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F1 1979 - Maranello Mastery

1979 saw Carlos Reutemann move to partner Mario Andretti at Lotus as Jody Scheckter took his seat at Ferrari. Wolf filled the gap left by Scheckter with James Hunt, and McLaren gave John Watson a drive in place of Hunt.

The type 79 ‘wing car’ had offered Lotus a great advantage in aerodynamic grip during the previous season. But for this year, many of the teams had incorporated the technology into their designs. Over the first two races Ligier appeared to have made up the most ground with Jacques Laffite taking the victories. In round 3, Ferrari laid down the team’s intentions, giving the new 312T4 model its successful debut.

As the season progressed Williams’ reliability improved and Alan Jones demonstrated the team’s pace, winning four out of the last six races. For Williams and Jones it was too little too late. The consistent performances from the Ferrari team had paid off, and despite only having three victories throughout the season, Scheckter took the title.

1979 also saw Formula One say its goodbyes to two of the decade’s greatest characters: James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Hunt quit racing after the Monaco Grand Prix claiming to be fed up with Formula One, and Lauda retired at the penultimate Grand Prix in Montreal.

Brunswick films were pioneers in the embryonic days of Formula One production, when sponsors controlled the demand for footage, and before the era of global TV coverage began. They have skilfully combined film from their famous archive to create a review that captures the essence of a very special era in Grand Prix racing.

Tags: Grand Prix , F1 , Formula 1 , 1979

Best of British BSA

This in-depth video tells the full story of the BSA, from its beginnings in the armaments trade of the eighteenth century, through the glory years of their domination of the world motorcycle market, to the final sorry climax.

At the National Motorcycle Museum we review the greatest bikes to bear the unique ‘Piled Arms’ trademark, from the ‘Roundtank’ and ‘Sloper’ models of the 20s and 30s to the incomparable ‘Gold Stars’, ‘Road Rockets’ and ‘Rocket 3’ machines that were the top British bikes of the 60s and 70s. We also visit the Sammy Miller Museum to check out a unique road racer, which could have brought BSA a world championship in the mid-Fifties. The bike never did race, but six-times World Champion Geoff Duke O.B.E. tested it and tells us why he is convinced that it could have been a Grand Prix winner.

This DVD features interviews with American riders Bobby Hill, who scored BSA’s first Daytona 200 win in 1954 and Dick Mann who repeated this in 1971 alongside team mate Don Emde who took a Daytona 3rd in the same year. Double World Motocross Champion Jeff Smith reminisces about his title wins along with his teammate and BSA competition manager Brian Martin. Brian also talks about winning the Maudes Trophy for BSA as part of a three-man team, covering 5,000 miles around Europe on standard production Star Twin models in 1952. Norman Vanhouse, Gold Star specialist Eddie Dow and Chris Vincent also remember their BSA achievements and experiences.

Action footage, interviews and authoritative commentary reveal just why the BSA motorcycle will always be regarded as one of the very ‘Best of British’.

F1 Review 1974 Down to the last lap

1974 was the year of change in Formula One. Defending champion Jackie Stewart had retired from racing, creating a power vacuum that sucked a host of racers, old and new, into the battle for the Championship.

And what a season! Predicting the outcome of each race was impossible as the drivers battled to come to terms with closer racing brought about by faster cars with better tyres. It was reliability as much as driving skill that kept the leaderboard in a state of constant flux. By the final race of the season Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren), Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) and Jody Scheckter (Tyrrell) were locked in a fascinating three-way battle for the title. It went right down to the wire.

This film doesn’t just show the action from the season – it tells the story. Pit-lane cameras eavesdrop on intimate conversations between the engineers and drivers as they discuss set-up and tyres, revealing a world markedly different from contemporary Formula One.

Brunswick Films were pioneers in the embryonic days of Formula One production, when sponsors controlled the demand for footage, and before the era of global TV coverage began. They have skilfully combined film from their famous archive - including some previously unseen material - to create a review that captures the essence of a very special era in Grand Prix racing.

Tags: Grand Prix , F1 , Formula 1 , 1974

F1 1970 Uncrowned Champion

1970 was the year of transition in Grand Prix racing; the season that pitched the old guard against a feisty new breed of racers intent on pushing Formula One forward into the new decade.

Nothing symbolised this battle more than the cars used by top contenders: Jackie Ickx’s Ferrari 312B relied on brute force to compensate for its outdated styling, whereas Jochen Rindt’s Lotus 72 showed that radical aerodynamics represented a brave and (potentially) faster way forward.

And with the technological battles came a fascinating season’s racing. Jackie Stewart was the defending champion but took nothing for granted. When different drivers won the first four races, Stewart, and the world, knew that the Championship was wide open. Thrilling battles ensued until triumph and tragedy came together in one fatal collision: on the 5th of September 1970 Championship leader Jochen Rindt died during practice at Monza. He was to become the sport’s first posthumous champion.

Brunswick Films were pioneers in the embryonic days of Formula One production, when sponsors controlled the demand for footage, and before the era of global TV coverage began. They have skilfully combined film from their famous archive - including some previously unseen material - to create a review that captures the essence of a very special era in Grand Prix racing.

Tags: Grand Prix , F1 , Formula 1

F1 Review 1975 Lauda and Ferrari No. 1

Formula One 1975 Review - Lauda and Ferrari no. 1 is the DVD review of the 1975 Formula 1 season. This was the year when the prancing horse got its spring back, when Niki Lauda in the new Ferrari 312T won the Formula One Drivers Championship.

1975 was the year when the prancing horse got its spring back. The early decade had been a challenging period for Ferrari, as they struggled to find a body shape that would do justice to the brute force of the V12 engine. Enter Niki Lauda and his brand new car - the Ferrari 312T. It proved to be an irresistible combination that would be unstoppable.

However, it wasn’t plain sailing all the way. 1975 was an unsettled season, full of disagreements and problems that saw four races stopped prematurely for safety reasons and the Canadian GP cancelled over money issues.

Niki Lauda shone through these gloomy times, winning four out of five mid-season Grand Prix to take the Championship away from his closest rival and defending champion Emerson Fittipaldi. When he secured the championship/constructor double in front of a frenzied Italian crowd at Monza, the world knew that Ferrari was back.

Brunswick Films were pioneers in the embryonic days of Formula One production, when sponsors controlled the demand for footage, and before the era of global TV coverage began. They have skilfully combined film from their famous archive - including some previously unseen material - to create a review that captures the essence of a very special era in Grand Prix racing.

The 1975 Formula 1 season is perfectly summarised in this 52 minute DVD using archive footage from Brunswick Films. The review is a wonderful piece of Grand Prix nostalgia in which the brilliant driving skills of Niki Lauda coupled with the new Ferrari 312T clinched the 1975 Formula One Drivers and Constructors double Championship.

Now you can relive the key events from the 1975 Grand Prix season on this DVD.

Tags: Grand Prix , F1 , Formula 1 , 1975

F1 1978 - Magic Mario

1978 Ferrari and Lauda had now gone their separate ways despite winning the championship together in ‘77. Lauda moved to Brabham and Ferrari took on the young Gilles Villeneuve. Frank Williams and Patrick Head formed Williams Grand Prix Engineering, mounting their first title challenge with Alan Jones in the driving seat.

Tyrrell had reverted back to four wheels from their radical six-wheeled P34, and this year it was Brabham who turned heads with the introduction of their BT-46B ‘fan car’. On its first Grand Prix in Sweden it took first place only to be banned from future competition by the FIA.

The Lotus Type 79 ‘wing car’ was regarded as the best outfit, piloted by the experienced pairing of Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson. The Lotus team capitalised on their advantage and with two rounds left to race, it was only Peterson that had any chance of catching Andretti. Formula One still hadn’t made safety a paramount concern, and at Monza it paid the price. An early crash left Peterson with fatal injuries, delivering another blow to Formula One and reaffirming the need for tighter controls. This tragedy gave Andretti the title and despite not finishing at Watkins Glen and coming 10th in Montreal, Lotus had secured enough points to take the constructors title by 28 points.

Brunswick films were pioneers in the embryonic days of Formula One production, when sponsors controlled the demand for footage, and before the era of global TV coverage began. They have skilfully combined film from their famous archive to create a review that captures the essence of a very special era in Grand Prix racing.

Tags: Grand Prix , F1 , Formula 1 , 1978

F1 1977 - Lauda Comeback

1977 saw Niki Lauda start the season, scarred but fit. And determined to put his horrific accident in ’76 behind him.

The first race of the season, in Argentina, provided a maiden victory for the Wolf team, which was followed by an extremely successful debut season, ending with Jody Scheckter taking second place in the championship.

The season didn’t start so well for Lauda, and it wasn’t until the third round that he secured his first victory. However, his celebrations at Kyalami were muted, as the safety regulations in Formula One were once again brought into question. Young Welsh driver Tom Pryce was killed instantly in a collision with a marshal, crossing the track to assist with a retired car. The marshal also died.

Despite Lauda’s poor start and total of only three wins for the season, he picked up points at all but three GPs, and was rewarded for his consistency with his second championship victory. The title was secured with two races left to run, and with relationships between driver and team frail, Lauda chose not to complete the season. Instead Ferrari gave the drive to a young and ambitious Gilles Villeneuve.

Brunswick films were pioneers in the embryonic days of Formula One production, when sponsors controlled the demand for footage, and before the era of global TV coverage began. They have skilfully combined film from their famous archive to create a review that captures the essence of a very special era in Grand Prix racing

Tags: Grand Prix , F1 , Formula 1 , 1977

Best of British Norton

Norton is one of the most evocative names in the history of British motorcycling.

It has a magical effect on motorcyclists even now, around a quarter of a century after the marque’s heyday. This DVD tells the whole Norton story.

At the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum we examine the oldest Norton of them all, a 1905 model with a Peugeot engine. And Sammy describes two of the rarest racers in existence – the horizontal-engined Model F and the revolutionary ‘kneeler’ streamliner.

At the National Motorcycle Museum we look at every significant Norton over the past ninety years – from the 1907 winner of the TT twin-cylinder class right up to the unique rotary-engined racer that won Norton’s last TT in 1992.

Leading motorcycle journalist Alan Cathcart track tests the Formula 750 Nortons of the Seventies including the actual 1973 TT winner with its unique monococque chassis.

Plus we talk to famous Norton Racers – the legendary Geoff Duke and the winner of that 1992 TT, Steve Hislop, along with engineers, designers and executives who played key roles in the Norton story.

With classic rallies and races on the Isle of Man, Assen in Holland and Daytona, USA and the Norton Owners Club on a pilgrimage from the National Motorcycle Museum to the old Norton factory in Birmingham, this is a production that pays full homage to Norton’s glorious past and which looks with hope into the future for a name that was once synonymous with ‘The Best of British’.

Scooters

Whether you’re a scooter owner past or present, or even if you’ve just thought of buying one, Scooter! will keep you entertained from start to finish. It’s a comprehensive look at one of the most popular two-wheeled vehicles in the world, with archive footage from the pre-helmet days of the 40s, 50s and 60s right up to road tests with the latest models and a trip to the NEC Motorbike and Scooter show.

We trace the scooter back to its spiritual home of Italy and visit Florence - scooter capital of the world, and drop in to the Piaggio factory in Pontedera where almost 2000 scooters are produced each day! For scooter fanatics we also visit the Piaggio museum, which contains every major milestone in the famous company’s 60 years of scootering history.

Back in the UK we follow the Lambretta Club of Great Britain as they celebrate 50 years of the classic scooter with a trip to the Isle of Man. All styles and designs of scooter are on display as the 1200+ members take to the world famous TT course in swarms.

Scooter! celebrates the passion and enjoyment that has created a way of life and has secured the scooter’s survival on our roads and in our hearts. This will quickly become ‘your ultimate guide’!

A-Z of British Motorcycles Vol 1 the Pioneers 1898-1929

Part One of a unique three-part video encyclopaedia chronicling the development of every British motorcycle from 1898 to the present day. This three hour programme features machines housed in the UK’s National Motorcycle Museum and shows every make and model from A-Z manufactured in Britain from 1898 to 1929. The video has an index listing individual machines by time code, enabling you to fast forward to the machine of your choice. In this volume mechanised transport was poised to replace the horse and the two-wheeled industry was booming. The result was a motorcycle industry that led the world in the opening years of the twentieth century.