1955 Belgium GP

A bit different than today's F1 GP. Cars drive from their garages in the town to the circuit, for one difference.

A different era. Safety was being thrown clear of the car in case of a crash, as you sat on the fuel tank, or between them. The drivers were real heroes, though. Fangio, Moss, Hawthorn, Collins, etc.

On a semi-related note to the Mercedes cars in the video, just yesterday I found a MotorSport magazine in my bookshelf, it was a Stirling Moss at 80 celebratory issue. In it, he talked about his epic 1955 Mille Miglia win in the Mercedes 300SLR. He mentioned that he himself was amazed to find out quite recently that he did the last half-hour of the last stretch of the MM into Brescia at an average speed of 160 mph! To put that into context, that was actually a few decimals quicker than the then-fastest F1 lap of all time, which was Juan-Pablo Montoya at Monza in 2002. The current fastest lap was set by Lewis Hamilton at Monza last year, at 164.267 mph. Just a few mph faster, in a modern beast of an F1 car. Now, bear in mind that Moss did this in 1955, on public country roads in Italy. It is probably the greatest drive of all time, I can’t see how anyone can ever top that.

Racing was great to watch in my youth (60s ) ...the cars looked like cars and there was lots of genuine competition. I even liked Nascar style racing back then because the cars were still ( basically) the Chevys and Fords and Dodges that our dads drove ...just modified for the track. The only racing I really like now is club racing and events like Goodwood

I completely agree, even though I wasn’t even born in the golden age of racing. I watched F1 with Dad from an early age. I remember Senna’s death even though I was only nine.

Through Grand Prix Legends I got hooked on classic F1. One of my heroes is Dan Gurney. I wish I had made it to Goodwood when he was there, I believe the last time was 2014 or 16.

Ah, the Glory Days when drivers were gentlemen, cads and bounders who would party the night away, nobbing a Popsie or two, and racing the next day. Laughing at Jim Clark because he would only drink milk

Also the "glory days" when kids would be transported around in cars with no seat belts or car seats and when smoking cigarettes was advertised as being "healthy".

I recall the joy one Christmas receiving a toy steering wheel that was affixed to the dashboard so I could be just like Daddy. Or more likely Stirling Moss. A stretch of the imagination as our Ford Popular could barely reach 40 mph. The toy consisted of a rubber sucker with a steel road protruding holding the wheel just inches from my five-year-old torso sat unsecured in the front passenger seat. Lethal in an accident, but this distraction combined with the bit of toilet cistern chain attached to the rear bumper dragging on the road cured my inherent car-sickness.
With the small, under-powered and under-equipped and rare vehicles we were used to in post-war England, (I was the only one in my school year whose family had a car*) we looked on your massive chrome and coloured confections with envy and absolute wonder when viewed in the media!

*We weren't posh, cars was issued to to war-wounded veterans at the time. We wouldn't have been able to afford one otherwise.

Thank you for that wonderful post BD-123!

Project Cars 2 has that track, and some of the cars of that era, and a quick lap will confirm that safety was not a priority in those days but nerves of steel were. I recall my folks had a 2 seater MG and I was regularly wedged unsecured in the luggage space with my legs hanging over the bodywork.

BD-123's post made me curious so I looked up some information on the Ford Popular,

"The Ford Popular is best known as a car from Ford built in England between 1953 and 1962. When launched, it was Britain's lowest priced car. The name Popular was also used by Ford to describe its 1930s Y Type model. The Popular name was also later used on basic models of the Escort and Fiesta cars."