23 replies to this topic

[VanAndy]

Does anyone have some suggestions about where to obtain good quality videos of races (not necessarily F1) that occurred at the Nurburgring, Spa, etc. in the days when those tracks were terrifying monsters?

More specifically, I'd love to see an on-car camera or aerial fly-over that would allow one to get a whole lap of, for example, the 14-mile Nurburgring, with some history of the track's construction and evolution, notable races, etc.

I've occasionally seen Speedvision and seen grainy shots across the valley at Spa of a car kicking up rooster tails of rain, but nothing that gives one a sense of the layouts themselves as experienced by the drivers.

I don't expect to be in Europe for a few years, so I'd be delighted with a modern-day video tour of the Nordschlieffe...Is there anything out there?

BTW, I've seen "Grand Prix" a few times, but would like something more substantial...

Curiously,

Andy

[Don Capps]

Any ideas, videonauts?

There might be some of what you're looking for spread among many videos unfortunately. The Racers Diary series on Speedvision would occasionally have a view of a track from the family car prior to the race - I think Reims and several other circuits were done that way.

There was a Shell series that did exactly what you are asking about to a number of circuits, but I am not certain as to their availability. In the USA, try ClassicMotorbooks (proud customer for 25+ years) or EWA which also has a good video collection. Either one should be a good strating place and I am sure the other members of the Peanut Gallery can chime in with more suggestions.

Don

As an aside: Somewhere in an old SCG (Sports Car Graphic) I have a sequence of stills done by Lorenzo Bandini on the Monza road circuit that was really neat. I later saw a film and the sequence in the magazine was the perfect accompaniment.

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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

[pinchevs]

I would like ro suggest to you to try www.duke.com and would recommend purchasing especially two videos: “in car 956” in which you get in car video of a few tracks including the old Nurburgring track and the video with the 1967 German GP at the Nurburgring. However, stay clear of the pre 1981 season reviews as they are mostly a waste of money.

Do you by any chance know how I can get my hands on a video of a GP race at the old Interlagos track in Brazil? (they ran there up to 1980)


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[VanAndy]

Ok, thanks for the info. I'll start out with those suggestions, and see where I get. I dunno, maybe it's really just a core group of fans who would appreciate such videos, but I think there could be a niche market there for someone interested in focusing on the grand old tracks and the races that took place there, with the emphasis in that order. (Niche, of course, meaning not likely to be profitable!)

Ah well, perhaps someone with the funds and talent can steal this idea, eh?!?

Thanks again,

Andy

[Dennis David]

The problem is that the vintage videos center around certain drivers or cars and just show snippets of races. I don't collect video but this is what I have noticed plus the best stuff is all PAL which I can't use right now.

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Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[pinchevs]

VanAndy,
Today I reread my post on the “Videos of vintage..” and to my horror found that the reference to duke video was wrong. The right reference is: http://www.duke-vide...gi-bin/index.pl
Sorry!


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[Mike Argetsinger]

I know this is an old thread but I just discovered it. If VanAndy (who originated the thread and expressed an interest in seeing in-car footage of the Nurburgring, etc from earlier days) is still following this Forum, I would heartily recommend the movie Pit Pass. There is a lot of incredible material in this movie but I mention it here because of the great in-car lap of the Nurburgring in practice for the 1961 1000K race. The car is the race winning Team Camarodi Birdcage Maserati which was driven by Masten Gregory and Lloyd "Lucky" Casner. This is the Ring as I remember it from when I first saw it in 1966. I don't know if any changes had been made in those 5 years and I guess that is beside the point. I think Casner is driving the car in the in-car sequence but I don't remember for certain as I haven't seen it in quite a long time. Whatever, there is plenty of Masten Gregory in the movie for the many Masten fans who follow this Forum. It documents the highs and lows of the Camarodi team that year and there is some great stuff from Monaco (where Gregory just misses qualifying in a Cooper - Don Capps describes this I think in his current series on the '61 GP season) and the Targa Florio. And so much more that captures the flavor of that era. The story line is somewhat labored but the production values are absolutely tops in my opinion. Now that I'm telling about it I am getting so excited I am going to get it off the shelf and stay up later than I want to watching it again.

[Ray Bell]

Thanks for dragging that one up, Mike, I started following the forum just a couple of weeks after that shut down. The Shell films would still be available from Shell, I would think, at least in Australia they used to lend them to Car Clubs etc whenever they wanted them.
Frank Gardner has some good stuff, but I don't know exactly what's on it. It comes from his uncle, Hope Bartlett, who raced in both England and Australia in the twenties and thirties, and carried on racing here until 1952. Most of it must be very old, for 20+ years ago Frank told me how he had to get just the right guy to copy it to tape.. the film was falling to bits and would only go through the projector once.
Never heard of that Pit Pass movie, either... wonder if it's about somewhere. I don't think the 'ring changed much if at all in that period, the changes started a year or two later.

[Joe Fan]

Thanks for that tip Mike! Now all I have to do is find the movie...

[William Dale Jr]

Up until around 1996, when it was refitted, renamed and received new owners, my local Plains Video had both Shell History of Motorsport Videos, and in the latest catalogue I got from Duke Videos in Australia, it had that and more, give me a couple of days to dig it out and I'll tell you what's available. For some reason the online catalogue doesn't have the same videos as the one I have does.

[Hans Etzrodt]

I dug this one up; shook the mothballs off.

Does anybody know if the old Shell films were ever converted to Video format and if so, where I could get them?

Are the Shell films really the best accounts of racing in the Twenties and Thirties or can anybody recommend good videos from that era?

[Ray Bell]

It looks (above) like young William saw them as commercially available... a good start.
This would naturally be in PAL format, which Dennis lamented about months ago... do you have a VCR which plays PAL to your NTSC television, Hans?
I finally saw the tape Mike Argetsinger sent me this week, by the way, the potted history of Elkhart Lake. Very nice. Some stuff on their I'd not seen before, quite apart from the scenes from the old track.
I have a film of Albert Park in about 1957 or 1958 (or both) which I must get put on video... it's on 16mm, and I have the start of the 1949 AGP on video... just a snippet, and a bit of Lowood in the same era.

[Hans Etzrodt]

Ray,
It would have to be NTSC format for my simple $100 VCR. I watch very little TV nowadays.

[Ray Bell]

The price of VCRs these days, perhaps an investment would not be out of place...
I know, I've found it necessary.
Was a time, you know, when the only way you could view a tape in NTSC format in Australia was to get it in through the back door at a major television station and use some million-dollar machine. I do love technology...
And I think I have a copy of all the shell films here with me... got it at a garage sale or second hand shop, never looked at it yet...

[Hans Etzrodt]

Ray,
Are they in NTSC format? And how old are they? Unfortunately the tapes deteriorate with age.

[Ray Bell]

Yes, in a humid climate they do show some deterioration... don't know is the short answer as to how old, but I do know I could copy it for you, then it would be new, and it would be in PAL format...
If I had a VCR that was NTSC, I could copy to it from the PAL, I guess. But they're non-existant round here.
So should we take a poll?
Does Hans need a new VCR?

[Hans Etzrodt]

No, please! I need all my money for my research trip in December to icy Europe.

[Ray Bell]

Look on the positive side... a chance to get one duty free!

[Hans Etzrodt]

How much do they cost? Which brands?

[Ray Bell]

Here you can by any of a number of brands for around $200.

[Hans Etzrodt]

I'll send a letter to Santa Claus.

[Ray Bell]

Actually, my son tells me it's not so easy at that end... the poor quality of NTSC means that transferring it across is a real problem. He says only AIWA make such a thing, and that it's good for SECAM (the French stuff) too, but that it's more like $500....

[Keir]

NTSC doesn't suffer from poor quality as much as the low definition pixel count as compared to the PAL system. But here in the States, any video store can usually do the transfer of PAL to NTSC.

[Ray Bell]

Excellent information, Keir...