Bringing it home... 49's first race at Zandvoort 1967

[Bainford]

Lou, Thanks for the heads up. I just checked out their merch, and there is a lot of great stuff there, including some great looking jackets.

Hey Chris, how goes it? Good to see you around again.

[TheKid#9]

Lou, Thanks for the heads up. I just checked out their merch, and there is a lot of great stuff there, including some great looking jackets.

Hey Chris, how goes it? Good to see you around again.

I've been doing good... College is tough haha Yeah I haven't posted on here or LotusTalk in awhile, been doing other stuff which is good since I need to focus on school. All in all, I'm doing well and I still get on here and read threads, I just haven't posted. Looks like its going well though over 200 members now! 

[Lou Drozdowski]

  Jim Clark...ready to make history in Holland.

[Lou Drozdowski]

I will call this one "Ice cream"... Gentleman Jimmy offers the lady a refreshment.     

I call this picture "Pensive Pilots"... Warwick Farms the Tasman series of 68...ld 

[buzzer]

You do pick out some great photos. A story I am sure behind each one.

Dave

[Lou Drozdowski]

A few more shots of the 49's debut in Holland...Jimmy & Colin talking tactics and Clark's drive through the field. ld

[Lou Drozdowski]

It's been a while...Wonder what became of the 49 in it's next race?

  In today's era we can measure time with sub-atomic particles. I guess, relative to 1967... seconds and tenths were the standard of the day. If you compare development from then and now, what would 10 seconds mean? When the team arrived in Belgium, Clark humbled the opposition to break the previous lap record and put the car on pole. Ten seconds...although the victory went to Gurney in the Eagle, no one could have for seen the leap in development the 49 had over it's rivals.
   
Colin seems very annoyed at the marshal at the moment, and the daunting au-rouge corner in the backdrop.ld

[BDA]

Great picture and a great race! Two fantastic cars (Lotus and Eagle) that both extended the state of the art!

[Lou Drozdowski]

Great picture and a great race! Two fantastic cars (Lotus and Eagle) that both extended the state of the art!

BDA...Got to thinking about the subtle differences between the Lotus & Eagle. Here is a shot of the grid formation from Spa. The 49 looks smaller to begin with, less overall skin compared to the Eagle. Gurney appears to be lower in the car, but I think the 49 has a short roll hoop. The massive Weslake compared to the diminutive DFV. I must admit that the Eagle is however better looking. A tire war...what we need in today's F1...is also evident.   

[Lou Drozdowski]

I wanted to keep this thread as factual as possible, dealing mostly with the topic of the Zandvoort race. However, I will expand the subject slightly... to cover some of the interesting highlights and developments of the 49 during the remainder of the 1967 season.  I will interject some offbeat comments...to solicit your thoughts and suggestions.

Check out Colin & Jimmy...handsome lot I must say. It was cold that debut weekend in the dunes. Colin donned his twill overcoat and the traditional 'Black" cap was some years away. Jimmy, so cool with his monogram driving gloves. Still, these timeless photos continue to capture the pure joy, thrill and essence of simpler and elegant times.       

[Lou Drozdowski]

Your captions to this ?...What is young Damon saying...


Three World Champions (soon to be) 

[BDA]

Great picture and a great race! Two fantastic cars (Lotus and Eagle) that both extended the state of the art!

BDA...Got to thinking about the subtle differences between the Lotus & Eagle. Here is a shot of the grid formation from Spa. The 49 looks smaller to begin with, less overall skin compared to the Eagle. Gurney appears to be lower in the car, but I think the 49 has a short roll hoop. The massive Weslake compared to the diminutive DFV. I must admit that the Eagle is however better looking. A tire war...what we need in today's F1...is also evident.

Lou,
I don't want to hijack the thread but I wanted to mention a few things about the Eagle that some might not know. First is that it had no seat belts. One of the reasons for that is that the tub was made of magnesium. If a tire went flat and the tub scraped the ground, it could catch fire - a fire that could not be put out. In that event, it is important to be able to get out of the car as quickly as possible. The headers were made of titanium - I believe that was a first. I've read that the tooling used to build the Weslake was left over from WWII so the engines were essentially hand made which caused them not to attain their full potential.

There's no denying that the new Lotus and DFV were the stars of the show and the face of things to come. Something Lotus repeatedly showed over the next few decades. But it's nice to remember there were other interesting stories going on and one of them was eventual only GP win by an American driver in an American designed car (in Belgium that year).

[Lou Drozdowski]

A couple of early presser shots...Colin takes the wheel and all smiles from Graham. I wanted to insert these photos simply for the facial expression of both men. 

[Lou Drozdowski]

A couple of early presser shots...Colin takes the wheel and all smiles from Graham. I wanted to insert these photos simply for the facial expression of both men. 

 Ok, for those with keen eyes...what's up with the last two pictures, notice anything ? ld

[BDA]

I'm probably missing it but in the last picture, there seems to be a lot of chrome which can cause hydrogen embrittlement. I wouldn't expect that on an F1 race car (though it's not unheard of to have chrome on stressed race car bits).