3 replies to this topic

[Xaxor]

Since everyone's making their list of the century, here's mine. I thought I would give what I think to be the defining motorsport story of the decade over the last fifty years.

50's - The End of the Open Road - Stirling Moss (and Jenkinson) wins 1955 Mille Miglia. Race was banned 2 years later. For Moss, who was never to win the driver's championship, this win represents the highlight of his career while at the top of his game.

60's - The European Invasion. World driving champ Jimmy Clark drags the American racing establishment into modern times by running away at Indy. Indy stalwart AJ Foyt on Clark "...he's a real good racing driver. I never seen a better one..." Soon after, the Indy roadster is history.

70's - The Rise and Fall of the CanAm. This unique series had only one rule; anything goes! The magnificent 7 litre McLaren Chevys, Lola, Ferrari and Chaparral all driven by the world's best drivers. Who can forget the first UOP Shadow which was nothing more than a go-kart powered by a 7 litre Chevy V8? The series fell victim to its own rules. Porsche finally built a car so good that there was nothing more left to prove.

80's - All-Wheel-Drive Group B Madness! A Group B Peugeot 205 world rally car could out-accelerate a Formula 1 car thru 1st and 2nd gears! FIA banned the Group B by the mid 80's. (The cars were UNSAFE!) One of the AWD pioneers, AUDI, moved on to Pikes Peak and Trans-Am where they reigned supreme. The shattering of the Pikes Peak record in 87 by Walter Rohrl in the fire-breathing, wastegate-chirping Evolution Quattro remains a marker in motorsport history.

90's - The emergance of CART as an open-wheel alternative to F1. While watching my first live CART race, I remember thinking that while they aren't F1, these guys put on a good show! Any open-minded racing fan must agree - CART rocks!

[Dennis David]

Interesting, I'll have to think about it for a while but for now maybe this:

50's - The end of the classical era (Need I say more?)

60's - British/rear engine era (Kit cars,etc.)

70's - "Seatbelt" era (Driver safety is no longer a dirty word)

80's - Turbo era (Roughly)

90's - The win at any cost era (Senna, Schumacher et. al.)

00's - The return of the Manufacturer's era.

------------------
Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[Dennis David]

Some would say that the end of the open road happened in 1903.

------------------
Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[Ray Bell]

What about the forties?

The era in which the drivers of the thirties mixed tantalisingly with the drivers of the fifties?

The thirties - the era of hate, when Chiron lost his family to drive for the Germans, when Seaman nearly did the same.

The twenties - technological advance on a grand scale, laying down the parameters for the next thirty years

Someone else can do the rest, but please bear in mind that the open road of the Targa Florio remained open through the sixties and into the seventies.