My first intro to open wheel was Formula Vee and Formula Libre(Libra depending on the location- inside joke).
I did not get to see the 78 race. I have seen one at Pebble Beach's charity car auction. I remain in absolute awe. The Cosworth V8 was cranked and I was just speechless. I can't articulate the moment and what it meant to me as a car nut.
Lotus is something that speaks to me. When I got my Eclat 907 running with dual DHLA 45's, Dave Bean cams, and a header adapted from a J-H, I had that same moment.
I have watched Youtube uploads of Lotus during the beginning of G-E era. I was at Talladega when a Wood Brothers Thunderbird qualified at 212mph. There are moments in motorsports, where you know that something has happened revolutionary.
I imagine the Ford Model T coming out being along the same lines.
Love, love, love, love the ground effects Formula One era.
I had a professor say that understanding matrix algebra was the key to understanding how we move through time and space. I had a difficult time with more than a 3x3 matix before he said that. But I got a book of problems and I just started working them and trying to apply it to the world around me- motion, space, objects, time, speed. I got an A in that course. Got an A in Physics I & II. It didn't start out that way. But when I plan an engine build, I know exactly how it will be used and I pick each part individuallly. Some guys wanna big game hunt- great, whatever- the big game hunt for me is finding that special piece so that the engine rotating assembly revs fast, pumps in air and petrol, and how the drivetrain will be built.
Formula One and even Champ Car- I knew I was seeing an era ending. At the end of the first Indy 500 I saw in person- I had tears in my eyes.
