I had the honor to see Jim Clark race at the old Riverside raceway in 1965. He drove an obsolete Lotus 40 to a second place finish against the latest group 7 sports cars. I was 16 years old and after the race, Jimmy, covered with road grime and sweat graciously signed autographs for the fans. I still have it and will cherish the memory as long as I live. Rest in peace Jimmy.
As a London Despatch Rider, during the mid-1980s, I stopped on The Aldwych to get a coffee from a small shop. I pulled up next to another Despatcher and as I got off the bike I noticed he wasn't drinking. "I'm getting a coffee, do you want one?" We were a sociable sort of breed. "Yeh. Cheers", came the reply. Two fellers sat on their motorcycles, drinking hot coffee and shooting the breeze about life, work and shit. "So", say I, "what do you spend your money on, in your spare time?" "Oh, I do a lot of racing; most of it goes on that." Then comes a package pick-up message over the radio dangling from a shoulder and one of us dons a helmet, flicks a starter switch and hauls their butt back into the maelstrom of London traffic and exhaust fumes. Sometime later and I see, on the T.V., a lad called Damon who is an upcoming figure of Formula 1 and I give a smile. Yep. Damon Hill started as a London Despatch Rider and one day, on The Aldwych, him and another shot the breeze over a couple of cups of coffee, laced with London smog.
I grew up in East London, South Africa and had the privilege to see Clark , Graham Hill, Stirling Moss ,Brabham, Surtees, Mclaren, Stewart and a host of other drivers. I can still hear the snarl of the engines, smell the exhaust fumes. It was a great spectacle . I will never forget those days
@@master-kq3nw Fangio himself saw in Clark the Greatest too. ;-) He must know it. No other driver until today reached the race facts you can see above...and no other one in the future...that`s for sure.
There was no other driver like Jim Clark. He had a charisma, a presence, a poise, an etirely likable personna but a ferocious competitor and hero to countless millions around the the world. He is still missed and loved. April 7, 1968 will always be remembered by us faithful followers as the day the Great Jim Clark passed on into immortality.
A TERRIBLE Day! Chappers had a complete nervous breakdown. Graham and Betty Hill took over the team management No joy in his 2nd WC.... Then Graham breaking both legs... After... Camelot had fallen... Never to be the same... J.C.
I was 4 when Jim Clark died, and yet, he was my childhood hero. My son is 3, and his favorite car is any Lotus, and he will grow up knowing Jim Clark was a hero, and the greatest F1 driver of his era, if not all time.
Geez don’t take this personal but a 3 y/o?? Is it your first kid? Obviously 5/6 now but how old were you when you had him? Jim died in like 1968 I think so you being born in 1964? 55? That’s crazy congratulations on being a dad though
I remember the record setting Cummins diesel Kurtiss 500 Roadster and NOVI's of Indy, 1952 Bill Vuckovich On the radio, with my Dad... Born 7-25-49 Age 74
The first Indy race I ever watched was when Graham Hill won in 1966. I was unaware that Damon Hill was Graham's son. Thanks for posting this very nice video!
1964 500 Closed Circuit TV Curtiss Hixon Hall, Tampa FLA. By Greyhound bus for 25 cents. $5 for the ticket The HORROR of Dave MacDonald/Eddie Sachs disaster.... Like Pearl Harbor in Indianapolis... God awful black smoke all along one end of the place.... Yet I returned the next year for Clarks win and for Hill's in 1966.... The STP Turbine in '68... Lotus lethal turbine of '68 Mario's '69 win for STP. Swede Savages 200 mph Eagle lap... Deadly times Bandini Clark Rindt Courage Peterson As any driver of the era could tell you.... Nicki on < As Moss wrote: All But My Life... J.C.
I was at Aintree for the filming of this item; this is only a fraction of the footage that was taken. I'd love to see the rest! Damon was so competent driving the Lotus 25 around the Aintree Club Circuit for lap after lap whilst the camera crew changed filming locations around the venue. And of course, the car sounded absolutely wonderful. Damon never raced a car at Aintree, but he did race motorcycles there in his very early career. On the day of filming, he initially drove 3 laps to warm up the car and remind himself where the circuit went. After the three laps I asked him what he thought of the place and he asked me if the Grand National horse jumps had been right next to the track when his father raced there. I confirmed they were indeed there but slightly closer to the track back then. He went out to do more laps and 15 or so later came back in. I asked him about the jumps...... "What jumps?" he replied with a smile! "They disappear when you are having fun!!" You'll notice at 3:13 he looks to the left at one of the jumps just as he's entering Becher's Bend, and he's not hanging about. What a driver, and such a nice chap. I came away at the end of that day having had my life enriched after being in his company. Thanks Damon, thanks Sky TV.... Now Sky, where's the rest of the footage? John Harden, www.liverpoolmotorclub.com
lovely video. have met damon a few times and I have to say he's a top bloke. F1 back in the day was very special ( and very dangerous!). hope f1 returns to the essense of what it was (2017 onwards) please!!
Did you see the sports car race? On the Grand Prix day? We own a silver AC Ace that was in that race and driven by Bill Shaw . I don't suppose you have any photos?
Fantastic stuff.This is true F1.Coming from a Scotsman the Hill family are just magnificent.Graham and Damon such articulate and dedicated racing drivers...
I saw this Lotus driven by Graham Hill at the 1962 South African GPrix in East London - my 1st Grand Prix at the age of 15 - Jim Clark by far led but fell out with an electrical problem - fond memory.
love the sound of the car disappearing down the track, damon is a super person too!...i have pics and slides that my uncle took on tha last race at aintree, must get them scanned,
wow! damon really looks like his dad when he has the helmet and goggles on. safe to say grand prix has never been so elegant and pure as in the days of hill and clark.
As an American looking at Hill when he was racing I couldn't help but think what would have happened had Damon made the move to Indy car after his F1 run. It really would have been fun watching him race at Indy much like his dad did in the sixties and if he had won it they would have joined the Unsers as the only father/son duos to win at the Brickyard.
Truly! 1966 Indy in the Lola Ford was a great surprise to us all.... As BRM laid an EXPENSIVE HEAVY egg with the H-16. Hill was ready for the Lotus 49.... Tragedy aside.... J.C.
Great piece by Damon on the 25 and Jimmy. Also nice to see young Bob Dance, Lotus chief mechanic for the last 50 years. There are quite a few similar vids around, Brundle and Tiff Needell in the 49, DC also in the 25, and my favourite Dario Franchitti in Jimmy's 38. I recommend them.
So modest of Damon not to even mention that Clark's team mate was his father and that his father won the World Championship driving a Lotus 25 in 1962.
@@frankhoward7645 You may want to double-check the 1962 Formula 1 race season with regards to the ride that Graham Hill had with winning the championship that year.
@@bloqk16 Oops. My mistake. While Damon's father won the World Championship in 1962, he was driving a BRM that year, not a Lotus. Eventually, Hill did team up with Clark and in 1968, he won a second World Championship, this time driving a Lotus 49. Sorry for the previous misinformation.
What a sympathetic and spontaneous man Jim Clark was! Dressed in a suit and tie, he did not mind playing as a child of five or six with Damon Hill´s toy tractor! (1:32 to 1:38) A gesture like that is not seen in any Formula 1 driver today. Greetings from Venezuela.
Another gesture no longer seen is at the 1967 U.S. Grand Prix, after the finish, when Clark is making his way to the podium. A couple of guys stick out their hands, and Clark shakes every one of them - hence the moniker "Gentleman Jim".
There's a little more to that than meets the eye. Jim Clark was a farmer's son, brought up on the family farm, and his first driving job as a child was driving the family tractor at harvest time. Even as an F1 Champion he could still be found ploughing a field, so I'm sure he needed little persuasion!
Aintree was the inspiration behind the creation of a motor-racing circuit inside the Warwick Farm horse-racing facility in that Sydney suburb. "The Farm", as it was known, hosted the Sydney leg of the annual Tasman Cup series, several of which I attended in my younger days - together with other meetings between 1964 and 1970. A top circuit which sadly met its end in the late 1970s.
I'm a Jim Clark/Graham Hill/Colin Chapman/Lotus fan since way back. Loved it when Clark and Hill won Indy. Weird: Damon kind of sounds like Eric Clapton - must be from same section of London. Poor Eric. Never won a GP. But I hear he was a champion guitarist.
How much is my 2010 Toyota Matrix, 67K miles, worth on a trade in for this Lotus? I wouldn't do it: Lotus doesn't have AC or CD player. I've got to add, it was hard for young men like me to follow Formula 1 from Chicago area. But as a kid, my mother took me and brother to Meadowdale Raceways in West Dundee, ILL to see the likes of Roger Ward (two-time Indy champ) and racers like Augie Pabst drive their Scarabs, Ferraris, Porsches. Thanks, Mom. My dad worked for Ford. We had a lot of company cars, but we got a 57 Fairlane 500 - beautiful car. So Lotus-Ford, Ford-Cosworth, Shelby was a natural progression. And Ford Cobras and GTs sealed the deal when they creamed Ferrari in the 60s. In the 70s, Universal Oil Products (UOP) sponsored F1 and racing from Des Plaines, IL . Shadow, I think. Nice PR man helped me visit a Shadow Can-Am garage. I think he wrote for an F1 magazine. I'm just gonna say: Jim Clark was the best there ever was. But I'll go with Senna and Stewart, too. Safe driving all.
JIM CLARK - By far the greatest driver ever - no doubt. He is and was the Best of the Best. No other driver in history until today was so superior as Clark. This man is the Olymp of driving - the Michelangelo of racing - a dynamic art at the highest level. So smooth, so precise, so fast....simply out of this world. One, who won in Spa by 5 minutes (!) in monsoon rain...One, who takes back a complete lap (!) in Monza and back into the lead... One, who took pole on the original 22,8 km Nürburgring track by 9 (!) seconds and more....One who won Indy by 2 whole (!) laps...For eternity and by lightyears unmatched in the sport. That`s just four examples of his mesmeric unique genius...
4:10 "it's a shame they have to close down" - thankfully, they didn't. According to Wikipedia, it still runs races of various kinds. BTW, Aintree is primarily a horse racing (steeple chase) track - I guess that was too obvious to mention to a British audience. They did say "Grand National," but not everybody knows what that means. Search out "rFactor2 - Brabham-Repco BT20 at Aintree" to see a 'virtual' onboard lap. The high speed chicane is completely insane! (hey that rhymes)
One thing I would have loved to have seen is for Damon to follow in his dad's footsteps and compete at Indy. It would have been special if he had gone there to compete there.
Pretty cool that a track from that time is apparently almost perfectly preserved. Which couldn't have happened if they continued to hold FIA races there.
@@redpaddys12 Nah, it's virtually intact save for one slightly modified left kink into the short final straight leading into the final grandstand curve-
...and also, I got a chance TWICE to see a Lotus 25 driven out of period at The Goodwood Revival...seven years ago a ding-dong battle between the 25 and a Brabham (i.e., Clark vs, Gurney) and this year, wonder of wonders, the 25 and the flat-12 1500cc Ferrari (i.e. Clark vs. Surtees) . The first time out, the Brabham broke and the 25 won. This year, Joe Colasacco had the Ferrari howling and he beat the 25, much to the pleasure of us American spectators....
"One of the problems I had at the beginning with Lotus 25 was the very reclined driving position, which didn´t leave me much to see, especially in the corners. It was like riding in a bed with wheels" Jim Clark Greetings from Venezuela "Uno de los problemas que tenía al comienzo con el Lotus 25 era la posición de pilotaje tan reclinada, que no me dejaba mucho que ver, especialmente en las curvas. Era como ir en una cama con ruedas" Jim Clark Saludos desde Venezuela
I love seeing the Formula One cars painted in British Racing Green. McLaren should paint their cars in British Racing Green, because they'd otherwise be too confused with the Mercedes cars in 2014, except that the Mercedes' are normally not seen next to other cars.
Nothing to do with the Lotus 25, but there's another video somewhere of Graham Hill clowning around with his kids at a swimming pool somewhere -- and of course one of the kids is Damon.
Your right. It was near Monza in Italy for the '67 Grand prix ,It was part of the Ford promo film "Nine days in summer". Well worth a watch , Great footage in it.
Quite so. Look at the many available videos of races from that time -- the 25 always stands out because it makes the other cars look fat. And I love the shape of the radiator intake. I wonder -- did Chapman also do the "body" design? (Another great design is the original (circa 1967) Lotus Elan -- simple and elegant.)
It's a real shame that the original full configuration is now consigned to the history books, as a new grandstand was built over the last corner a few years ago.
Wish they would invest heavily in aintree and bring back F1, excellent road and rail links to other parts of the country, plenty of hotels locally, smack bang in the middle of the country if you include Scotland, amazing stands, amazing historical venue
When is someone going to do this track for assetto corsa. Jim Clark was the best of all time. It would be nice to have a replica of Jim Clark in AI to race against. Every sim racer in the world would spend hours and hours chasing him around and never winning! It would be wonderful.
He makes it sound like the circuit is unused, they carried on using it for clubman racing and still do. I spent many an afternoon there in the 70's as a little kid watching my old man race his Ducati's around there, although I don't think they used the full GP circuit.
At 1:36... None of the 3 (Jimmy, Graham nor Damon) would know that they would share 5 WC titles between them and that only one of them would be there to witness the title of the 1996 season.
@Michael Coley . . . You are commended to have stated that. I'm finding it very strange with some of the other comments in this section where references have been made of Graham Hill driving a Lotus in the 1962 season.
Bloqk-16 I have a rather ratty copy of Hill’s book celebrating his championship win with BRM in 1962. Jim Clark won the championship in 1963 and of course 1965, the Indianapolis year. I saw Hill driving the first rear-engined BRM at Goodwood in 1960. He came in fifth in that experimental car, followed by Dan Gurney and the last of the front-engined BRMs, driven by Jo Bonnier. That was the race that Lotus first won at formula 1 (non-championship), driven by Innes Ireland, who pipped Moss in a Cooper. Jim Clark was driving formula junior that day.
@@michaelcoley7649 I am very envious of the experiences you witnessed during that era of F1. When you mentioned about Moss, it got me thinking of how he outlived everyone from that era of F1, or in auto racing in general, as his drive in the Mille Miglia was an remarkable feat; as well as being lucky to have survived that crash in 1962. Just to let you know: I'm a California yank that seriously started following motorsports in 1967; but I'm well aware of of the various motorsports histories from the early 1960s.
Someone, please complete this sentence: "They stopped holding F1 races at Aintree because...." Neither this video or Wikipedia really says why. OK, it was "put up for sale" but why didn't the new owners want to continue it as an F1 race-course if it was "purpose built" for that?
According to a customer review of the book "The Unfulfilled Dream: The Story of Motor Racing at Aintree" on the Amazon website "...the North of England was seen as being "too far from London" and ultimately the Grand Prix races were lost to the Liverpool venue" Sounds to be a most interesting read, and I think you need to buy it to find out the full story.
Colin Chapman sold off all Team Lotus F1 cars, the 24, to privateers and some non-works outfits, they believed they had secured state of the art race-winning cars, then being Chapman he introduced the Lotus 25 which made all the other cars obsolete when challenged that he had pulled a fast one, he replied the 25 is exactly the same as the 24 but just had the steel tubes missing.
@boboboinalong . . . given the historical era this video was covering, it does seem *extremely peculiar* to see a Graham Hill helmeted driver in a Lotus. I wonder if there's video of Damon Hill driving the BRM P56? Now, that would have the proper look to it.
The car shown has a couple of updates from 1962/1963 specs: The inner drive shaft joints are solid Hookes type (with a splined sliding shaft), not the original rubber "doughnuts" (used with solid shafts, since they were axially compliant). And the windscreen was the "Spa scoop", intended to deflect air up over the driver's head (Clark had a problem with buffeting; that's why he often drove without a visor). It also looks like the engine cover has bulges on the side (ala the Lotus 33).
Things that worked!!! Not under a bell jar.. Clark would use his 25 over the 33 at shorter twistier venues.. right thru 1965 < Just as Graham would use his Old Faithful 1962 BRM P578 over the later monocoque car In similar situations, with the latest engines... J.C. Age 74..
It's a very beautiful car. I hate it lol. It's too hard to feel what the car is doing...however the Upgraded Type 49 with the Cosworth engine a few years later is a very different story
If you could drive one car....just one car of any ever made......THIS is the car you'd drive. The iconic legendary Jim Clark's Lotus. Jim Clark is, to me, with Ayrton Senna the best ever.
Damon deserves 1994 F 1 Crown against the dirtiest movement of schumacher,bumping him in the last curve,of the last lap. FIA shud disqualify Schumacher for this and other dirty tricks to be ahead of his colleagues. At least 6 Crowns must be taken from Schumacher,and give them to Eddy Irvine, Damon Hill, Ralf Schumacher,Barrichello,Jacques Villeneuve,and others. Justice for All.
What a useless show! Hey Hill! Why don't you tell us some specifics about what's different between what you drove in F1 and this car.. just for an example? How about other spec's about the competition then and now. For example the car that Senna drove had 1200 HP, very little down force and a manual gear box... you know that kind of real info!
+Phil Robertson The idea was to live through the nostalgia of the times, not dwell in technical stuff... you can easily google those difference if you're so interested.
Love the way Damon seems well chuffed that he had his photo took with Jim Clark! :)
Three world champions in that pic!
I had the honor to see Jim Clark race at the old Riverside raceway in 1965. He drove an obsolete Lotus 40 to a second place finish against the latest group 7 sports cars. I was 16 years old and after the race, Jimmy, covered with road grime and sweat graciously signed autographs for the fans. I still have it and will cherish the memory as long as I live. Rest in peace Jimmy.
pics or it didn't happen
+matteastwood87 Don't be such an ignorant so and so .............
Lotus 40 : a lotus 30 with ten more mistakes (Ritchie Ginther). a bullshit beast !
Thanks for your comment oversteer1000, ver nice
@@matteastwood87 hahahaha, an 87 baby, how cute! Go play in the yard, I will call you in for dinner!
As a London Despatch Rider, during the mid-1980s, I stopped on The Aldwych to get a coffee from a small shop.
I pulled up next to another Despatcher and as I got off the bike I noticed he wasn't drinking.
"I'm getting a coffee, do you want one?"
We were a sociable sort of breed.
"Yeh. Cheers", came the reply.
Two fellers sat on their motorcycles, drinking hot coffee and shooting the breeze about life, work and shit.
"So", say I, "what do you spend your money on, in your spare time?"
"Oh, I do a lot of racing; most of it goes on that."
Then comes a package pick-up message over the radio dangling from a shoulder and one of us dons a helmet, flicks a starter switch and hauls their butt back into the maelstrom of London traffic and exhaust fumes.
Sometime later and I see, on the T.V., a lad called Damon who is an upcoming figure of Formula 1 and I give a smile.
Yep.
Damon Hill started as a London Despatch Rider and one day, on The Aldwych, him and another shot the breeze over a couple of cups of coffee, laced with London smog.
@Bruce Schiffer
Hey Bruce.
Your right.
No one gives shit.. Dick head!
Clark and the Hills family, a wonderful trio of gentlemen and legendary drivers! And... TREE F1 WORLD CHAMPIONS!
I grew up in East London, South Africa and had the privilege to see Clark , Graham Hill, Stirling Moss ,Brabham, Surtees, Mclaren, Stewart and a host of other drivers. I can still hear the snarl of the engines, smell the exhaust fumes. It was a great spectacle . I will never forget those days
Jim Clark .... The best ever!
And on top of all the Most Lovely EVER Too
Without any doubt !!!!
Fangio
@@master-kq3nw Fangio himself saw in Clark the Greatest too. ;-) He must know it. No other driver until today reached the race facts you can see above...and no other one in the future...that`s for sure.
@@LeoWuerde but fangio was first star of f1.he drive in dangerous era won 5 titles with different cars.without helmets seat belts
There was no other driver like Jim Clark. He had a charisma, a presence, a poise, an etirely likable personna but a ferocious competitor and hero to countless millions around the the world.
He is still missed and loved.
April 7, 1968 will always be remembered by us faithful followers as the day the Great Jim Clark passed on into immortality.
The news was stunning, unbelievable. Not ashamed to write that I cried.
A TERRIBLE Day! Chappers had a complete nervous breakdown.
Graham and Betty Hill took over the team management
No joy in his 2nd WC....
Then Graham breaking both legs...
After...
Camelot had fallen...
Never to be the same...
J.C.
I was 4 when Jim Clark died, and yet, he was my childhood hero. My son is 3, and his favorite car is any Lotus, and he will grow up knowing Jim Clark was a hero, and the greatest F1 driver of his era, if not all time.
Geez don’t take this personal but a 3 y/o?? Is it your first kid? Obviously 5/6 now but how old were you when you had him? Jim died in like 1968 I think so you being born in 1964? 55? That’s crazy congratulations on being a dad though
I remember the record setting Cummins diesel Kurtiss 500 Roadster and NOVI's of Indy, 1952
Bill Vuckovich
On the radio, with my Dad...
Born 7-25-49
Age 74
Damon Hill is one of life's gentlemen. A worthy world champion.
The first Indy race I ever watched was when Graham Hill won in 1966. I was unaware that Damon Hill was Graham's son. Thanks for posting this very nice video!
1964 500
Closed Circuit TV Curtiss Hixon Hall, Tampa FLA.
By Greyhound bus for 25 cents.
$5 for the ticket
The HORROR of Dave MacDonald/Eddie Sachs disaster....
Like Pearl Harbor in Indianapolis...
God awful black smoke all along one end of the place....
Yet I returned the next year for Clarks win
and for Hill's in 1966....
The STP Turbine in '68...
Lotus lethal turbine of '68
Mario's '69 win for STP.
Swede Savages 200 mph Eagle lap...
Deadly times
Bandini
Clark
Rindt
Courage
Peterson
As any driver of the era could tell you....
Nicki on <
As Moss wrote:
All But My Life...
J.C.
I was at Aintree for the filming of this item; this is only a fraction of the footage that was taken. I'd love to see the rest! Damon was so competent driving the Lotus 25 around the Aintree Club Circuit for lap after lap whilst the camera crew changed filming locations around the venue. And of course, the car sounded absolutely wonderful. Damon never raced a car at Aintree, but he did race motorcycles there in his very early career.
On the day of filming, he initially drove 3 laps to warm up the car and remind himself where the circuit went. After the three laps I asked him what he thought of the place and he asked me if the Grand National horse jumps had been right next to the track when his father raced there. I confirmed they were indeed there but slightly closer to the track back then. He went out to do more laps and 15 or so later came back in. I asked him about the jumps...... "What jumps?" he replied with a smile! "They disappear when you are having fun!!" You'll notice at 3:13 he looks to the left at one of the jumps just as he's entering Becher's Bend, and he's not hanging about.
What a driver, and such a nice chap. I came away at the end of that day having had my life enriched after being in his company.
Thanks Damon, thanks Sky TV....
Now Sky, where's the rest of the footage?
John Harden, www.liverpoolmotorclub.com
lovely video. have met damon a few times and I have to say he's a top bloke. F1 back in the day was very special ( and very dangerous!). hope f1 returns to the essense of what it was (2017 onwards) please!!
1967
Pre- Wings
Mechanical Grip ONLY!
No paddles
No carbon brakes
BUT with carbon fiber chassis
Fire systems...
Safety FAST!
J.C.
What an Iconic sound from that engine.
I attended the 1961 GP at Aintree and it's so delightful to watch Damon Hill take the Lotus 25 around the old track!
Did you see the sports car race? On the Grand Prix day? We own a silver AC Ace that was in that race and driven by Bill Shaw . I don't suppose you have any photos?
Fantastic stuff.This is true F1.Coming from a Scotsman the Hill family are just magnificent.Graham and Damon such articulate and dedicated racing drivers...
Nice to see Damon hill driving the lotus 25 that Jim Clark drove
I saw this Lotus driven by Graham Hill at the 1962 South African GPrix in East London - my 1st Grand Prix at the age of 15 - Jim Clark by far led but fell out with an electrical problem - fond memory.
Wonderful homage to the era - thank you.
love the sound of the car disappearing down the track, damon is a super person too!...i have pics and slides that my uncle took on tha last race at aintree, must get them scanned,
wow! damon really looks like his dad when he has the helmet and goggles on. safe to say grand prix has never been so elegant and pure as in the days of hill and clark.
I never put it together graham hill was his dad🤣
As an American looking at Hill when he was racing I couldn't help but think what would have happened had Damon made the move to Indy car after his F1 run. It really would have been fun watching him race at Indy much like his dad did in the sixties and if he had won it they would have joined the Unsers as the only father/son duos to win at the Brickyard.
Truly! 1966 Indy in the Lola Ford was a great surprise
to us all....
As BRM laid an EXPENSIVE HEAVY egg with the H-16.
Hill was ready for the Lotus 49....
Tragedy aside....
J.C.
Great piece by Damon on the 25 and Jimmy. Also nice to see young Bob Dance, Lotus chief mechanic for the last 50 years.
There are quite a few similar vids around, Brundle and Tiff Needell in the 49, DC also in the 25, and my favourite Dario Franchitti in Jimmy's 38.
I recommend them.
Humblest driver ever.drives the car of a legend
Spooky how much he looks like his dad in that old helmet and goggles.
So modest of Damon not to even mention that Clark's team mate was his father and that his father won the World Championship driving a Lotus 25 in 1962.
@@frankhoward7645 You may want to double-check the 1962 Formula 1 race season with regards to the ride that Graham Hill had with winning the championship that year.
@@bloqk16 Oops. My mistake. While Damon's father won the World Championship in 1962, he was driving a BRM that year, not a Lotus. Eventually, Hill did team up with Clark and in 1968, he won a second World Championship, this time driving a Lotus 49. Sorry for the previous misinformation.
No one can ever match Jim Clark then or now a true F1 legend 🏁
What a sympathetic and spontaneous man Jim Clark was! Dressed in a suit and tie, he did not mind playing as a child of five or six with Damon Hill´s toy tractor! (1:32 to 1:38) A gesture like that is not seen in any Formula 1 driver today. Greetings from Venezuela.
Another gesture no longer seen is at the 1967 U.S. Grand Prix, after the finish, when Clark is making his way to the podium. A couple of guys stick out their hands, and Clark shakes every one of them - hence the moniker "Gentleman Jim".
There's a little more to that than meets the eye. Jim Clark was a farmer's son, brought up on the family farm, and his first driving job as a child was driving the family tractor at harvest time. Even as an F1 Champion he could still be found ploughing a field, so I'm sure he needed little persuasion!
If you are a true motorsports fan, you really have to appreciate its past history.
Aintree was the inspiration behind the creation of a motor-racing circuit inside the Warwick Farm horse-racing facility in that Sydney suburb.
"The Farm", as it was known, hosted the Sydney leg of the annual Tasman Cup series, several of which I attended in my younger days - together with other meetings between 1964 and 1970.
A top circuit which sadly met its end in the late 1970s.
James Lees
My pleasure, James.
I have vivid and fond memories of attending race meetings at Warwick Farm. :)
Still exsist only smaller circiut
Nice video. I love these historic motorsport locations :)
This reminded me of that movie Gran Prix
Just so amazing what a wonderful video 😊😊
I was there. Age 7. Dad had contacts in the motoring trade.
Memories are a tad vague, bit like Damon’s.
Very happy memories.
Ahh, nice. Yes there was a good crowd that day in 1962. I was at the front of it!
Luckeeee!
Nice one Keith . Thank you.
You didn't bloody wave!
I'm a Jim Clark/Graham Hill/Colin Chapman/Lotus fan since way back. Loved it when Clark and Hill won Indy. Weird: Damon kind of sounds like Eric Clapton - must be from same section of London. Poor Eric. Never won a GP. But I hear he was a champion guitarist.
How much is my 2010 Toyota Matrix, 67K miles, worth on a trade in for this Lotus? I wouldn't do it: Lotus doesn't have AC or CD player.
I've got to add, it was hard for young men like me to follow Formula 1 from Chicago area. But as a kid, my mother took me and brother to Meadowdale Raceways in West Dundee, ILL to see the likes of Roger Ward (two-time Indy champ) and racers like Augie Pabst drive their Scarabs, Ferraris, Porsches. Thanks, Mom.
My dad worked for Ford. We had a lot of company cars, but we got a 57 Fairlane 500 - beautiful car. So Lotus-Ford, Ford-Cosworth, Shelby was a natural progression. And Ford Cobras and GTs sealed the deal when they creamed Ferrari in the 60s.
In the 70s, Universal Oil Products (UOP) sponsored F1 and racing from Des Plaines, IL . Shadow, I think. Nice PR man helped me visit a Shadow Can-Am garage. I think he wrote for an F1 magazine.
I'm just gonna say: Jim Clark was the best there ever was. But I'll go with Senna and Stewart, too.
Safe driving all.
Is that actually Graham Hill's open face helmut? 4:44 Graham or Damon...eerie...
Some 50 years ago, the Lotus 25 was the first Formula One car I saw. Every other car just looked so old and out of date.
JIM CLARK - By far the greatest driver ever - no doubt. He is and was the Best of the Best. No other driver in history until today was so superior as Clark.
This man is the Olymp of driving - the Michelangelo of racing - a dynamic art at the highest level. So smooth, so precise, so fast....simply out of this world. One, who won in Spa by 5 minutes (!) in monsoon rain...One, who takes back a complete lap (!) in Monza and back into the lead... One, who took pole on the original 22,8 km Nürburgring track by 9 (!) seconds and more....One who won Indy by 2 whole (!) laps...For eternity and by lightyears unmatched in the sport. That`s just four examples of his mesmeric unique genius...
4:10 "it's a shame they have to close down" - thankfully, they didn't. According to Wikipedia, it still runs races of various kinds. BTW, Aintree is primarily a horse racing (steeple chase) track - I guess that was too obvious to mention to a British audience. They did say "Grand National," but not everybody knows what that means.
Search out "rFactor2 - Brabham-Repco BT20 at Aintree" to see a 'virtual' onboard lap. The high speed chicane is completely insane! (hey that rhymes)
Blimey! Doesn't he look like his dad in the car?
One thing I would have loved to have seen is for Damon to follow in his dad's footsteps and compete at Indy. It would have been special if he had gone there to compete there.
Pretty cool that a track from that time is apparently almost perfectly preserved. Which couldn't have happened if they continued to hold FIA races there.
Only part of the circuit remains, they still have motorsports there.
@@redpaddys12 Nah, it's virtually intact save for one slightly modified left kink into the short final straight leading into the final grandstand curve-
TRUTH! Like Goodwood!
if there is an onboard camera on that lotus why the hell didn't they show us an entire lap onboard????
Aintree lives on in simworld!
A REAL MOTOR RACING VENUE!
Bring back F-1 to the place..
As is...
...and also, I got a chance TWICE to see a Lotus 25 driven out of period at The Goodwood Revival...seven years ago a ding-dong battle between the 25 and a Brabham (i.e., Clark vs, Gurney) and this year, wonder of wonders, the 25 and the flat-12 1500cc Ferrari (i.e. Clark vs. Surtees) . The first time out, the Brabham broke and the 25 won. This year, Joe Colasacco had the Ferrari howling and he beat the 25, much to the pleasure of us American spectators....
Ferrari flat 12 , 1,5 l, lovely song ! Forza Colosacco !
Ecco!
"One of the problems I had at the beginning with Lotus 25 was the very reclined driving position, which didn´t leave me much to see, especially in the corners. It was like riding in a bed with wheels"
Jim Clark
Greetings from Venezuela
"Uno de los problemas que tenía al comienzo con el Lotus 25 era la posición de pilotaje tan reclinada, que no me dejaba mucho que ver, especialmente en las curvas. Era como ir en una cama con ruedas"
Jim Clark
Saludos desde Venezuela
I love seeing the Formula One cars painted in British Racing Green. McLaren should paint their cars in British Racing Green, because they'd otherwise be too confused with the Mercedes cars in 2014, except that the Mercedes' are normally not seen next to other cars.
Wonderful video!
Nothing to do with the Lotus 25, but there's another video somewhere of Graham Hill clowning around with his kids at a swimming pool somewhere -- and of course one of the kids is Damon.
Your right. It was near Monza in Italy for the '67 Grand prix ,It was part of the Ford promo film "Nine days in summer". Well worth a watch , Great footage in it.
Lotus 25 is a very pretty race car.
Quite so. Look at the many available videos of races from that time -- the 25 always stands out because it makes the other cars look fat. And I love the shape of the radiator intake. I wonder -- did Chapman also do the "body" design? (Another great design is the original (circa 1967) Lotus Elan -- simple and elegant.)
@@bmjpdx9222 Frank Costin had a hand in a lot of that sort of thing, going back to at least the vanwall
It's a real shame that the original full configuration is now consigned to the history books, as a new grandstand was built over the last corner a few years ago.
Marvelous!!!
Wish they would invest heavily in aintree and bring back F1, excellent road and rail links to other parts of the country, plenty of hotels locally, smack bang in the middle of the country if you include Scotland, amazing stands, amazing historical venue
When is someone going to do this track for assetto corsa. Jim Clark was the best of all time. It would be nice to have a replica of Jim Clark in AI to race against. Every sim racer in the world would spend hours and hours chasing him around and never winning! It would be wonderful.
THOSE CARS WERE SO SMALL
hoplite46 , which allowed PASSING! a novel concept.
@@Pete-z6e Good luck passing Jim Clark!
He makes it sound like the circuit is unused, they carried on using it for clubman racing and still do. I spent many an afternoon there in the 70's as a little kid watching my old man race his Ducati's around there, although I don't think they used the full GP circuit.
At 1:36... None of the 3 (Jimmy, Graham nor Damon) would know that they would share 5 WC titles between them and that only one of them would be there to witness the title of the 1996 season.
The individual grooves on those tires look exactly like the trail of a slug.
Bring it back!
Fangio and Senna both called Clark the GOAT. Hmmm...
PS: Is that a nuclear cooling tower behind grandstand at 2:47?
No it's just a gas works tower.
It's a little strange, seeing Graham Hill's helmet at the wheel of JIm Clark's Lotus.
Good strange.
"It's been a brilliant day".
There’s an irony here. The great Jim Clark won the British GP but Graham Hill was driving for BRM that year and won the championship.
@Michael Coley . . . You are commended to have stated that.
I'm finding it very strange with some of the other comments in this section where references have been made of Graham Hill driving a Lotus in the 1962 season.
Bloqk-16 I have a rather ratty copy of Hill’s book celebrating his championship win with BRM in 1962. Jim Clark won the championship in 1963 and of course 1965, the Indianapolis year. I saw Hill driving the first rear-engined BRM at Goodwood in 1960. He came in fifth in that experimental car, followed by Dan Gurney and the last of the front-engined BRMs, driven by Jo Bonnier. That was the race that Lotus first won at formula 1 (non-championship), driven by Innes Ireland, who pipped Moss in a Cooper. Jim Clark was driving formula junior that day.
@@michaelcoley7649 I am very envious of the experiences you witnessed during that era of F1.
When you mentioned about Moss, it got me thinking of how he outlived everyone from that era of F1, or in auto racing in general, as his drive in the Mille Miglia was an remarkable feat; as well as being lucky to have survived that crash in 1962.
Just to let you know: I'm a California yank that seriously started following motorsports in 1967; but I'm well aware of of the various motorsports histories from the early 1960s.
...my mistake. It wasn’t Hill’s book but Raymond Mays’ BRM.
@@michaelcoley7649 (in a tone of awe!) Oooohhhh! I'd love to get my hands on that book. That's a treasure piece you have there!
Jesus...Damon has gone incredibly grey!!
yes,i think he began to greyed out after Australia 1994...:)
but he is nice,i like him!
It just makes him look even more refined and sophisticated. ;)
@@LtdBoomer 25 years ago...
Bravo !
The tracks not what it was but its great for club level bike racing, I always go and watch!
Someone, please complete this sentence: "They stopped holding F1 races at Aintree because...." Neither this video or Wikipedia really says why. OK, it was "put up for sale" but why didn't the new owners want to continue it as an F1 race-course if it was "purpose built" for that?
According to a customer review of the book "The Unfulfilled Dream: The Story of Motor Racing at Aintree" on the Amazon website "...the North of England was seen as being "too far from London" and ultimately the Grand Prix races were lost to the Liverpool venue"
Sounds to be a most interesting read, and I think you need to buy it to find out the full story.
@LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH Well, from memory, Silverstone is actually further away from London than Brands Hatch...and it's a rubbish circuit by comparison.
i think aintree isn't really a great track. the cars and drivers who raced there made it great.
Trivial, but a 1962 Lotus 25 shouldn't really have the yellow stripe. The stripe 1st being introduced to the Lotus 25 at British GP Siverstone 1963..
NERD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Silly me. I could have gone round Aintree in D Type Jaguar for charity with Norman Dewison. Unfortunatly I couldn't afford it. Norman was a gent.
So why did the track close?Since u r Graham Hills son wouldn't u like to drive your dad's BRM?I watched him many times on ABC's Wide World of Sports.
Colin Chapman sold off all Team Lotus F1 cars, the 24, to privateers and some non-works outfits, they believed they had secured state of the art race-winning cars, then being Chapman he introduced the Lotus 25 which made all the other cars obsolete when challenged that he had pulled a fast one, he replied the 25 is exactly the same as the 24 but just had the steel tubes missing.
Just so wrong to see that Graham's helmet and facial profile driving Jimmy's car. It's the wrong number! LOL
+bobobobinalong Wrong that he is wearing seat belts, too!
@boboboinalong . . . given the historical era this video was covering, it does seem *extremely peculiar* to see a Graham Hill helmeted driver in a Lotus.
I wonder if there's video of Damon Hill driving the BRM P56? Now, that would have the proper look to it.
The car shown has a couple of updates from 1962/1963 specs: The inner drive shaft joints are solid Hookes type (with a splined sliding shaft), not the original rubber "doughnuts" (used with solid shafts, since they were axially compliant). And the windscreen was the "Spa scoop", intended to deflect air up over the driver's head (Clark had a problem with buffeting; that's why he often drove without a visor). It also looks like the engine cover has bulges on the side (ala the Lotus 33).
Things that worked!!!
Not under a bell jar..
Clark would use his 25 over the 33 at shorter twistier venues.. right thru 1965 <
Just as Graham would use his Old Faithful 1962 BRM P578 over the later monocoque car
In similar situations, with the latest engines...
J.C.
Age 74..
I wonder how many of his dad's cars Damon has managed to drive?
Talk talk, I want the car.
Odd how Damon only mentions his father once or twice
The video is about Jim Clark not Graham Hill ..........
It's a very beautiful car. I hate it lol. It's too hard to feel what the car is doing...however the Upgraded Type 49 with the Cosworth engine a few years later is a very different story
There tomorrow for a hill climbing event
If you could drive one car....just one car of any ever made......THIS is the car you'd drive.
The iconic legendary Jim Clark's Lotus.
Jim Clark is, to me, with Ayrton Senna the best ever.
Britain's only purpose built racing circuit?
Damon deserves 1994 F 1 Crown against the dirtiest movement of schumacher,bumping him in the last curve,of the last lap. FIA shud disqualify Schumacher for this and other dirty tricks to be ahead of his colleagues. At least 6 Crowns must be taken from Schumacher,and give them to Eddy Irvine, Damon Hill, Ralf Schumacher,Barrichello,Jacques Villeneuve,and others.
Justice for All.
Aintree? This river don't go to AINTREE!
Ahhh it would have been nice to see him drive the car rather than go on about the history of the track
It is rare that these doco's focus enough on the car, and properly mike the motor. :(
No... Britain's only purpose-built GRAND PRIX circuit...
What's George Harrison doing driving a Lotus 25?
+Sion Lewis Having fun.
He does have a striking resemblance
I'm sure everyone knows this, but Damon and George were good friends, George was a firm F1 follower.
What a useless show! Hey Hill! Why don't you tell us some specifics about what's different between what you drove in F1 and this car.. just for an example? How about other spec's about the competition then and now. For example the car that Senna drove had 1200 HP, very little down force and a manual gear box... you know that kind of real info!
+Phil Robertson The idea was to live through the nostalgia of the times, not dwell in technical stuff... you can easily google those difference if you're so interested.
fair enough