When Did You First Hear About The Fittipaldis?

[pchall]

Somehow, it seems a pertinent question. :)

Let's have some purely anecdotal stuff. Nothing scientific like a poll or summpin'.

[Jervis Tetch 1]

1970 when he teamed with the late Jochen Rindt at Lotus for a few races.

[BobN]

Somehow, it seems a pertinent question. :)

Let's have some purely anecdotal stuff. Nothing scientific like a poll or summpin'.


I first heard of Emmo upon his arrival at Lotus in F1. I first became aware of Wilson Fittipaldi with the Copersucar (sp) F1 team. I had heard of Christian during his early F1 days, but paid no attention until he showed in CART.

I didn't really associate the Fittipaldis with the INDY 500 until Emmo's wife started rubbing her worry beads. :D

[pchall]

I first read about Emerson in The Autocar in the late 60s when he was making his mark in the lower formulas. When he got the Lotus F1 seat in 1970 I was elated when he won at Watkins Glen and preserved Jochen Rindt's well deserved WDC. Then Wilson showed up at Brabham in the BT34 and there was someone else to root for.

Next?

[Methanolandbrats]

Probably F1 on ABC Wide World of Sports..........a long time ago.

[pchall]

I didn't really associate the Fittipaldis with the INDY 500 until Emmo's wife started rubbing her worry beads. :D

LOL! Theresa Fittipaldi with her hats and earrings created a whole new feature in ABC's US motorsports coverage: the dreaded "wife-in-last-laps-cam".

Next?

[Andrew Longman]

Probably F1 on ABC Wide World of Sports..........a long time ago.

Same here. When Emmo was wit Lotus. Knew nothing of Christian until he came to CART. Didn't even know about the others until recently

[Sean O'Gorman]

When him and Al Jr tangled at indy. Sorry, I was only 6 at the time. :o

[skaven]

One year, at practice at Indy, I saw a pink car with no sponsors on it.

I had no idea what a Fittipaldi or an F1 was at the time as I came from an Indy-centric family (I'm probably being cyber-stalked right now by my TF family members :gomer: ).

He made the show and had a new paint job for the race. Not sure what year that was.

[Wheel-Nut]

Who are they?? :rofl:

[Methanolandbrats]

Should'nt this about a single Fittipaldi? The other one sucks.

[skaven]

:D I'm not going to call out my pop at TF.

I don't want matters to get worse for my poor ma... who has to put up with us militants. :laugh:

[Winston Wolfe]

it must have been some time in the 70's when I used to watch WWoS on ABC when they showed the Monaco race every year.

I seem to recall the Wee Scot, Jackie Stewart, in his high pitched voice saying "and thar goes Em-ahr-sen Fit-ah-pall-dee" and thought it was a really cool name. When I was in England in the late 70's, I bought a poster of his F1 ride and also got a Jim Clark poster too. Both of which I still have, along with plenty of holes from the pushpins that kept it up on the wall.

[Mike Kellner]

When Emmo started to run F1. 1970 I'd guess.

mk

[Sean O'Gorman]

Should'nt this about a single Fittipaldi? The other one sucks.

Wilson or Christian?

[Methanolandbrats]

Wilson or Christian? Oh, fer chrisssake...you're like a rash that won't go away ;) Wilson has no bearing on what we're talking about.

[cameraman]

I guess when he won Watkin's Glen. That must have been 1970. It ain't like the first time I ever heard of him is burned into my brain, that was 35+ years ago :rolleyes:

[tllips]

I also remember from Wild World of Sports. Only, back then I had no idea what series he was running in, etc. I was just a kid and my Dad did not follow racing at all (still doesn't).

I do know that when I got into racing and went to my first Milwaukee race, it was the week after Emmo won Indy in the Mercedes Push-Rod. And I certainly knew who he was by then.

[theunions]

1980 LBGP - first F1 race I ever saw on TV and third race overall. Emmo's last ever series podium.

That's why I wanted to be the one to formally report AJ's SportsCenter goof here... :rofl:

[trish]

Indy 500 and/or CART

[JT265]

When Emmo started to run F1. 1970 I'd guess.

mk


Bout the same for me. Being a Mosport track rat, I paid a lot more attention to these guys than, say, my school work at the time. :o

[RichK]

Emmo in F1 Long Beach GP. Christian when he did a crapwagon-esque backflip in his F1 car.

[Ziggy]

When he took over the F1 ride when Rindt was killed. It filtered through the Indy paper. They actually wrote about what was going on in racing back then.... and Rindt had run at Indianapolis, so somebody made the connection and thought it was newsworthy after his demise.

I saw Emmo run Johnny Rutherfords winning 1974 McLaren on a tire test after the Indy race in 1974. It was the first time I had ever seen his helmet in person. At that time he did not have all the goofy spiderweb/ultra orange. It was black with and orange beak affair around the eye opening. I reconized the helmet from the autoracing magazines I was getting at that time.

I had rode my 20" bike up to the turn two suites as I heard a car running. A maid let me into a suite and out onto the balcony to watch. It was cool.

[RTKar]

It must have been ABC's old Monaco broadcasts in the 70's. I thought it was great when he came here to race.

[fourrunner]

Followed Emerson in F1 ... but really got to like him when he switched to CART ! First got his Autograph at Pocono !

[Joe in LA]

Must have been ABC when Emmo was in F1, 'cause I remember Jackie Stewart talking about him.

[Winston Wolfe]

I had rode my 20" bike up to the turn two suites as I heard a car running. A maid let me into a suite and out onto the balcony to watch. It was cool.

Was she hot ?

Did you "hit it" ??????

[theunions]

I saw Emmo run Johnny Rutherfords winning 1974 McLaren on a tire test after the Indy race in 1974.

I would still like to find a photo documenting that test.

[Warlock!]

Sometime after his second WDC in '74. My pop was reading the paper and said, "That Fittapilladee won the Formaluh One championship again." :D

[Ziggy]

I would still like to find a photo documenting that test.

Didn't have a camera then, and still dont use one today. My wife got a digital camera and I hate the darn thing. Piece of junk if you ask me.

He didn't run long. He shared the test with a guy named Gary Albrighton who was in a yellow Eagle number 75. It had marroon trim IIRC.

[Chief]

1970 at Watkins Glen....he was a write off as far as anyone around me could offer. When the race was over everyone truely said "Emerson WHO"? That Fittipaldi dude had the worse case of acne I've ever seen BTW, 18 yr old rookie winning his 1st F1 race! I remember it well.....

And, FWIW Mario stuck a Ferrari on the pole in 1968 at USGP, one year after his Daytona 500 win. Up here in the northeast we knew about both of them YEARS before their INDY legend became established.

[oddlycalm]

When Emerson arrived in F1. Same for Wilson and much later for his bimbo kid. That Emerson was the real deal was apparent from the first time I saw him race at Mosport.

oc

[pchall]

I would still like to find a photo documenting that test.

Photos should exist. I remember seeing a picture of Fittipaldi and a McLaren-Offy at Indy in a magazine like Mechanics Illustrated back then. I bet they are in Goodyear's archives since McLaren was running their tire in champcars back then.

[TorontoWorker]

I saw Emmo at Mosport in the early 70's when he was driving for team Lotus.
I remember everyone smoking John Players Special that year when the year before you couldn't find them in the stores. Mind you I was too young to smoke at the time...

But the black and gold cars rocked!

I even saw his brother but he was mostly a backmarker at the time. (Sort of like his son I guess!)

[Peter Venkman]

I guess when he won Watkin's Glen. That must have been 1970. It ain't like the first time I ever heard of him is burned into my brain, that was 35+ years ago :rolleyes:

Speaking of "burning", I also remember when the idiots from the "Bog", burned the Fittipaldi's family bus to the ground.

[JT265]

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ziggy
I had rode my 20" bike up to the turn two suites as I heard a car running. A maid let me into a suite and out onto the balcony to watch. It was cool.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Was she hot ?

Did you "hit it" ??????

No he didn't, but Buddy Rice would. :D

[TedN]

One year, at practice at Indy, I saw a pink car with no sponsors on it.

I had no idea what a Fittipaldi or an F1 was at the time as I came from an Indy-centric family (I'm probably being cyber-stalked right now by my TF family members :gomer: ).

He made the show and had a new paint job for the race. Not sure what year that was.

Was this it?

Pic-1 (http://8w.forix.com/fittipaldi/ef-lb84.jpg)
Pic-2 (http://8w.forix.com/fittipaldi/ef-pinkoveralls.jpg)

Ted

[TedN]

I would still like to find a photo documenting that test.

No pics, but these seem to verify the test.

Link-1 (http://8w.forix.com/efittipaldi.html)
Link-2 (http://www.mclaren.com/cgi-bin/frames?http://www.mclaren.com/features/q&a/emerson.htm)

Ted

[theunions]

Whether the test actually happened was never in question - it just didn't seem to have been documented well during the decade in which it happened apart from the one Hungness article, which needless to say had no relevant shots.

[theunions]

Was this it?

The first photo actually is from his 5th place LBGP CART debut in an 83C...he practiced in it at Indy (see p. 130 of '84 Hungness yearbook) but wound up qualifying an 84C with a similar but different paint job.

Anyone have a photo of the team owner driving the 83C in his sole CART appearance two races later at Portland?

[pchall]

Anyone have a photo of the team owner driving the 83C in his sole CART appearance two races later at Portland?

No pic, but didn't that guy have a Driven cast sort of name like Pedro or Carlos Romero? I remember being pissed that Emerson didn't drive at Portland because of that clown, who wrecked on the first lap as I recall.

[mueber]

I first heard of Emmo during his first days in Formula One. I was very familiar with him before he got to Gomerville.

At risk of affirming Foyt’s point among the Gomerazzi, maybe the year after the pink car, I was at Gomerville on a practice day. It was hot and sunny.

As Emerson was walking down pit lane, some school kids, you know, on a class visit, asked him for his autograph. He jumped the fence and was absolutely mobbed with kids. When other kids from other schools saw what he was doing, they headed toward him. He signed autograph after autograph, batting away the programs and such from adults, reaching for the pieces of paper from the kids, sweating like a pig in his driver's suit in the sun and heat.

I became a big fan then and there.

[skaven]

As Emerson was walking down pit lane, some school kids, you know, on a class visit, asked him for his autograph. He jumped the fence and was absolutely mobbed with kids. When other kids from other schools saw what he was doing, they headed toward him. He signed autograph after autograph, batting away the programs and such from adults, reaching for the pieces of paper from the kids, sweating like a pig in his driver's suit in the sun and heat.

I became a big fan then and there.

:thumbup: That's cool. I was an autograph hound as a kid. They used to have the "special olympics day" where all the drivers would come out and help with the relay races, etc. I wasn't racing myself (didn't pull a Cartman) :gomer: , but that was always the best time each year to get the programs signed. Danny Ongais, Tom Sneva and others were very much into supporting those events every year.

[theunions]

No pic, but didn't that guy have a Driven cast sort of name like Pedro or Carlos Romero? I remember being pissed that Emerson didn't drive at Portland because of that clown, who wrecked on the first lap as I recall.

Jose "Pepe" Romero. He actually lasted two laps.

So what was the scenario - Pepe decided he wanted to race and booted Emmo out of the cockpit that weekend, thereafter Emmo walked (to H&R for the Meadowlands) - as opposed to Emmo leaving the team after Indy and Pepe filling the vacant seat with himself?

[theunions]

I first heard of Emmo during his first days in Formula One. I was very familiar with him before he got to Gomerville.

As Emerson was walking down pit lane, some school kids, you know, on a class visit, asked him for his autograph. He jumped the fence and was absolutely mobbed with kids.

I recall reading a newspaper article about the '84 rookie class, with the only photo being a portrait of Emmo, which began with how guys like A.J. would receive thunderous cheers whenever they appeared on pit lane or Carnegie announced their names over the P.A. But for this particular 37-year-old rookie? Just "polite applause."

[RacinM3]

Don't remember when I first heard about him, from his F1 days I guess.....but I really started liking Emmo when he and Unser Jr. went into that fateful corner at Indy 1989, and only Emmo came out. :thumbup:

Christian, I guess when he ran with Minardi in F1? I remember when I STOPPED hearing about him better than when I first heard about him.

[Fio1]

Formula One 70's when he had his own team. I was a baby when he won his world championships. Then became a huge fan when he was in Champcars, especially starting with 1985. Oh, I don't really think of Indy 500 when I think of Emmo, eventhough he won it twice........ :rolleyes:

BTW, what do you think of when someone says Larry Foyt? I think of the #43 (33 at Indy). Where he usually started and finished in Nascab and where he'll start and finish at Indy. :rofl:

BTW, did you guys know that Emmo almost went back to F1 in 84 instead of Champcars? He tested the Spirit Honda during winter testing in Brazil. Sponsorship problems prevented him from racing, so he went state side.

[DjDrOmusic]

1970 at Watkins Glen! I watched Emerson WHO???? inherit the lead from Pedro Rodriquez' BRM, when Pedro had to pit to get a splash of fuel. His first win in only his fourth GP!! And Chief, I'm not trying to be a smart@$$ but Mario put a Lotus on pole in '68!! He didn't drive for Ferrari until 1971 when he won at South Africa and the Questor GP at Ontario in California. :)