favorite racing era for you

[Brian Skeoch]

Mine is the entire decade of the 1980's. the cars were good looking and still being developed from tubs with bodies to full carbon fiber tubs with stiffened front box section.

also, the cars were fast and required alot of man handling to get them dialed in and to handle right.

80's Indy cars were beautiful. the different designers really worked their magic with the tire builders and engine makers to make terrific machines.

March, Lola, Eagle, Wildcat.

80's F 1 too. Great looking cars. 4 cylinder turbo BMW to big Cosworths and Judds.

Lotus, March, Benneton, Ferrari, Ligier, ATS, Oscela, Lola, Alfa, Tyrell, Mindardi, Arrows, Mclaren, Ensign, Wolf.

Just a great era.

IMSA, Porsche, March, Lola, Chevy Ford...

the 80's were great....


what is your favorite era of racing

Brian

[Tony K]

I agree with the 80s for all of the reasons you stated.

Cars were still getting faster, technology was still developing, ground was still being broken; vehicle design and power supply was not yet as controlled and regulate as it is today.

To help matters, spending was appropriately big league, but not out of control.

A lot (not all) of the advancement in recent years has been more refinement than innovation, or taking place within the confines of regulations.

[GregWO]

I agree 80's was IMO the Pinnacle of racing.... now its regulations, spending the most money to win, and just bad sportsman-like conduct! with the typical dumb fan eating it up like its required.... argahh!!! Don't get me started. I used to love watching F1, IRL, NASCAR.... Not even worth turning on the TV for today...

[Brian Skeoch]

thank god for historic sports car racing... those old sports cars keep the old days going ..

www.hsr.com

check out the Road Atlanta event picture section.... you will want to come visit us at Road Atlanta.

Brian

[Autocross7]

For me, it is really hard to say. Every era had it's greats for sure and I would hate to leave them out trying to narrow the scope. For example, the Ferrari - GT40 battles of the 60's were the stuff of legend. The Porshce 917 was THE car of the early 70's road races for me - I still remember having to watch it race on a black and white TV at the grandparents house - mad that we were not home to see it in color. This was back during the ABC Wide World of Sports for those that may remember... I can recall the McLaren M6 cars also.

F1... the ground effects error. Those were the cars I fell in live with from Grand Prix. The turbo days def. made a better sound! 80's Indy cars were my favorite also. I guess you guys are part right in the end though, the 1980's. The porsche 956 cannot be overlooked for nastalgic reasons. However, I still waiver as te 70's were certainly awsome.

Unfortunately, the Mazda 787B, second only to the Porsche 917 for me - and beat it in many respects including fuel efficiency and speed - was a creation of the late 80's and did not enter into real compitition until the 90's... the exception of the day I'd call it...

Cameron

[WayneB]

Me, I definately liked professional racing the way it was in the mid 60's -70's.:)

F1, Indy,Le-Mans, Can-Am ,NASCAR,Trans-Am and Saloon car racing all better than today's offerings to me, and the drivers were just being themselves, they had not gone on any P.R. courses to learn howto trot out the predictable politically correct nonsense like todays bunch.

The cars were all very distinctive and different, with the rules being relitively loose and innovation (that was visible)was very apparent.

Sponsorship was just begining to manifest itself (Mr.Chapmans fault in F1), teams were small, hardworking, approachable and racing was still fun and not the huge corporate entity it's became today. It was the era of the garagiste, and they could beat the like of giants like Enzo.

With the price of competition relitively small (by todays standards) it was still possible for a bunch of mates to form a team and field a car.


Thats my golden era of motorsports.:)

http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/images/lotus49f.jpg

http://www.autosportsltd.com/Images/featured/start-1970-1.jpg

http://bradbarnett.net/mustangs/timeline/69-70/70/ParnelliJones.jpg

http://www.vicelford.com/gallery/CHAP.%20R.A.%2070-lg.jpg

http://www.topfoto.co.uk/gallery/butlins/images/prevs/0507812.jpg

[dpr59]

For me the late 70's early 80's

The ground effect years of the Lotus 78 and 79

[Martin]

After watching the extras from the DVD of "Grand Prix" I have to say the 60's were the most exciting or should I say most dangerous. :( Either way, it is something of legend status to me as I was not there for those glorious days.

[Mark B.]

I find the late 60s and early 70s F1 period the most interesting time, when wings where in their infancy. Also love the late 60's prototype era too.

http://www.imca-slotracing.com/images/1967-BOAC.jpg

[USAndretti42]

It's a difficult one this.

I liked the 70's as that was when I first got interested in racing and saw my first F1 races, There was a lot of innovation at the time. Chapman was still doing his stuff and there were some legends around like, Hill, Rindt, Stewart, Fittipaldi, Lauda, etc. On the downside, the cars and tracks were lethal and too may drivers died.

The 80s saw full ground effect which made for some spectacular cars but poor racing. It also was the full-on turbos and the Mansell, Prost, Senna battles. The cars were safer but the driving standards got worse with the dreaded stick to your line whether someone's trying to pass or not.

The 90s saw the Mansell reach his peak and the arrival of Schumacher on the scene. We also had the active cars which were pretty special. On the other side the death of Senna lead to chicanes popping up everywhere reducing the slim chances of overtaking.

The naughties have brought the modern Ferrari era and efforts to make the racing better. Certainly this last season has had some good racing and some of the cleanest driving for a while. But the scope for technological advances has been reduced to almost nothing.

So, for Formula 1, each decade has its plus and minus points. The same can be said of Indy racing and sports car racing.

So, in balance, I think the best era for racing is now because you don't know what's going to happen, who is going to win, what political tricks will be played and what new driving star will shine.

Having been involved with IRL and ALMS recently, they are both on the up, I think, and, because I understand them better and know some of those involved, I find them more interesting.

[Brian Skeoch]

the 70's were great sports car racing.. the Porsche 935's were just epic... Dick Barbour, the Whittingtons etc.

[WayneB]

Are the Whittington's out of jail yet?

[Martin]

What did they go in for?

[WayneB]

They were into the importation of recreational pharmacuiticles.:nono:

I have never met them, but have herd all sorts of tales about there "adventures", including paying the Kremer Brothers for their Le-Mans ride with a suitcase full of money that smelled like it had been buried and dug up.

They owned the Road Atlanta race track, which was handy place to land the planes at.

A few racing organisations were financed in a similar way, John Greenwood's Vettes, and in England Vic Lee's BMW M3 BTCC team.

I did some work for him on his Production saloon Golf GTI in the 80's (before the big money arrived!)