Video: 1964 British Grand Prix in Color

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1964 British Grand PrixHere’s a rare find: newsreel coverage of the 1964 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in bright, beautiful, living color. You’re going to enjoy this.  

 

 

Good motion-picture footage of vintage Formula One racing is rare enough. When we found this British Pathe News short of the 1964 British Grand Prix in clear, beautiful color, we felt like we hit the jackpot. Black-and-white film has its charms, to be sure, but color seems to add an extra dimension to the action. Poetic expressions like “explosion of color” suddenly make perfect sense.

The 1964 British Grand Prix, which was also designated the European Grand Prix that year, was held at Brands Hatch in Kent, England. The storied circuit hosted 12 Grand Prix events between 1964 and 1986, alternating with Silverstone, and every one was a classic. Take this one for instance, with reigning world champion Jim Clark in a Lotus-Climax beating Graham Hill’s BRM to the checkered flag by 2.8 seconds. Austrian F1 star Gerhard Berger, active 1984-1997, calls Brands Hatch “the best circuit in the world.” This three-minute video will help us see why. Please enjoy.

 

7 thoughts on “Video: 1964 British Grand Prix in Color”

  1. Um, 3 minute video, sorry. “In Living Color” kind of dates you MCG, first made popular by NBC in 1957 with the animated peacock logo, but was used before that in a stationary logo.
    Just love that kind of racing. Reminds me of my favorite racing movie “Grand Prix” with James Gardner. Actually driving the car, not pushing buttons on the steering wheel. I felt bad for the driver that never made it off the line way in the back. Thanks MCG.

  2. Explosion of color is right. I never knew the interior of the Lotus was bright red. There are many colors here I never knew.

    • It was only the steering wheel and instrument panel that was red. The wheel was a pinker red than it looks in the film, I think. The rest of the cockpit was grey.

  3. What a great video. You can really see the suspension travel of those old cars. Compared to todays cars where I think most of the suspension travel comes from the sidewall flex as opposed to the springs and shocks.

  5. Great video, thanks for sharing! I first drove Brands in “73, this sure brought back some memories.

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