploration. It didn't take much to get your interest on the air. Lots of things were tried, and while I didn't have a lot of experience at home, the chats at school revealed what was "hot". There was the Monday Night Fights, that may show up on any other day, and the same with wrestling, jalopy racing, Moto Polo, you name it.

From early until middle 70s I was busy when racing was live on TV, busy at the races. From the middle 70s I went to Thursday, Friday, Saturday portions of events, and watched the racing on TV, when available. Racing on TV was much better than in person. May still be, but I don't know because I don't ordinarily do NASCAR, and there isn't much doing on the lower channels, otherwise.

--
Frank S

[Kpy]

Originally posted by Vitesse2
my father being "on the box" at the time

Would your father have been http://www.bbc.co.uk...armstrong.shtml Richard? Humble apologies all round if I'm wrong.

[biercemountain]

Growing up in the seventies here in the States I remember Jackie Stewart doing the commentary for the Indy 500. I seem to recall the race being televised live but I could be mistaken.

Apart from that it was just clips of various races on "Wide World of Sports" as previously mentioned.

On a side note, I was recently contacted by a company here in the States called Vintage Motorsports that sells videos of the Indy 500 as well as Nascar races. I had been getting their catalog for a few years but had never ordered anything and they wanted to know if I planned to make a purchase. When I asked if they planned to release the videos on DVD I was told, "No. These movies will never be offered on DVD"

I honestly can't believe that would be the case given the wholesale changeover that's taking place from video to DVD but that's what I was told. If it's true, that would be a real shame. Vintage Motorsports has some great footage in it's library.

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by Kpy


Would your father have been http://www.bbc.co.uk...armstrong.shtml Richard? Humble apologies all round if I'm wrong.

Spot on, Chris. You must have missed this story then. See also Geoff E's post immediately below and my response: small world!

[marty8405]

Originally posted by CJE
Here in the US, motor racing on TV was a rarity until cable TV in the 1980's. About all that was available was "Wide World of Sports" on ABC. They would show clips from various races weeks, sometimes months, after they were run - never live. My 1st memory was the infamous start-line explosion of Don Garlits front-engine dragster at Lions Dragway in 1970 which started the rear-engine dragster revolution.

The second memory I have is 2 CanAm races shown live on NBC network in 1971 or 1972 from Watkins Glen and MidOhio, I believe. This was virtually unheard of and a real treat for a young kid who had numerous slot cars of the very CanAm machines racing! (BTW: somebody was selling video tapes of these 2 broadcasts 4-5 years ago in Vintage Motorsport magazine - I've tried to track them down but they are no longer available. Anybody know anything of these tapes?)

Another early memory was the 1978 GP at Monza on Wide World of Sports where Ronnie Peterson was killed in that firey crash. I was knew nothing of F1 at the time, but the race intrigued so much that I started doing research to figure out just what this F1 thing was all about!

Well, this brings back memories.....I'm a bit older and can remember 60's Le Mans and Monaco coverage on Wide World of Sports Saturday afternoons. I also remember some Can Am and other assorted clips of American road racing. Good stuff, I'd love to have some tape, especially the Watkins Glen Can Am race of 71, I was there in person and have been searching for old Glen footage......anybody that knows of some available please let me know!

Rich

[Kpy]

Originally posted by Vitesse2


Spot on, Chris. You must have missed this story then. See also Geoff E's post immediately below and my response: small world!

Glad I got your father sussed, Richard. I certainly remember him in our living room. Just had to trawl the rusty memory for an Armstrong who would have been on the box at the time. Memory said "Jack". I don't know how that works when sometimes I can't remember which day it is!!
Yes I did miss that thread and story on TNF, but the Roebuck anectote has long been one of my favourites.

Back on topic I vividly remember watching the French GP on 2nd July 1961 in 425(?) lines on BBC and leaping up and down as the unknown (well almost unknown) Baghetti beat the great Dan Gurney to the line at Reims. Strangely I don't remember watching either Monaco or the Nurburgring on TV that year. They were two of the greatest races of the era. Surely they were broadcast.

Fast forward to 1970 and my memory is of some superb television of Rindt's pursuit of Black Jack in the final laps at Monaco, complete with Hollywood ending. This was rudely interrupted by my wife arriving home to announce that she had rolled my Honda S800, and that the trip to the GP at Spa would not be taking place. What a GP to miss! The holiday became a couple of weeks in Paris, and thereby hangs another tale ....

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by Kpy
Fast forward to 1970 and my memory is of some superb television of Rindt's pursuit of Black Jack in the final laps at Monaco, complete with Hollywood ending.

.... and the commentator (Raymond Baxter?) totally missing Brabham's final corner mistake. Presumably he was already watching the finish line rather than his monitor.

[rosemeyer]

Sorry I grew up in the USA nascar land the only races were only Wide world of sports I saw the GT 40's at Daytona and some earley USRCC races like the times GP at riverside if not for Road and Track I would be a F1 Idiot.

[jonpollak]

Whoa Nelly indeed!

Some serious quality being posted here...Thank you all for such entertaining recolections.

Originally posted by marty8405
Well, this brings back memories.....I'm a bit older and can remember 60's Le Mans and Monaco coverage on Wide World of Sports Saturday afternoons.

Having just returned from seeing/hearing/feeling/smelling my first Grand Prix in the flesh... my senses were alight.
While I can't recall much from weeks directly after May 7th, I distinctly remember watching the 1967 Le Mans Ford MkIV campaign being broadcast 'as live' on ABC late at night.
Well,... I was 9, and it must have been past 10pm out on the West coast of California.
Anyone else recall any similar shards of those dark and blurred 'live' images?

I also recall seeing Jack in the hay bales on "Wide World of Sorts"
Jp

[marty8405]

Originally posted by jonpollak

I also recall seeing Jack in the hay bales on "Wide World of Sorts"
Jp [/B]

How well I remember that race. My brother and I sat in my parents living room mesmerized by that race. We had already been to many events in person but that one on tv was quite memorable in a season that would best be forgotten. An interesting note is that I got to see Rindt's car in its full glorious Monaco livery at the Watkins Glen vintage festival this past September. I was overwhelmed by the nostalgia!

Rich

[Rainer Nyberg]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
I wonder how much influence the Channel 7 (Sydney) development of the on board camera had on popularising race telecasts?

Absolutely instrumental I would say. I believe all (live) in-car video today directly or indirectly comes courtesy of Channel 7 in Australia.

Btw the first transmission I can remember is from the 1971 Italian GP, I believe it was sent live, but I can not remember dead certain.

Of course, this was the famous Monza slipsteaming contest, which Ronnie lost by centimeters...

[Keir]

My first clear memories are from the '66 Le Mans, where ABC's "Wide World of Sports" did a semi-live satelite feed!! Great stuff watching Amon/McLaren win in the end!!

I always loved the look of that Black and Silver Ford GT40 Mk2!!

[jonpollak]

1966 'live' on satellite as well did they?
Why I cannot not recall that one is an absolute mystery because I am sure I would have been watching it.

Does anyone know anybody at ABC Sports anymore?
I would love to follow up on those ground breaking broadcasts.


Jp

[Gary C]

one of my friends remembers watching the 1965 (he thinks) Indy 500 'live' in a theatre in Dublin (Ireland!!).

[jj2728]

Originally posted by ian senior

The next big one was Monaco in 1967, with Bandini's awful accident. That really upset me. It was the first time I really noticed motor racing.

as a 12 year old i was utterly devastated....bandini was my first racing hero and my father had spent time with him and the ferrari team at daytona the previous february. i remember going over to my grandparents home to watch the race because they had a colour tv. prior to that , i can recall watching the end of the 66 lemans 24 hours on ABC....

[jonpollak]

We were on the pelouses Rogier when Lorenzo burnt to death at the harbour chicane
My Dad saw the smoke and heard the whooping alarm and dragged me, protesting all the way, back to the car ASAP. He knew what was happening,...I did not. Until he told me on the way back to Saint Jean Cap Ferrat.

All I knew was,... the race was not over.

Jp

[Jack-the-Lad]

I seem to recall that the helicopter's rotors fanned the flames and kept the firefighters away. It was an awful thing to watch.

Jack

[Buford]

In the early 1950s the stock car races my parents team ran in were on live TV in Chicago every weekend but we were always at the track so couldn't see them. My father hit on the idea of putting his crew in white coveralls with the business name on the back and have them all sit on the back stretch wall with their backs to the cameras which always panned along the pits during intermission. They did not have many commercial breaks in those days. Nobody wore any kind of uniforms then.

The first night they showed up in the white coveralls (after a huge hassle getting them even to wear them) everybody in the pits were waving their handkerchiefs at them and blowing kisses and stuff like that. But they did their stunt at intermission and the camera zoomed in on them and the announcer who later became a famous sports announcer for the Cubs and Bears, Jack Brickhouse went on and on at how classy that was and how it made a good appearance and more teams should show up looking less like slobs etc. Monday morning the phones lit up at the electrical construction business with people who had seen their name on the uniforms and wanted houses wired and outlets changed and doorbells fixed and construction companies wanting sub contractor partners in home building. He had to hire a lot more men and his business took off.

So you can say , yeah sure, but somebody has to think of it first and in the USA, my dad was the guy who first put his team in a race uniforms and recognized the power of television and race sponsorship advertising. He was the first one to make it work in the manner everybody tried later on. Within a year or two, all the guys who had been waving their hankies were all in uniforms too.

In the mid 1950s they had two racing shows on I remember. One was called "Speedway Challenge" and the other was "Danger Is My Business." They were half hour shows that showed Indy Car and Nascar racing and racing of all kinds. I don't think they were on the network but were syndicated shows. I recall one of the "Danger Is My Business" shows was about Ray Crawford. They followed him from California and his grocery store business to Indy where he was critically injured. I remember one show was at Daytona when they were racing the beach course. They were interviewing a woman driver in a tight sweater and my mother said, "That woman needs to be wearing a brassiere. I took a good look fast. I was maybe 10 or so. Funny how you remember stuff like that 40 years later, or is it just me?

[Ray Bell]

Nahh... it's not just you!

I remember a certain drawing assignment at school... but we won't go into that...

[Mallory Dan]

One of my first was a Sportscar event of some sort, maybe Interserie or GTs, when Helmut Marko won easily in a Porsche. I guess it would have been about 1970-71 or so, I think from Thruxton, Marko won easily. It would have been a Saturday I think, on Grandstand. A 908 maybe ?? Anyone any ideas, I reckon the only reason I remember it was Marko's 'distictive' name, to a 9 year old anyway !

[scags]

I also remember the "Wide world of sports", making you sit through all sorts of bizzare stuff to see a few minutes of a race. Later on, they had Jackie Stewart commenting on most races, including delayed telecasts of the Indy 500

[Gary Davies]

Originally posted by jj2728


as a 12 year old i was utterly devastated....bandini was my first racing hero and my father had spent time with him and the ferrari team at daytona the previous february. i remember going over to my grandparents home to watch the race because they had a colour tv. prior to that , i can recall watching the end of the 66 lemans 24 hours on ABC....

I, too, remember, that tragic race. Images I clearly recall from the television transmission ...

... as the BBC at one point returned to the race (from some other sport), Bandini, who had been chasing Hulme hard was clearly to be seen shaking and generally moving his head around, almost as if to give out the signal: "I just can't keep this pressure up much longer." And of course ...

And rather more happily, I remember Denny's highly characteristic lifting of one had off the wheel as he put on lock for the tighter corners. Was Monaco '67 perhaps his finest Formula One race, so sadly spoiled by poor Bandini's crash?

[Bumblyari]

Originally posted by Geoff E

The Standard 8 engined "Bug" a small khaki vehicle which didn't seem to do anything very well!

But wasn't it Raymond Baxter who coined the immortal phrase: "... and now the little Bug has gone into the lead"

[Kpy]

Originally posted by Bumblyari

But wasn't it Raymond Baxter who coined the immortal phrase: "... and now the little Bug has gone into the lead"

I think it was, and no doubt the driver was Major Hugh Jampton, as immortalised by the Goons.