The Vehicular Ogling Team dropped this 1967 issue of Car and Driver on my desk this morning, with a dog-eared Post-It (tm) brand sticky note highlighting the article on the 1966 Mexican Grand Prix. Prepare for eye-candy in three, two, one...
Back in '67, when aerodynamics and ground effects were still kind of sci-fi concepts, Formula 1 cars were basically flattened sausages with wheels and a wormy tangle of exhaust pipes hanging out the back. Super cool. As an added bonus, the totally open-wheeled design of the cars means that, should a car's tire make contact with the tire of a car in front of it, the car in back was probably going to flip straight up in the air. As the seventies and eighties happened, our greater understanding of the importance of moving air led us into an era of racing cars designed in the wind tunnel and, eventually, in a computer. This was good for lap times, but less good for the hungry eyes of a car appreciant. Your mileage may vary.
When I was a wee lad, I had a toy version of an F1 car like the ones in this picture. It was dark blue, about 7 inches long, diecast metal, really heavy, and could probably be used to knock out a pony. I loved the crap out of it and I wonder what happened to it / wish I still had it.
Please enjoy the racing snausage goodness that follows. We promise something non-car-related tomorrow.
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4 comments:
So awesome . . . first time I went to the Smithsonian as a kid I wandered into "Science and Industry" and there in the basement was a F1 car that Mario Andretti had raced in 1968 or so. In person it was as beautiful as I expected, but what I couldn't get over was how SMALL it was. As in, no taller than a go-cart, with a slightly larger footprint. Thanks for these.
Mmmmmm..............Snausages.
That toy F1 sounds like an old Corgi (TM) I had when I was young. Mine was white. Soft rubber wheels that came off, die cast motor & pipes out the back. Had it in a junk drawer for years. Don't know what happened to mine either.
MisterFancyHotBalls_2
I wonder if there's any place around the greater Chicago area where a body could go and ogle some old snausagey F1 cars, or possibly can-am cars?
Thanks guys!
[-Mgmt.]
"And Mario's slowing down in the back stretch." Just isn't an Indianapolis 500 anymore without hearing that...
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