By 1956 the Monte Carlo Rally was already 45 years old, and very well established as one of the world’s pre-eminent road racing events. Automobile manufacturers used it as a way to publicly show off the toughness and reliability of their vehicles, and played down the amount of mechanical work the driver and co-driver typically…
The Ford RS200 rose from the ashes of the ill-fated Escort RS 1700T project – after a successful rally programme based around the earlier Escorts, Ford knew it needed a revolutionary new car to compete with the likes of Audi, Peugeot and Renault. By the early 1980s it had become clearly evident that the only…
The Alpine Rally was characterised by its stunning views, tight mountain roads and cliffside driving that would make even the bravest of modern racing drivers reconsider their profession. The route of the rally made its way through some of the most famous mountain passes in Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland – covering hundreds of miles…
Group B: The Ultimate Rally is one of the better documentaries about the golden era of rally, one of the reasons it’s so good is because it was filmed at the time – rather than being compiled from clips decades later. The list of legendary rally drivers and rally cars seen in this film is…
The Lancia Stratos, or more correctly, the Lancia Stratos HF (HF standing for High Fidelity) is a car developed by Italian design house Bertone for their fellow Italians over at Lancia. It was to be the first car developed from scratch for the World Rally Championship – specifically for the hotly contested Group 4 class, which…
Sinn Spezialuhren is a watchmaker that most people have never heard of, it’s a German company that was founded by pilot Helmut Sinn in 1961 to make chronographs and instruments for pilots and aircraft. Although the Swiss might be more famous for their chronographs, the Germans have a long history of producing world class watches…
The Road To Monte Carlo is a 1960 documentary film about the legendary Rallye Monte Carlo – a race only marginally less famous than its Formula 1 equivalent. In 1960 the race encompassed a huge assortment of motor cars from Europe and further afield, half a dozen Minis made their first major race outing at…
The 1984 Paris-Dakar was a seminal year for the annual race, Porsche made their first appearance with the 953/991 – a car that would be developed into the now legendary Porsche 959. In 1984 the Stuttgart factory entered three cars with Rothmans livery, the team was headed by Formula 1 icon Jacky Ickx who can…
The first FIA WRC event took place in Monte Carlo in 1973, it took place in deep winter between the 19th and 26th of January, and it was contested by some of the greatest drivers of the era. This film is a documentary review of the full event, set to music from the early ’70s…
1987 was a special year at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, it was the first time a competitor beat the 11 minute mark in the race to the summit – a mad dash up grades averaging 7% over the 12.42 mile (20 kilometre) course, there are 156 turns and by the time you reach…
The 1988 Rothmans Cyprus Rally was a closely fought battle, the top 3 finishers were all within 8 seconds by the end of the event. This film covers the rally from start to finish with unmistakably ’80s style commentary, as well as driver interviews and plenty of sideways race footage. The film is 27 minutes…
This is a cutaway of the now legendary #52 Mini Cooper S driven to victory at the 1965 Monte Carlo Rallye by the Timo Mäkinen / Paul Easter team. The variety seen in the field of cars that entered in ’65 was extraordinary, the second and third place finishers were Eugen Böhringer / Rolf Wütherich…
