Formula 1® celebrates 70th Anniversary in collaboration with Automobilist

July 30, 2020: Following the recently launched 70th anniversary design posters by Automobilist, produced in conjunction with Formula 1®, comes another design offer for followers and fans of the sport - a series of Collector’s and Limited edition posters. As Formula 1 marks the special 70th Anniversary celebrations at the EMIRATES FORMULA 1 70TH ANNIVERSARY GRAND PRIX 2020 on the weekend of 7-9 August 2020, the eight-piece collection celebrates the last seven decades of racing, each featuring a bespoke design honouring the periods’ most iconic car, plus an additional design looking to the future of the sport.

Over 70 years, victory in Formula 1 has been secured via the satisfaction of a single imperative – finding a competitive edge, and through obsessive development, ruthlessly exploiting engineering superiority in order to establish crushing dominance. 

Formula 1 has generally been a cyclical sport with one team at a time enjoying a period of dominance and if we go back just a few decades we can see the names McLaren, Williams, Ferrari and Red Bull all putting together a string of consecutive world titles. For the past six years, the team doing most of the winning has been Mercedes or Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team to give its full name.  

Scuderia Ferrari could have been the subject of the featured car in every single one of Automobilist’s series of commemorative posters for each decade of the Formula 1 World Championship, as the Italian outfit is the only team to have taken part in the series every year since 1950 to the present day. 

Throughout the 90s, the impact of technology on people’s daily lives was increasing at a frantic pace, with such developments as the arrival of cable TV, the internet which we charmingly referred to as the world wide web and the arrival of small mobile phones- if you were lucky a Nokia with the addition of the Snake game for added kudos.

The McLaren MP4/4 is statistically the most successful Formula 1 car of all time, having triumphed in 15 out of the 16 Grands Prix held in 1988. That’s a 93.8 winning percentage and many of those victories also saw its drivers Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna take one-two finishes. Naturally, it won both the Drivers’ (with Senna) and Constructors’ World Championship titles that year. However, perhaps the number that sums it up best is 27. That’s the number of laps the car was not in the lead of a race over the course of the entire season! Come the end of the year, the car had amassed a total of 199 points, three times more than the second best team in the Constructors’ classification.

"When my father, Ken Tyrrell, first entered Formula 1® in 1968, it was with a Matra chassis, constructed near Paris by the French aerospace company. I was still at school then."

The world’s economy was not in great shape in the 70s and after the “peace and love” of the 60s, this decade was a more dour affair, with the rise of political corruption (Watergate) international terrorism (the Munich Olympics massacre) and a global oil crisis that caused problems for all the English based F1 teams when the three day working week was imposed on the UK.

The Sixties, the Swinging Sixties, the decade of peace and love, but also the decade of Vietnam war protests, the deaths of John F Kennedy, his brother Bobby and of Martin Luther King. It was the decade that started with the arrival of the contraceptive pill and ended with a man walking on the moon. It was a decade of change, of riot and of revolution. In the Sixties, Formula 1 had its own revolutionary and his early masterpiece would run riot on the race tracks of the world. 

Torpedo-shaped, with a low-slung, wide-mouthed grille and with finely tapered inverse winglets sprouting with almost organic purity from each side of a fiery red body, the Maserati 250F is the poster child of the dawn of the Formula 1 age.

In a world recovering from post-war system shock, the 250F was the racing car as imagined by an excited schoolboy. A svelte, muscular racing reflection of the age of the bikini and the bomb, the era of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, it was the racing car that perhaps best embodies the ’50s desire to leave behind the grey austerity of rationing and brutalist reconstruction schemes and power towards a more glamorous, Technicolor future. And with a competitive career encompassing 60% of the 1950s it’s the grand prix car that better than any other, defines the first decade of Formula 1. 

Being lapped, overtaken by the race leader, so that you are a whole lap of the track behind him, is the greatest indignity that can befall a driver. And yet, in the Automobilist artwork depicting Nelson Piquet in the Lotus being passed by fellow Brazilian Ayrton Senna in the McLaren, things are not as embarrassing as they seem for Piquet. After the chequered flag came out a few laps later, he would be standing on the podium, having finished third. Senna and team-mate Alain Prost had lapped the entire field.

It’s become a popular motor racing quiz question to produce a drawing of all the current F1 cars without their livery and ask those taking part to name the cars. Only the most obsessive fans get the right answers because F1 regulations are now so strict that all ten cars on the grid look very similar. 40 years ago, that wasn’t the case, with many different shapes produced by fertile design minds and the most striking of all just has to be the Tyrrell P34, the only six-wheeled F1 car to win a Grand Prix.

In partnership with the Tyrrell family, Automobilist looks forward to producing a series of posters that capture the history of Tyrrell Racing and its 30-year involvement in Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Automobilist announces the launch of two special edition posters developed for Apollo Automobil to celebrate the Apollo Intenza Emozione, the latest car to be built by Apollo Automobil in conjunction with HWA. 

Even before the start, there was an extra buzz of excitement around the Sakhir circuit that Sunday, as the crowds gathered at the end of what is a working day in Bahrain. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of this Grand Prix, coincidentally, the 900th in the history of Formula 1, the event was being held as a night race under floodlights for the very first time. Little did they know they were about to witness a thriller, one of the best Grand Prix in years, a real ‘Duel in the Desert'.

51 years on from 20th July 1969, the first Moon landing, with a man actually walking on the surface of a planet other than Earth, is still an almost unbelievable feat. That’s why, although here at Automobilist, we tend to specialise in tall tales of the motor car variety, we couldn’t say no to collaborating with NASA last year for a 50th anniversary poster for the first manned mission to land on the Moon. 

When Michael Schumacher took the chequered flag at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit on 8 October 2000 it put an end to two decades of tears and frustration for Scuderia Ferrari. Yes, the Italian team had won the Constructors’ title the previous year, but the Drivers’ crown, the one that really matters, had eluded them since 1979, when South Africa’s Jody Scheckter won the championship.

There’s something appealing about the simplicity of David Coulthard’s helmet design as featured in the Automobilist poster. We cut up with our Brand Ambassador - no easy feat as he’s always on the move – to talk about it and other topics.

The “Pink Pig” Porsche made the headlines during the 1971 Le Mans 24 Hours race for all the wrong reasons: it was an ugly looking version of the Zuffenhausen marque’s all-conquering 917. Its pink livery, with the design seen on posters in butchers’ shops to show you the names of the various cuts of meats, was definitely tongue in cheek and, to cap it all, it crashed out of the race to retire during the night, with no brakes.

Maybe that’s why you can only see the number 23 car, driven by Reinhold Joest and Willi Kauhsen in the background of the Automobilist poster commemorating the 1971 edition of the world’s most famous endurance race!

Eliska Junkova is rightly considered to be one of the greatest women racing drivers of all time. However, fame eluded her until very late in life, her achievements not receiving the recognition they deserved, essentially because she lived behind the Iron Curtain and the communist authorities would not let her travel.

Automobilist continues to expand its partnerships with important players in the world of motor sport and it is now collaborating with the WRC, the FIA World Rally Championship. 

Automobilist announces an exciting new collaboration with WRC, the FIA World Rally Championship, which will see us produce posters telling the tale of the battle for the manufacturer’s title in a run up to the 50th anniversary of the birth of the WRC back in 1973. With WRC's support, several of the rally collection design posters now carry an upgraded look and are available for fans of one of the most thrilling motorsport format.

But enough about us.

To get you in the mood, let’s kick off with a tale of one of the most famous events in world rallying, which will make a long-awaited comeback to the WRC calendar next year, the totally unique Safari Rally.

On June 22nd 1975, Formula 1 produced one of those fairytale moments that sticks in the memory for ever. A moment when, against the odds, the applecart is overturned, the favourites are defeated and the underdog has its day. Spoiler alert: James Hunt won the Dutch Grand Prix for Hesketh Racing, beating the Ferraris of Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni into second and third.

Postponed events can only mean one thing… an opportunity to look back at old editions and celebrate the moments that make a sport, special. With 24h Le Mans currently scheduled for later in the year, we drive back in time to 17-18 June 1995, to a McLaren domination of the racing format and 25 years of the McLaren F1 GTR notching up a special win.

But first, a bit of background to provide some context to our story. 

On 16 June in 1903, Henry Ford and eleven investors established the Ford Motor Company, with a capital of just $28,000. Other manufacturers might produce the most expensive, the fastest, the most exclusive cars on the planet, but FoMoCo as it’s known can rightly claim to have brought the motor car to the masses. The Model T Ford was first produced in 1908 and over 15 million were sold. In 1913, Ford invented the moving assembly line for car production, which saw the Model T come off the line at the then unheard of rate of one every 15 minutes. Henry Ford also believed in looking after his workforce, offering a wage of $5 per day in 1914, when the average was half that. In its time, Ford has competed and won in just about every form of motor sport, from Formula 1 to Indy to rallying and Le Mans of course, where it enjoyed so much success with the beautiful GT40. 

Rally Mexico was the last round of this year’s World Rally Championship to be run in mid-March, before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down motorsport around the world. In fact, the Mexican event was even shortened by a day, so that teams could return to their European bases before travel restrictions came into place. Fifty years ago, an altogether different type of rally ended in Mexico.

Take our work here at Automobilist and magically transform it from design artwork into three dimensions models, and the results would probably look very much like the incredible model cars produced by Amalgam Collection, which goes some way to explaining why our two companies are now working together on a variety of interesting projects. 

It’s been fifty years since Bruce McLaren passed away at the young age of 32 during an unfortunate incident, while testing one of his CanAm race cars on 2 June 1970 at the Goodwood race track in England. His legacy lives on in the Formula 1® team that bears his name, the second oldest in the sport after Ferrari and the second most successful too in terms of race wins and championship titles. On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of his passing, as a tribute to his ability and charisma, McLaren in partnership with Automobilist launches two special edition posters, in his famous McLaren papaya.

The pace of technological development in the higher levels of motor racing is such that each new season sees teams produce brand new cars to line up on the grid. The previous year’s model is old hat, too slow and just not good enough to get the job done. But not in the case of the Maserati, featured in our latest poster.

George Russell won last Sunday’s Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix and was joined on the podium by Esteban Gutierrez for Mercedes and local lad Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari. Don’t worry, you haven’t stepped into some sort of parallel universe, this was the result of the virtual race on the Monte Carlo track, played remotely by drivers taking part in the “We Race On” initiative set up by Formula1 to provide some fun for the fans in the absence of real racing.

Cars and racing are their passion and quite understandably, members are personalities who influence society, professional sports and the business world. Based in Munich, Drivers and Business Club opened its doors in 2019, and will provide a unique space for generating new ideas, facilitating decisions and cultivating friendships.

The dog-eat-dog world of top level motor racing has a tendency to bring out the apex predator in drivers, leading to the sort of single-minded pursuit of glory that’s easy to admire but often hard to love. But Pedro de la Rosa isn’t one of those drivers. While committed and ferociously competitive on track, out of the car the Spaniard was, and still is, one of motorsport’s good guys, a gentleman racer in the truest sense of the word. Automobilist caught up with him to talk about his unorthodox racing start, the passion of Japanese race fans, his love of cycling, and why an F1 driver’s seat might just be the loneliest place in the world.

Last week’s big news was Sebastian Vettel’s decision to leave Ferrari at the end of the year and the announcement that he would be replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr. Adding the “Jr.” for junior is essential when you’re the son of a famous father.

Motor racing will never be a completely safe pursuit. But would we really want it to be totally free of risk? If it was, you might as well settle for taking part in the virtual reality of motor racing computer games, the ones that are doing such a good job of keeping fans entertained, while sport the world over has ground to a halt because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

2020 is the 70th anniversary of the FIA Formula 1® World Championship for Drivers and to mark this important milestone, Automobilist is producing three special commemorative posters. The official release date for the posters is May 13th, the date of the very first race to count towards the World Championship, the 1950 British Grand Prix™ held at Silverstone Circuit. Events to mark the anniversary were due to start on this date and run to 19th July, the originally scheduled date of this season’s British Grand Prix.

With all forms of motor sport currently paused because of the pandemic, fans and indeed race drivers are turning to the virtual world for their thrills and kicks. We’re talking about online racing and the past couple of months have seen it enjoy a huge boost in popularity.

These days, F1 drivers seem to change their helmet design as often as they change their socks. There’s a school of thought that believes this variety isn’t actually the spice of life, because it makes it difficult to distinguish one driver from another. 

Though these days he’s known as much for his expert analysis on air with the Sky Sports F1 crew as for his on-track grand prix racing exploits with Force India from 2011 to 2013, Paul Di Resta hasn’t hung up helmet and is still going wheel-to-wheel with the best in the business in top level motorsport. 

May 1st, May Day is a significant date on the calendar, an ancient festival of Spring and a holiday in many European countries. Strung together, “mayday” is used internationally as a distress signal in the nautical and aviation worlds, a corruption of the French “m’aider” from the phrase “venez m’aider,” meaning “come and help me.” 

In 1994, one could claim that May Day became a distress signal for the state of safety in motor racing, when Ayrton Senna lost his life on the seventh lap of the San Marino GP, at the Imola circuit in northern Italy.

Brazil’s Rubens Barrichello currently tops the table for Formula 1 drivers who have started the most Grands Prix, on 322*. At the other end of the scale are those who made just a single appearance on a Formula 1 grid... 

As the Covid-19 pandemic sweeps across the globe, the future of motor sport is hardly a priority, but it does have an economic and social impact on the lives of many. Never before have we seen whole championships put on hold, but 2020 is by no means the first year that Grands Prix have been cancelled.

One of the few positives in this difficult time when most of the world is in 'lockdown' is that Automobilist’s racing ambassadors have time to chat. We caught up with Heikki Kovalainen, who is meant to be racing in Japan’s Super GT series as well as driving for Toyota in the Japanese Rally Championship, but is currently at home in northern Finland. In a recent video interview, we asked the former Formula 1 star questions that fans and followers were most eager to know.

If there was ever a rags-to-riches team tale in Formula One, it is the story of Williams Racing. Founded by a man with a dream and a meagre savings account, Williams grew to become one of the sport’s most recognisable brands, and the third-most successful team on the grid. It all began with the gritty determination of its founder and principal, Sir Frank Williams.

In 2011, the FIA considered a bold question: Would fans flock to a new racing series designed to create a cleaner world by demonstrating the potential of electric vehicles? Nine years later, the answer is clear. Formula E has gone from ambitious startup to global brand, with 12 teams, 24 drivers, and some of the biggest names in motorsport. Automobilist recently spoke with one of the championship’s most experienced drivers, Mahindra Racing’s Jérôme D'Ambrosio, about his transition from Formula One, his slow start this season, and why he never leaves the water running at home.

During its 35-year-history, the F1 Australian Grand Prix has produced many memorable moments – from Ralf Schumacher’s airborne crash at the opening corner in 2002 to Daniel Ricciardo’s fuel breach in 2014. But perhaps no incident was as controversial as the “team orders” issued by McLaren during the 1998 edition.

With Formula One’s 2020 pre-season testing just days away, teams and their drivers are gearing up for what is certain to be an exhilarating campaign. But constructors and pilots are not the only ones making last minute preparations; so is the man who has led more laps than most F1 racing drivers on the grid. Automobilist recently spoke with Bernd Mayländer, the F1 safety car driver, about his passion for “proper” race cars, his plans to start racing again, and why Lewis Hamilton gets impatient with his pace.

In 1967, Jean Guichet was part of Ferrari’s endurance racing team that countered Ford’s historic dominance the year before. At the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona, Guichet’s co-pilot was the late Pedro Rodriguez, who would have been 80 this month. Automobilist recently interviewed Jean Guichet and discussed his racing legacy, his passion for performance, and what it was like to drive with Pedro Rodriguez.

On July 17, 1964, Englishman Donald Campbell made motoring history by becoming the first person to break the 400-mile-per hour barrier in a wheel-driven vehicle. He needed less than 18 seconds to get it done. With the rubber ripped clean off his tires, Campbell piloted the jet-propelled Bluebird-Proteus CN7 over a 12-mile salt-flat track in Lake Eyre, Australia.

By the time of the 2000 French Grand Prix, David Coulthard, racing for West McLaren Mercedes, was 2 points ahead of teammate / two times Champion Mika Häkkinen, and just within striking distance from the leader Michael Schumacher. The events that transpired during the race would represent the respectful rivalry between Coulthard and Schumacher for the remainder of the season, as well as a few to come.

Sports dynasties aren’t born; they’re forged. To win consistently requires an alchemy of talent, resources, and commitment that only the greatest teams possess. Whenever a dynasty is crowned, in any sport, fans instinctively pause to reflect on the improbability of the feat – and to tip their hats in awe.

Automobilist has become an Official Licensee with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport to produce a series of limited-edition prints celebrating the team’s six consecutive FIA Formula One World Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championship titles, a feat never achieved in Formula One history.

It is one of the most riveting stories in motorsport’s history – “The 24-Hour War” of Le Mans 1966. After three years of testing and development, on June 19, 1966, Ford Motor Company became the first American car manufacturer to triumph at the world’s most famous 24-hour endurance race, beating Ferrari in its own backyard.

With Christmas quickly approaching, here’s an early gift from Automobilist to make the Holiday Season even brighter for you and your automobilist friends!

With the holiday season approaching, Automobilist wanted to create an artwork that stood apart from the rest of our product line but remained true to our mission of commemorating the iconic stories, achievements, and personalities of motoring history. We hope you’ll agree that a record-setting drive over thousands of miles of ice and snow delivers on that goal.

Prior to the 1955-58 Commonwealth Trans Antarctic Expedition (CTAE), no other expedition had ever successfully crossed the Antarctic continent via the South Pole. Read about the difficulties that explorers Sir Vivian Fuchs, and Sir Edmund Hillary faced as they braved the world's harshest climate.

Before the McLaren GTR shook the 1995 Le Mans, no other team had ever captured four of the top five places on a debut appearance. Read how “the ultimate road car” was turned into a race car that shocked the world.

• Automobilist has released Helmet Design Poster featuring former Formula 1 driver turned presenter and commentator David Coulthard
• Created to celebrate David Coulthard's 13 wins, 62 podiums, and 2001 Vice-World Championship Title
• Expands Automobilist's signature Helmet Collection to 7 pieces

On September 7, 1969, 50 years ago today, Sir Jackie Stewart clinched his first Drivers' World Championship Title at Monza with three races of the season remaining. Fighting for the coveted first-place position came down to timing, gear ratios, and top speeds, as the final laps of the 40th Italian Grand Prix left onlookers on the edge of their seats.

Automobilist had the opportunity to speak with 5 times consecutive 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan at the 2019 Czech motorcycle Grand Prix. Watch, listen, or read along on the link as Doohan discusses his passion for racing, favourite memories, his son Jack and what it takes to win.

Before he won his first 500cc World Championship in 1994, followed by a consecutive four more, the legendary Australian MotoGP rider Mick Doohan came pretty close to not winning any at all. At one point in his career, he went from fighting on the circuits to fighting for his life.

Automobilist had the opportunity to speak with Sir Jackie Stewart at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this past July. Watch (subtitles included), listen or read along as Sir Jackie discusses his favourite racing memories, the Nürburgring, and his charity Race Against Dementia.

August 4, 1968, Nürburgring, Germany: Torrential downpour all weekend long makes an already difficult track nearly impossible to navigate; as extreme fog, mist, and wet conditions continue. As the start of the race creeps closer, tensions and emotions run high, as drivers remember the passings of Jim Clark, Mike Spence, Ludovico Scarfiotti and Jo Schlesser in the months building up to this moment.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." - Neil Armstrong. First spoken over 50 years ago, these are the words that forever altered the course of human history.

• Automobilist has released a Unique & Limited Edition Poster featuring the Apollo 11 "Eagle" Lunar Module
• Created to coincide and celebrate the technological advancements mankind has made and for the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing on July 20th, 1969
• Available in 50 pieces only, the poster features a limited-edition badge, the official "Apollo 50" Anniversary logo and a silver foil highlighting the astronauts' paths on the Moon’s surface

• Automobilist has released a collection of 3 Design Posters featuring De Tomaso Automobili's newly revealed P72 Model
• The car and the collection is released to coincide / celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the De Tomaso brand's original founding
• Collection commemorates the legacy and untold story of De Tomaso founder Alejandro De Tomaso
• The P72 is "A Modern Day Time Machine." "A car with Perpetual Beauty."

• Automobilist has released a new artwork collection featuring Sir Jackie Stewart, aka "The Flying Scot"
• 4 Design Posters and 1 Fine Art Print commemorate the legacy of the 3 times Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champion
• Collection released to coincide / celebrate Sir Jackie’s 80th Birthday and the 50th Anniversary of his first Champion title win in 1969
• Proceeds from the official licensed collection will benefit Sir Jackie’s charity Race Against Dementia

• Automobilist has expanded its signature Helmet Collection of design posters to include its first MotoGP rider
• Released to celebrate Mick Doohan’s 54th Birthday and commemorate the legacy of the 5 times 500cc World Champion
• Features Doohan’s iconic Australian-inspired 1999 Arai helmet

The Porsche 917. One of the most iconic cars in racing history. First unveiled in 1969 at the Geneva Car Show, it became an intimidating force on the circuit, particularly at Le Mans. From its race dominance to its cult-classic following with Steve McQueen in the film, Le Mans, the 917 has skyrocketed in both popularity and price. But how did it become one of the most dominating forces in endurance racing?

Following the online release of our officially licensed set of Formula 1^® commissioned posters, Automobilist had the great honour to present the posters set at the 1000th Grand Prix™, held in Shanghai this past weekend. Automobilist also revealed its Race Day Edition poster, a black version of the already sold out Unique & Limited Gold poster, which was exclusively designed and given only to F1^® Drivers, F1 Team Principals, and permanently Accredited Media.

The Automobilist Team headed to Germany this past weekend for the 31st Techno-Classica Essen. The annual car show, which brings in over 190,000+ visitors and over 2,700+ Collectors, with 1,250+ Exhibitors and 200 Clubs, makes Essen the capital of the classic vehicles for a whirlwind 5 days.

October 24th, 1976: After an embattled season of constant lead changes, disqualifications, and near-death crashes, it was only fitting that the final race of the season, the XI Japanese Grand Prix, would be the decider - and just as contentious. Heavy rains and hanging fog had left Fuji Speedway fraught with danger. An intense debate over safety concerns between racers and organizers broke out, almost cancelling the race. To the dismay of many racers, the green light was given.

• To commemorate Formula 1's 1000th Grand Prix, Automobilist has created a unique set of officially licensed posters for Formula 1
• The bespoke posters will showcase the legacy of Formula 1 racing, marking its 1000th Grand Prix in Shanghai, China on April 14, 2019
• Both design posters feature names of all previous Grand Prix winners and are available now at Automobilist.com and F1 Store

Aprils Fools' Day Joke: To honour the most easily iconic hot-rod car of the 70’s, Automobilist is excited to release a new, limited, far-out poster: The Roach Coach 1978. This unique artwork is dedicated to the visionary designer Ed Newton, and builders Dan Woods and Don Boeke.

Automobilist recently headed to Paris for Rétromobile, the classic car world’s equivalent to fashion week, when the biggest manufacturers, dealers, auction houses and, more importantly, enthusiasts from Europe and beyond convene for an automotive extravaganza in the City of Light.

Unique collection of fine art prints and posters commemorate Michael Schumacher’s first championship title win with Ferrari at Suzuka in 2000 for his 50th birthday.

Soon after the chequered flag came down at the twilit Abu Dhabi circuit to close the 2018 Formula 1 season Fernando Alonso’s last of 17 drama-packed campaigns – three of the cars broke out into a display of impromptu donuts. Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari were joined on pit straight by the retiring Spaniard’s pirouetting McLaren; soon afterwards the 2018 Champion and Vice-Champion gave the Spaniard a guard of honour. They were bidding a respectful farewell to a fellow Championship winner, and Formula One was saying goodbye to one of its all-time greats.

We’ve been very busy here at Automobilist. As well as moving to a larger headquarters and expanding our team of creatives, we are also working on plenty of exciting new projects – and have given our website a complete redesign so we can share them with you. Here’s a summary of what’s new around here.

James Hunt’s last-gasp victory at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix was the culmination of one of the most dramatic and controversial seasons in Formula One history. Four decades later, rose-tinted memories and Hollywood histrionics have skewed the narrative – but few are in a better position to put it straight than James’ son Freddie Hunt.

How Mike Hawthorn won Jaguar’s first Le Mans race – but left a trackside holocaust in his wake that would change racing forever.

The 1955 Le Mans race was always set to be a memorable one. After a promising second-place finish for its D-type the previous year, Jaguar returned to La Sarthe with a revised version of the car it had purpose-built to win the world’s greatest endurance race. Title-holder Ferrari was back with a gaggle of six-cylinder 121LMs. And Mercedes, which had just proved the potency of its new 300SLR sports-racer by winning the Mille Miglia, had thrown its Tyrolean into the ring with an all-star team that included Moss, Fangio and Kling. Practice times had been front-page news; everything was in place for an epic Coventry-Modena-Stuttgart showdown.

One of the most recent Automobilist projects was commissioned by Maserati, which wanted to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its first Gran Turismo: the 3500GT prototype affectionately known as Dama Bianca, or White Dame. It was the star of the 1957 Geneva Salon, setting the template for the production car with only minor design tweaks and announcing Maserati’s ambitious foray into the series production of grand tourers after withdrawal from racing earlier that year. However, sixty years on, a fresh challenge presented itself: today the White Dame no longer exists, presumed destroyed once its promotional duties were fulfilled.