Presenting another magic moment in motorsports: onboard footage of Jim Clark driving a Lotus 25 at Oulton Park in 1963.
In modern motorsports, onboard cameras are commonplace. But in 1963, their use was exceedingly rare. This unusual footage was filmed at the 1963 International Gold Cup race at Oulton Park, England and stars the incomparable Jim Clark driving a Lotus 25. Clark was the dominant force of the 1963 season, scoring seven victories in 10 races and running away with the driver’s championship. He easily won this non-championship event at Oulton Park as well, claiming fast lap and beating Richie Ginther to the finish by more than 22 seconds.
And as you’ll find, this onboard footage is very different from what we see in 2014. The tires are skinny. The instruments are analog gauges, the gear changes are manual, and the steering wheel is round. And as you watch more closely, additional differences become apparent. For example, note the huge amount of suspension travel on the Lotus compared to modern race cars. And of course, it goes without saying that Clark was as smooth and skillful as any driver who ever wheeled an F1 car. This is a rare look at a special moment in motorsports—please enjoy the view.
http://youtu.be/1LnMJflV5sA
THX, MCG, that was fun. I was just a kid when Jim Clark was around, he was one of my favorite driver’s, not sure why, as a kid, but I built many Lotus models of his car. I remember when he died, it was like my hero was killed.
Back to the “ride”, I like those “notchy ” tachometers, like as shown in the movie, Grand Prix, my favorite movie of all time. And the engine, 1.5 litre V-8. They have bigger motorcycle engines now. Being a motorhead and gearjammer all my life, I’ve always wanted to blast an older car, like that Lotus around a track. As I get older, the chance of that actually happening, gets less and less, but as this clip shows, it would be a gas.
My pleasure. I always enjoy your comments here, too. MCG
The “notchy” tach is a Smiths Chronometric; they were also used on many bikes of that era. They had a very odd mechanism that incorporated features from a mechanical watch or clock, hence the name. One such feature was an escapement that sampled and displayed the rpms at 3/4 second intervals, hence the notchiness. I have no idea what they were trying to achieve with the Chrono but the idea was abandoned. Chronometrics in good condition are sought after these days.
Wow, thanks grumbles. I have seen them on older bikes.
Along with Smith, another mfg’er of precision mechanical tachometers was Jones. Smith or Jones — as a youngster I was amused by this. Never mind, carry on.