With Formula One on its weeks long summer siesta it’s easy to become a little despondent waiting for it to return. I like to keep myself busy watching old races and documentaries about racing in the “good old days” and so it was with much interest that I stumbled across this film, titled ‘Monaco, Race Of Kings’.
The 1982 Indianapolis 500 was unique for a number of reasons, it was the first year that ground-effect cars were to race around the infamous circuit, the 1st and 2nd place finishers were separated by just 0.16 seconds, which was the closest finish in Indy 500 history up until this point.
The concept of strapping a surfboard to the side of a motorcycle is tried and tested, you’ll see bikes with board racks from Sydney to the South of France, usually piloted by a man who hasn’t shaved and doesn’t care. This video shows something that I haven’t seen before, a series of motorcycles with snowboard and ski racks.
Lotus Goes Turbo is a 30 minute documentary covering the Lotus Formula One teams switch from naturally aspirated to turbo V6 engines in the 1983 season. It’s a fantastic little piece of history, seeing engineers designing a Formula One car on a drafting table with a pencil and slide rule is a reminder of just how brilliant these guys actually were.
This time-lapse Porsche Carrera 3.2 engine teardown is a strangely mesmerising look into the process involved in pulling apart a 6 cylinder boxer from the mid to late ’80s.
“Japan’s War in Colour” is a fascinating look at World War II from the Japanese perspective, the film picks up just before the war begins and shows the build up to war, the invasion of China, followed by Pearl Harbour and the escalation of violence between Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
The 1974 Indianapolis 500 was mentioned here on Silodrome last week, when we featured the car that would go on to win the race – the McLaren M16C.
The Spare Parts Company is a short film about Roland Sotello – the owner of the famous Spare Parts Company motorcycle shop in Old City Philadelphia.
This vintage BBC documentary, called James Hunt vs Niki Lauda – Historic Clash Of The Titans, is a fantastic look back at the now world famous rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
Back in 1973 a motorcycle rolled out of a garage in England, it was to be just one of four ever built, and it was going to shake the world of professional motorcycle racing to its core. The bike in question was the John Player Norton Monocoque, it had been designed and built by Peter Williams – a man who was both a motorcycle engineer and a talented racer.
This film, titled “Never Start Something You Can’t Stop” is the story of the John Wyer Gulf Oil Ford GT40 team, who went on to win the 1968 Le Mans.
The West German 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix was to be the last race to be held in West Germany, a year later in 1990 the Berlin Wall had come down and the race was simply titled “The German Grand Prix”.
