Vintage Racing?

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by Justus

Glad to see this thread getting some action again. SO much information and history, thanks!

I've had these cards a while and decided to throw them in with a submission of football cards I had going to PSA. Got them back recently...

Justus, maybe this is just a glitch on my end, but your images are not appearing for me.

[BeanTown]

Sometimes I bid on stuff that has the Wow factor. This panoramic I won not to long ago and want to contribute to the thread. I've copied and pasted Heritage's description

1910's Indianapolis 500 Panoramic Photograph. This Indianapolis 500 panoramic photograph pictures eleven vehicles with their drivers and team members lined up in front of a packed grandstand for an early installment of the iconic racing event. Panoramas from the early years of this race are hard to come by in any condition. The ones that have come up for sale are mostly aerial-type shots of the speedway. This one on offer here is one of the few (and most likely the earliest) which showcase the automobiles and the drivers. Measures 30.25x6.25". Some vertical creases, otherwise EX.

[Justus]

That is an incredible piece! Would love to have that framed on my wall.

Originally Posted by BeanTown

Sometimes I bid on stuff that has the Wow factor. This panoramic I won not to long ago and want to contribute to the thread. I've copied and pasted Heritage's description

1910's Indianapolis 500 Panoramic Photograph. This Indianapolis 500 panoramic photograph pictures eleven vehicles with their drivers and team members lined up in front of a packed grandstand for an early installment of the iconic racing event. Panoramas from the early years of this race are hard to come by in any condition. The ones that have come up for sale are mostly aerial-type shots of the speedway. This one on offer here is one of the few (and most likely the earliest) which showcase the automobiles and the drivers. Measures 30.25x6.25". Some vertical creases, otherwise EX.

[Justus]

Thanks Bored. I've checked it on Chrome and Safari, both signed into Net54 and not signed it, and they are showing for me. Anyone else having problems seeing the pics?

Originally Posted by Bored5000

Justus, maybe this is just a glitch on my end, but your images are not appearing for me.

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by Justus

Thanks Bored. I've checked it on Chrome and Safari, both signed into Net54 and not signed it, and they are showing for me. Anyone else having problems seeing the pics?

I changed browsers from Chrome to Firefox on my desktop and opened this thread on my phone, but was unable to get your pictures to appear for me. Weird, the STP images you posted in post No. 85 still appear for me. Maybe the glitch is just on my end. No big deal. I am glad the thread has come back to life; this is my favorite thread on the board.

You are right, that Indy 500 panoramic that Jay posted is an awesome piece.

[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.

[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)