Vintage Racing?

[irv]

Originally Posted by BruceinGa

Yes. It was March, 1969 at Yellow River Drag Strip, just east of Atlanta. Houston Platt loses control while racing Don Nicholson. I took the pic with a Polaroid camera.

Wow! I didn't realize you took the picture. Not something I'd like to witness.

[BruceinGa]

Originally Posted by irv

Wow! I didn't realize you took the picture. Not something I'd like to witness.

It was not a good afternoon.

[Justus]

Do these work better, Eddie?

free image cdn





free image cdn

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by Justus

Do these work better, Eddie?

free image cdn





free image cdn

That works. Cool Marios. I know that price is determined by supply and demand, but it always surprises me that his '69 rookie card is not worth more -- given his worldwide accomplishments as an F1 world champion, Indy 500 winner and Daytona 500 winner. You'll never see someone do that again.

I have always liked the Sugar Daddy card of Evel Knievel because of the three images.

[irv]

Originally Posted by BruceinGa

It was not a good afternoon.

No, I don't imagine it was. Sorry you had to witness that.

[Snapolit1]

Great thread. I know nothing about racing but very cool to hear these stories.

[Snapolit1]

Great thread. I know nothing about racing but interesting to see these cards and hear these stories.

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Great thread. I know nothing about racing but interesting to see these cards and hear these stories.

Thanks for checking out the thread.

[Snapolit1]

Thought you racing guys would like this. Just came across in an email.

http://www.auctionzip.com/auction-ca...log_NAJG4FQNR7

[Beansballcardblog]

I love the Andretti Panini cards. They are in the top ten on my "want" list. I'll be fine with an ungraded, poor copy.

I wrote a post on my personal blog six days ago about a piece of Jimmy McElreath memorabilia. He passed away today at 89.

Also, if anyone is going to be in Indianapolis on race weekend, the Indy Memorabilia Show is the day before the race.

-kin

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by wvu_class_of_2001

I love the Andretti Panini cards. They are in the top ten on my "want" list. I'll be fine with an ungraded, poor copy.

I wrote a post on my personal blog six days ago about a piece of Jimmy McElreath memorabilia. He passed away today at 89.

Also, if anyone is going to be in Indianapolis on race weekend, the Indy Memorabilia Show is the day before the race.

-kin

Awesome Jim McElreath piece. The man had a lot of sorrow in his life. McElreath 's son, Jim Jr., was a rising open wheel driver who was killed at age 23 in a Sprint Car at Winchester (Ind.) in 1977. His daughter, Shirley, married racer Tony Bettenhausen Jr. and was killed along with Bettenhausen in a 2000 plane crash.

I read in the past that when Jim Jr. was killed at Winchester, Jim Sr. took the car back to his home in Texas and left the car sitting as it was for years.

Here is a great Robin Miller profile of Jim McElreath that was posted a few hours ago.

http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/14...eath-1928-2017

[brian1961]

[QUOTE=BruceinGa;1661320]It was not a good afternoon.[/Q

Since someone made reference to the Le Mans catastrophe, neither was the early evening of June 11, 1955. Really, no one single person was at fault. With the swiftly increasing speeds of the cars, the beautiful circuit had become unbelievably too dangerous at certain points on the course. The accident occurred at precisely such a spot. The spectator view was spectacular. As the tracked kinked, or turned slightly to the right, the width of the road shrinked just a tad.

A tad too much.

The worse case scenario.

Three cars were trying to get through this kink at the same time. All in their own way, a victim of circumstances.

Would some brave soul load up the image of Pierre Levegh's Mercedes, as it was filmed in mid-air, being shot by an amateur photographer whose arm or leg was broken in the crash, and whose film snapped at this instant. At least he came out alive. Eventually, the film was developed, and can actually be seen free on YOU TUBE.

Type:

The Worst Accident in Motorsports History (1955 Le Mans Disaster)

or

Le Mans 1955 accident: Raw footages of the crash in HD (read description)

I'm not getting my razzies from letting you in on this, merely to educate you about the absolute worst accident in automobile racing history. The film is extraordinary.

Numerous aftereffects occurred as a result of this catastrophe. Races were canceled. Racing was banned in Switzerland, which still holds today. Drivers suddenly or soon retired. The Mercedes-Benz company directors held a quick meeting, and seven hours after the accident, with their cars running a strong first and third, withdrew them from the race in honor and respect to those who perished, their bereaved families, and the many who were injured. For what it's worth, fans worldwide and vox populi understood and respected Mercedes for retiring their cars, with their lead car leading by 2 laps.

The other company refused to acknowledge ANY fault of its driver, and that car happened to win the race. Several photos taken of that driver after the event were not very flattering, and I know, deep, deep, deep down---he actually believed he had precipitated the accident. I read a mesmerizing first-hand account from Rob Walker in an early 90s Road & Track, where Rob encountered Mike Hawthorn at an enclosure / bar right after the accident. What Rob remembered Mike confessing is frankly haunting, and I am certain haunted Mr. Hawthorn the few years that he lived after the disaster.

Really, as I said before, there were several mitigating factors. The track was widened significantly for 1956, and the grandstands at that point moved back sufficiently to satisfy the officials who ran the race that such a tragedy would not re-occur. In the intervening years, many more barriers have been put up, and the cars have enough complicated spoilers and stablizers to make them much more controllable at speed. Be that as it may, racing is racing, and those cars are going over 200+ miles an hour. Anything could still happen, but the rules and regs and design of both the cars and the Le Mans circuit have been worked out extremely hard, to prevent another 11th of June 1955 from ever transpiring again.

Well, there have been a lot of accidents in motor racing history. As I said, the sight, sound, and smell of the racing cars are wondrous. The drivers really are a special breed of heroes.

Nice discussion.

As I mentioned to Eddie, I have never gravitated to racing cards, preferring models of the cars. After my dear Mother passed away in 1996, to deal with my grief and agony over losing her, I built a fantasy Dinky Toy of none other than the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SLR Le Mans racing sports car of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss, car number 19 that was leading the race by two laps when it was withdrawn from the race. It took about 3 years of my free time, partly because I had to use an old John Day kit for a base. Those old kits required a LOT of work to make them look good. I stuffed it with a plethora of interior and exterior goodies and detail. I received major help from my modeler friend, Tim Dyke, from England. True, no Dinky Toy would ever have looked that good, but I took it from the standpoint of what I as a child would have loved to have seen on that exotic car. You see, my Mother and Dad gave me Dinky Toys as a kid for Christmas and birthdays. These got to my heart a few years before baseball cards were introduced to me.

I apologize for the long, long post. This is a very personal thing that means a great deal to me.

If you've read this far, thank you, sincerely, for listening to an old man who misses his dear Mother on Mother's Day.

Best regards, guys. ---Brian Powell

[Bored5000]

Great post, Brian. The 1955 Le Mans disaster also occurred against the backdrop of fierce nationalism. The German national anthem was not played prior to the race, and cars were painted colors based on the country of the manufacturer. The car of Pierre Levegh, who was killed in the crash, went into the crowd and officially 83 people were killed in the worst racing accident of all-time. Levegh's car disintegrated and caught fire upon entering the crowd. The dislodged engine, hood and front end assembly acted as a guillotine and decapitated over a dozen spectators. The disaster was made even worse when track workers doused the magnesium fueled inferno with water.

It has long been speculated that even more than 83 spectators actually died in the Le Mans Disaster.

As Brian mentioned, Mercedes was leading the race when team bosses elected to withdraw from the race several hours after the incident. Race organizers and Mercedes officials were keenly aware of the optics of a German manufacturer winning such a major race after a German car went into the stands and killed dozens of Frenchmen just a decade after World War II.

Who exactly was most at fault for the Le Mans Disaster has been debated for decades, and multiple books have been written on the topic. It is generally acknowledged that the Mercedes Levegh was driving was more car than he was able to handle, but perhaps Levegh was simply put in an impossible position in a split second. Eventual winner Mike Hawthorn usually receives much of the blame for causing the accident by abruptly darting into the pits, and Hawthorn allegedly acknowledged his role in causing the worst crash in racing history shortly after the incident occurred.

Famed racer Stirling Moss has said in the past that the problem with Le Mans at the time was that there were 120 drivers, 20 of whom were the best in the world. "The rest were idiots," said Moss of the amateur/sportsman drivers who were sprinkled throughout the field at Le Mans.

The race continued to its conclusion, at least in part because officials were concerned that the large crowd leaving the track all at once would clog up the roadways for ambulances trying to take the 100+ critically injured fans to hospitals. No announcement was ever made that anything out of the ordinary had occurred, and many fans elsewhere on the speedway grounds did not have any idea what had happened until after the race was over (several days later in some cases)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEk85gKJN6k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz2VezfEWXQ

http://jalopnik.com/just-how-horrify...rts-1589382023 (this is an amazing article on the Le Mans Disaster)

[brian1961]

Thanks for your kind words, Eddie. It took me a good while to type and edit the thread, but it was worth it. Somehow, I felt someone good at loading up You Tube videos would come to my rescue and do as I suggested. I'm not surprised in the least it was you. Thank you, my friend.

Oh, the finger pointing that went on, especially at poor Levegh. He really was made the scapegoat. While he was nowhere near as good as the two greatest drivers in the world at that moment, Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss, doing great battle with another of the top 20, Hawthorn, Levegh did very well with the 300SLR. He was getting better and better.

My aforementioned modeler friend, Tim Dyke, pointed out to me some years back that in the video you posted of the lead-up to the catastrophe, when Mike Hawthorn slammed on his brakes (powerful DISC brakes, mind you!) Austin Healey driver Lance Macklin had to stand on his brakes immediately to prevent smashing into him. However, Lance also pulled over gently, BUT HE PULLED OVER WAY TOO FAR, and so Pierre Levegh hardly had enough room to negotiate the slight bend and pass safely by Macklin. He almost made it, but instead of crunching in Macklin's tail end, it served as a launching pad...........

I watched the clip several times and Tim is absolutely correct. It takes some resolute deep honesty for an Englishman to admit this, too.

Also, lest anyone say anything they might regret, remember all this was happening at 150-160 miles per hour, with Macklin slightly down from his top speed of 145-150 when he braked. Remember in your life when someone hurriedly said to you," THINK FAST!", and tossed something at you at the same time? Reaction time for all of this was in seconds to milliseconds.

I just shake my head at the horror of the whole thing. The first 2 1/2 hours had been perhaps the best actual racing between 2 cars at the Sarthe (Le Mans). The battle between Fangio's Mercedes and Hawthorn's Jaguar was monumental. Everybody was having such a great time....

Eddie, after I wrote my thread response post, I went downstairs to gaze at my fantasy Dinky Toys Mercedes. It's been 17 years since I completed it, but I still get a big kick out of viewing it. Very fulfilling, that project.

Take care, my friend. If you ever want to set up a phone chat, PM me. Recently, another customer of mine and I spent a delightful 2 1/2 hours on the phone. I think we both needed it. ---Brian Powell