A History of Motor Racing Part 5: Racing Reborn 1940–1948

[Music] in the late 30s the highly organized teams of Hitler Germany dedicated to National Prestige dominated the Grand Prix circuits of the world [Music] [Applause] [Music] the German cars and the circuits of Europe pass Island 2 days ago Hitler invaded Belgium and Holland but in North Africa on Marshall balo's Monumental circuit the Italians hold their last tripol Grand [Applause] [Music] Prix this circuit was built in the early 30s to demonstrate to the world the speed and control of Italian cars and racing drivers but in the face of German domination Italy limited her own Grand Prix races to smaller 1 and A2 liter cars her little Alpha Romeos and Maseratis of today are to set the pace of post-war racing the winning car is a 158 Alpha Romeo the driver Dr jpe Farina the Americans are the only people still racing by the end of 1940 Grand PRI racing with its focus in Europe hasn't caught on in the States and it's left to Keen amaters to run a last Road race at the World's Fair in New [Music] York again the winning card is an Italian Alpha Romeo the war has entered its second year but these are the garages of Indianapolis on the morning of the last 500 mile race the oval track with its Bank turns put all the emphasis on sheer speed but the advantages of good road holding are clear twice running wil bash Shaw has won on his Italian Maserati and he's heading for a third win when a wheel goes Marty Rose the little guy with the big mustache wins the last 500 an Epoch is over but Rose is one who will be ready to drive again as Motor Racing struggles to be [Music] reborn Italy will still have two of the greatest professional drivers of the 20s new valari and vatti besides her latest Champions Farina of Alfa Romeo and Luigi vesi of Maserati Britain will start with only a handful of amateurs driving their own cars like red Parnell and Prince beera France will have her own Champion the wealthy amateur Raymond s besides Lu shiron the three times winner of the French gr PRI and John Pierre Vil the one driver left in the Bugatti Works team professional German drivers like kariola and Lang will have no teams to go back to for years to come the war is hardly over before the French start racing it's a matter of getting any possible car the circuit is a makeshift right on the edge of Paris on the roads of the guad booy there's little enough fuel and tires for essential services but after all Paris is where Motor Racing was [Music] [Applause] born the crowd thrilled to see their own jeampier viil winning again at the wheel of the very last of the racing Bugattis [Music] [Applause] a tourist attraction of the kot gazur in the 30s was Grand Prix racing in the streets and there's a team of 1 and A2 ler Maseratis from Italy when the nce Grand Prix is revived this short twisting circuit is ideal for the Italian cars Chiron also does well with his rare Grand Prix version of a talbo but the others have to work hard with their big stripped sports [Applause] cars it's been a Triumph of diplomacy to get an Italian team across the frontier so soon after the war although vesi like everyone else is out of practice his Maserati's winning speed is only slightly slower than the pre-war record there's plenty to celebrate and even the champagne Goes Wild on the same April day in Britain treasured cars are brought out into the spring Sunshine during the war enthusiasm for motor racing has been growing as never before and a Grand Prix and Hyde Park is the hopeful dream unfortunately the law forbids the use of public roads for racing and now Brooklyn's and all the other circuits have been closed reality is part of the the runway of a borrowed Aerodrome at elram a real race is impossible but 100 entries have been received just to drive against the clock for a quarter of a mile no one is discouraged and these few enthusiasts of the Vintage sports car club are the forerunners of thousands competing in British club meetings nearly every summer weekend [Music] [Applause] Motor Racing enthusiasm is spreading worldwide a record crowd comes to the 1946 Indianapolis 500 like all circuits it has suffered from neglect during the war but Speedway history is made when the lap record is broken by our new independently sprung car a noi Governor but it and many of the old Warriors don't last the distance towards the Finish only eight cars are actually running the winning Thorn special has old-fashioned springing but its driver George Robson has averaged over 114 for the 500 [Music] Miles the racing fever mons when the works Maseratis come as far as Paris scooteria Milan have signed up some as well as the great new valari alongside the 1 and a half half liter Maseratis is a big Alpha with [Music] verile nalari retires but there's Real Racing between s on the little Maserati and Vil on the big Alpha unfortunately s the lionhearted is too enthusiastic [Music] [Applause] the other Maserati drivers just aren't in the same [Music] class the is left on his own winning not only the race but also an invitation to drive an Alpha Romeo in the works Team the8 Alpha Romeo winner at Tripoli is the most advanced 1 and A2 L racing car in the world with its supercharged straight8 engine and independent suspension all round two alers make their first post-war appearance in the Paris suburb of [Music] sanlu the broad-nosed Alpha's lead but Samir Delights in getting his Maserati up with the [Music] both Alphas disappear with transmission trouble and no one is more surprised than Samir to find he has defeated the fastest 1 and A2 ler cars in the world when the Swiss run a Grand Prix at Geneva Motor Racing is becoming more organized for there's a newly formed International controlling body the FIA but the official starter is still [Music] ignored the alphas so clearly outclass all other cars that the race becomes a procession the Italian Champion forena is in front and their new French driver viil has to be content to follow behind Alphas are first second and third when finina wins the Italians are as short of money as anyone but they get enough to run a race by combining it with a lottery and holding it in a Municipal Park in chin alfha are in strength with v Farina try and the legendary vatti newari is driving one of the scooteria L Maseratis together with some air re Parnell and several others have been invited from Britain with their eras Farina is among those trying to jump the [Music] start nalari loses a wheel and another race becomes an Alpha Romeo procession in the leading Alpha is vatti back on form right down to his traditional cigarette an obedient if frustrated vile is half a second behind the winning vti the Italian Alphas with their fourleaf clovers are unbeatable by 1947 even in the coldest climates men and women happily sacrifice comfort for a chance to watch this increasingly popular sport the swedes run one of their own special Grand Prix races on a frozen lake and invite French and British drivers next year the FIA will be enforcing a formula which will limit Grand Prix racing to cars like these with blown engines of up to 1 and A2 l or with unblown engines of up to 4 and 1/2 L the drivers are less easy to distinguish but they include some air and [Applause] [Music] Chiron the new formula will still leave plenty of scope for racing and developing these cars but the point of such official control is to discourage brute force and channel technical development along useful lines [Applause] red Parnell wins on his 13-year-old British car the first ra ever built without the formula and with little money for new designs the first racing cars to appear are stop gaps gordini Simas have ordinary fat 1100 engines this Simka is in Brazil for the Grand Prix at Rio de Jano [Applause] [Music] it's an impressive demonstration of French engineering to the rich markets of America when the little Sima shows how good road holding can make up for a lack of engine [Music] power a group of Italians are working along similar lines to gordini and arrive with 22 new chalas for a race near Caro chalas are also based on fat parts and dozens have been [Music] made they are a delight to drive but not powerful enough to be spectacular and the public don't pay to see them neither chis Italia nor gordin are ever a real commercial success all the same new valari in spite of failing Health gives the chitalia project his full support and is to drive a new sports carar version in the 1947 Mia and the government is releasing the 20,000 gallons of fuel needed to run this famous Thousand Mile race over the main roads of Italy lari is now a very sick man but takes the lead in his tiny open car from Beyond's Saloon at bologa Nu valari leads by 9 Minutes Sun alternates with rain then only 80 mi from the finish the chis Italia's Magneto is swamped and nalari loses the critical quarter of an hour he arrives at the finish in a state of collapse only to find that he has lost first place by 10 minutes to be onetti in a a 2.9 Alpha the Belgian Grand Prix at spa has been selected as the European Grand Prix of the Year by the FIA and although there's still no limit on engine size it's run to the regulation distance of around 300 mil even without an engine limit there's no real competition for the 158 Alphas the laps at nearly 102 to take the lead he is arriving at the top VY is second but it is the last we shall see of this great driver it is left to John Cobb a London stock broker to uphold British Pride when he takes the world land speed record up to 394 and becomes the first man ever to exceed 400 mph on land this astonishing record is to stand for 16 years asked what it felt like Cobb described it simply as bloody [Music] quick in 1948 Motor Racing is back in all its Splendor the French Grom Prix is once again at Reams and the 1 and 1/2 L formula is now in [Music] force the race becomes another Alpha Romeo procession with Lago talbo and Maseratis bringing up the [Music] rear the me is averaging around 102 mph and there's no VY to challenge him a few weeks ago VY was killed trying out a new car the on the 158 Alpha has established his position as the fastest driver of his day newari hasn't given up for the 1948 Mia he and biondetti have new cars Eno Ferrari who ran the Alpha Team before the war is building his own cars again nalari leaves this time his Ferrari has been so damaged that any ordinary man would have given up but nalari races on with more and more bits falling off nuar's last Mia is never finished but new blood is on the way the Sports Car Club of America held its first race in 1947 and by the end of the 40s there are meetings at bridg Hampton Watkins Glenn Palm Springs and Sebring it is all essentially amateur but Tom Cole is one who will make his name in Europe John Fitch is another Holland is the latest country to go Motor Racing it's all so new to them that they've asked the British racing drivers Club to run their meeting the zand for circuit is on roads that were part of the wartime fortifications on the sand fumes near Harlem [Music] [Music] a day's good sport comes to a finish when be wins by yards on his Maserati late in 1948 the Royal Automobile Club of Great Britain gets the use of an Aerodrome at silverston and decides to run its own Grand Prix [Music] apart from the many pre-war cars there's a new 1 and 1/2 L Maserati it still has the old 4-cylinder supercharged engine but the chassis is tubular and it has a more streamlined body [Music] [Music] [Music] the Wide Open Spaces of an Aerodrome don't make an ideal Road circuit but gangs of enthusiasts have spent days putting down hundreds of straw bales to make artificial corners [Music] no one is seriously hurt and the new Maserati are out in front Maserati's upand cominging driver Alberto ascari is on 11 vesi now leads on 18 the British eras are called unkindly early English perpendicular but Gerards is as fast as a Maserati [Applause] vasi leads ascari in by 14 seconds with an Raa close behind Britain's first Grand Prix for many years is an overwhelming [Music] success there's a second circuit at Goodwood in West Sussex which has some of the old Brooklyn's atmosphere [Music] [Applause] [Music] red Parell has just bought one of the new Maseratis regretting that there's still no British car to replace the [Music] [Applause] eras there is however a tiny Factory at seron on the outskirts of London building modest racing cars on a commercial basis John Cooper in the center uses simple 500c motorbike engines but has the advanced idea of independent suspension all around what I want to ask you how do you keep the mot cool in the back there oh you can see that better over here Cooper and his father began by building cars for their own fun but they now have many customers including that greatest of all enthusiasts Raymond S [Applause] a wistful Nu valari takes a keen interest racing 500cc cars began in England as a cheap form of amateur sport but as it grows in popularity Coopers increasingly dominate the class drivers and Constructors get valuable experience as they learn things the hard way [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the Coopers with their rear engines on Light chassis are the shape of things to come and more and more often the leading Cooper is driven by a young man in a white crash helmet who somehow goes faster than anyone else he is not yet 20 and his name is Sterling Moss [Music] another newcomer makes its debut in 1948 the Grand Prix Ferrari it is short Squat and ugly but behind the grill is a V12 engine that is technically well in advance of the alpha straight 8 the Italian Grand Prix and tyin is to be the triy out of the new Ferrari but again ver in his Alpha leads from start to finish [Music] s on 28 finds the short Ferrari tricky to handle and never seriously challenges [Applause] [Music] ver on the 17th of October 1948 the famous Italian circuit at Monza near Milan is reopened with new grand stands and facilities for the 100,000 Spectators needed to make any major race financially sound famous drivers of the past are guests of [Applause] honor many pre-war Champions are still driving but it is Jean Pier Vil who is now the accepted Master Farina has left ala to try his luck with a new Ferrari Basi remains faithful to Maserati together with his own pupil and Protegé Alberto ascari Alfa Romeo and Maserati have met the challenge of the new formula by developing their pre-war 1 and A2 lit blown engines both parts of the formula are well Justified for the less heavily stressed and more economical lgo talbo with their 4 and2 L unblown engines have also several Grand Prix winds Motor Racing is finally back in all its pre-war Glory both as a spectacle and as a contest between the most skilled and courageous drivers of many nations backed up by the finest engineers and Mechanics for three critical hours the results of years of research and patient development are put to the test in the hands of a few picked men [Music] [Applause] [Music] once again Italy has a circet where she can show the world the speed and control of the latest Italian racing cars [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the leads the field the winner of those first races in Paris has gone from Victory to Victory and is now at the height of his Fame every racing driver however must face the fact that each race may be his last and ver is to lose his life before the winter is over Motor Racing has always had its tragedy its Triumph and even its comedy John Pier has driven his last race but Motor Racing itself is now triumphantly Reborn [Music] the