Grand Prix: The Killer Years

[EDwardo]

I'm watching a premiere of a program on F1 in the 1960's on an obscure cable channel called Velocity. They will be showing the program several times and I encourage those interested to peruse their cable or satellite lineup to see if they get this channel as the program is excellent.

[SteveH]

http://blogs.discovery.com/velocity/2012/02/grand-prix-the-killer-years.html

[trish]

Just checked and this channel is part of Family Cable, which is a lower tier option that I have. Thanks for the heads-up. Will be adding this channel to my favorites.

[RTKar]

An excellent program.



Something SPEED no longer shows.

[gjc2]

an obscure cable channel called Velocity.

Velocity has lots of programming that is of interest to us gear-heads

[gerhard911]

^^^

Agreed - Velocity Programs (http://blogs.discovery.com/velocity/2011/09/tv-shows-on-velocity.html).

It is the previous Discovery HD Theater rebranded with lots of new shows. "Renaissance Man" with Alain de Cadenet is especially good, recalling the old "Victory by Design" series that ran on Seedvision.

[Elmo T]

Velocity has lots of programming that is of interest to us gear-heads

Didn't even know I had it. :saywhat:

I spent a few minutes programming the DVR - lots of decent TV ahead. :thumbup:

[dando]

Didn't even know I had it. :saywhat:

I spent a few minutes programming the DVR - lots of decent TV ahead. :thumbup:

Same here. It's stuck in the mosh pit of 'tweener' channels that have been been added to my HD channels. The re-branding of channels tends to make the new channels an odd fit in the originally intended listing hierarchy. :irked:

-Kevin

[Ozarkian]

Velocity has lots of programming that is of interest to us gear-heads

Sure does. Mecum Auctions is a favorite around our house, especially with my youngest daughter who is a budding petrol-head. Channel's somewhat harder to find after the rebranding, but it's well worth book-marking.

[manic mechanic]

Hot tip!

Just found it as 797 on Charter HD!! :D:thumbup::thumbup:

[High Sided]

for interweb viewing....

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xmlzni_grand-prix-the-killer-years_auto

[rosawendel]

I like wheeler dealers - for the british-isms and what not.
...and bob's your uncle. ta-la.

[Easy]

The way its portrayed in "Grand Prix: The Killer Years", the drivers were basically their own crew of track marshalls, paramedics, and firefighters and the marshalls were basically spectators with better seats who had no intent to help when the stuff hit the fan.

I'm obviously aware that safety in the 60's was very bad compared to today but does anyone else think the editors were a little heavy handed? A person with zero knowledge of F1 or its history watching this program might come away assuming 4-5 drivers burned to death at every GP and that Colin Chapman coldly considered his drivers an expendable commodity.

[Methanolandbrats]

The way its portrayed in "Grand Prix: The Killer Years", the drivers were basically their own crew of track marshalls, paramedics, and firefighters and the marshalls were basically spectators with better seats who had no intent to help when the stuff hit the fan.

I'm obviously aware that safety in the 60's was very bad compared to today but does anyone else think the editors were a little heavy handed? A person with zero knowledge of F1 or its history watching this program might come away assuming 4-5 drivers burned to death at every GP and that Colin Chapman coldly considered his drivers an expendable commodity.

That Chapman observationi might not be too far from the truth. I remember an interview with Frank Williams after both his cars were destroyed and his drivers were injured. He was asked who would drive the cars? His reply was something like "I can get a driver with a phone call, it takes weeks to build a car".

[Trevor Longman]

I like wheeler dealers - for the british-isms and what not.
...and bob's your uncle. ta-la.

My 2 best friends and I love that show. The Mike Brewer guy has probably the dumbest british-isms I've ever heard ("the steering is as vague as a vague thing", etc.) but the mechanic does a really good job of explaining everything.

[Rogue Leader]

That Chapman observationi might not be too far from the truth. I remember an interview with Frank Williams after both his cars were destroyed and his drivers were injured. He was asked who would drive the cars? His reply was something like "I can get a driver with a phone call, it takes weeks to build a car".

Enzo Ferrari pretty much lived by that as well. He referred to drivers as "Accessories"

[Easy]

That Chapman observationi might not be too far from the truth. I remember an interview with Frank Williams after both his cars were destroyed and his drivers were injured. He was asked who would drive the cars? His reply was something like "I can get a driver with a phone call, it takes weeks to build a car".

I know Williams has traditionally been fairly cold towards drivers. (I think I read that he adopted this policy after the death of Piers Courage who was a friend?)

I thought Chapman had a rep for being close with many of his drivers. Granted I was still in diapers wen he passed so my impression is from books, magazines and TV that may have glossed over some of his darker traits.

[morgahorse]

Anybody know what channel that is on directv?

[Gnam]

Satellite:
DirecTV (US) - Channel 281
DirecTV (Latin America) - Channels 773 and 1005

Dish Network (US) - Channels 186, 364, 9421
Dish Network Mexico - Channel 950

C-Band AMC-11 - Channel 617 (4DTV Digital)

Cable:
Available on many cable systems Check local listings for channels.

Verizon FiOS - Channel 631

AT&T Uverse - Channel 1102

[JohnHKart]

When you see footage of Chapman reacting to Cevert's death, it's obviously bothering him and he certainly didn't seem cold and insensitive. Obviously, these people are not going to run around crying and screaming, but losing drivers did bother them. They have to keep a certain kind of face on in public. Behind closed doors, Frank and Patrick surely were horrified and crushed by the death of Senna, they just aren't going to whine about it in public.

[High Sided]

re-air tonight at 10pm and thursday 1am, 5am eastern

[Elmo T]

re-air tonight at 10pm and thursday 1am, 5am eastern

The variety of shows reminds me of old school HBO :saywhat:. Here's hoping they can fill out the schedule with some decent programming.

[Indy]

I saw it. I thought I would love seeing the old footage, but the reality of the subject matter is pretty damned depressing.

It would have been better if they could have done a longer film with more detail. I doubt that any of us learn anything from it.

[Rex Karz]

For someone who was in his very early years during the events of that decade, it brought back a lot of really bad memories. We lost drivers with such seemingly regularity that it was almost as if fatal accidents were the norm, not the exception. The Bandini accident at Monaco in 1967 made me so sick to my stomach that even now 40+ years later I can't bring myself to look at it. I saw the film of the accident and its aftermath on ABC's Wide World of Sports back then.

Thought not an F1 story, Mario Andretti related on in an interview once where he was sitting on the grid for a sprint/midget car race somewhere at the start of the season. He was sitting there in his car and looking around and knowing that of the 20something in the field that 4 or 5 of the drivers would be dead before the season was over. And that he could be one of them.

My only problem with the film is that with the title it implied that only the 60s were a terrible decade. I think if you got back in history to the 50s and before that you'll find there were probably just as many driver deaths. The only difference is that by the 60s, a lot more of the fatal accidents were caught on film or tape.