The Roaring Season

A Bugatti Type 35 splashing its way round Oulton Park's Old Hall corner in the rain.

If you visited Oulton Park in the late 1960's and you were hungry - not a problem!
Prices in Pounds/Shillings and Pence of course.
Also a map of the circuit which is still fundamentally the same.

Incidentally, the programme that I took this image from is from a splendid web site that has programmes from across the world and is well worth a visit. This is their "circuit" index. https://www.progcovers.com/motor/circuits.html

John Bridges in the Red Rose Motors Chevron B6 at the BRSCC 5000 Guineas Spring Cup meeting at Oulton Park on the 12th April 1968. He finished in P13.

Another couple of photos from the BRSCC 5000 Guineas Spring Cup meeting at Oulton Park on the 12th April 1968. Ford GT40's were a popular and successful sports car during the 1960's. Here are two examples.

#97 is Bob Vincent's GT40 which finished P12.
#88 is David Prophet's modified GT40 that finished P4.

John Lepp's Chevron B6 BMW in the BRSCC 5000 Guineas Spring Cup meeting at Oulton Park on the 12th April 1968.

The Opposite Lock Club was a nightclub in Birmingham, with an owner who liked to race. This is the Porsche 906 of Mefco Racing, driven by John Morris, in the paddock at Oulton Park. He finished P11 in the BRSCC 5000 Guineas Guards Spring Cup Meeting. 12/4/68.

Another photo of the second placed car in the 1969 Tourist Trophy race at Oulton Park. David Pipers Lola T70 at Old Hall corner.

John Rhodes in his works BMC Mini-Cooper 1293 S, rounding Old Hall corner with a bit of drama. (Is he in Oversteer?) What I find interesting is the crowd watching on. Do many people wear ties to motor races these days?

We also had motorbikes at Kyalami in the early 1970's. This is no less a personage than multiple world champion Giacomo Agostini on his MV Agusta.

Escort giving it beans around Old Hall in the late 1960's.

A Renault R8 Gordini and a more standard R8 during a private track session at Kyalami one Saturday afternoon in 1971.

Being a Renault tragic, the front one isn't a Gordini, more likely an Alconi, the South African one (the lights are wrong for a Gordini which had larger main lights and the inners were closer to the headlights) and the one behind an R8. Gordini Houdini Frans Cronje who races his 8 Gordini in NZ, and originally from South Africa where he raced R8s is going to give us more info.

Frans has come back, the front car is Jimmy Armitage.

Chaswin wrote:What I find interesting is the crowd watching on. Do many people wear ties to motor races these days?

Only at Goodwood! Essential if you intend going into the paddock. In Dad's day, (pre war Donington) most were wearing hats/caps too. Back in the 1960's, I seem to remember wearing a tie every day, except when wearing a short sleeved summer shirt.

Thanks Oldfart - that's quite amusing as the photo you posted is also one of mine, taken on the same day! I was at Kyalami with my brother in law and a colleague who were shake-down testing an R8 that they had just finished building for the their employer. Here's a couple of photos of that car and also a heavily modified Capri Perana that was also out testing.

I can remember going to work in the summer on South Africa in the 1970's in a suit and tie. Not the ideal dress mode for 30C plus temperatures.

As I didn't know the origin of that photo I didn't attribute. Sorry. Frans passed it on to me.

Oldfart wrote:As I didn't know the origin of that photo I didn't attribute. Sorry. Frans passed it on to me.

Not a problem, I would probably have posted it myself at some stage.

A Marcos GT at Oulton Park in 1969 These popular fibreglass sports cars were available with Ford 1600 or 1800 four cylinder motors or a Ford 3 litre V6. Originally they had a plywood chassis, but from 1969 the car came with a proper steel chassis to allow the user of bigger, more powerful engines. This one has been subjected to a few bodywork modifications. (I remember seeing one of the early cars that had hit a tree just behind the drivers seat and had split into two pieces, fortunately without injuring the driver). I have seen at least one car still driving around in Johannesburg.

The 1800cc plywood chassised Marcos 1800's were homologated for racing, but the steel chassis Marcos Volvo 3 litre never was. Pity...

The Plywood chassis was very time consuming to construct, as there were 350 pieces of ply to be cut and glued. The steel chassis was adopted because it was quicker and cheaper to build.

Earlier Ford 3 litre V6's were still used in the plywood chassis.