Grand Prix - the movie

[TimD]

You remember it - Saturday matinee showings of this old movie, when you were waiting for the tedious off-circuit dramas to get over and done with so that the racing cars would come on screen again.

And the haunting image of "Scott Stoddard" in his "Jordan-BRM" scaling the rock face at the Monaco harbourside just keeps on staying long after the rest of the film is passed.

Now, I heard somewhere that the cars they used for the staged sequences - as opposed to the bits they filmed at actual Grands Prix - were actually Formula Juniors.

Can anyone enlighten me as to where they sourced them? Were they fresh build for the film, or the castoffs of FJ teams? And what ever became of the cars after the filming?

[SL]

Tim,

Are we talking about the 60's movie, James Garner etc.

All of the action was filmed at the actual GP's during the 'Lunch Break' using actual F1 car and drivers. How do I know ? Well I was there, at least for the British GP bit filmed at Silverstone (GP) and Brands (Race of Champions) we were treated to 6 odd cars in convoy with a massive camera fitted to one of the cars. They would then pit to change the camera car over and they would then go out again. The same cars were used for the movie throughout.

I'm not sure what was used for the staged bits but they did have a couple of cars that did not race, often the camera cars. They must have been a bit more than FJ to keep up during the live race filming.

If you look very closly I'm sure you should see at Clearways !! I was only 5 / 6 at the time so you need to look carefully.

Simon

[Speed Demon]

Not quite true that it was all filmed between sessions at Grand Prix. The film makers booked Monza for two weeks solid in the middle of the season in order to film the 'Italian GP' using, as they were, the old banking.

This caused something of a dilemma for Enzo Ferrari. He had not been keen on the film and had banned the use of his cars for it (or reproductions thereof). However, he also needed to use Monza for testing, so a compromise was reached. In exchange for being able to use Monza for testing during the two weeks, Ferrari allowed the use of sound recordings of his cars and also reproductions, based on Formula Junior cars, to be fashioned of the Formula 1 models.

There's a facinating article in F1 Racing from a few years back that looks at the making of the film. Seems strange watching it now though. Isn't that Rockford driving the car, I keep thinking to myself...

[jarama]

Tim,

the camera car, or one of the camera cars at least, was the Ford GT40 #P/1027, with his front and rear body panels removed to make room for the cameras.

[TimD]

Any recollection on the history of that GT40, Jarama? Just wondering how long it remained with the film company.

Did they have a similar arrangement for "Le Mans" as well as the Porsche 908 with the camera pod attached?

The reason I ask is that I saw an old episode of "The Avengers" the other day, with what is very clearly a silver GT40 playing the role of a "dastardly experimental supercar"!

[Dan Friel]

The Le Mans camera car actually raced - and finished in side the top ten I think..

[jarama]

Tim,

Extracted from the book "GT40 / An Individual History and Race Record", by Ronnie Spain, Osprey Publishing Group:

"(1027 was sent out new for the Brussels Motor Show from 15-23 February 1966, so no exact date has been recorded for its completion, as the April despatch date shown on its construction sheet refers to the date of its disposal.) On 24 April 1966 it was sold to MGM. It was then resprayed white with a blue centre stripe and used as a camera car at the Grand Prix circuits throughout 1966, recording footage for the film Grand Prix. Later in 1966 it was sold to..."

So, we have that this car remained in the MGM fields for no more than half a year.

[DNQ]

Grand Prix was a great movie - I saw it for the first time only last year. I enjoyed it, with all the old cars. Not to keen on all the boring bits in between though!

[Hans.ca]

There is a movie about how the movie was made. I'm not sure if it still is available but at the time when GP was first shown in the local theaters it was a populare movie(about 45 min long) shown at the local car club meetings. I belive that it was available thru one of the oil companies but I'm not sure about that.
Yes formula fords are used in the movie. What the sequences are I don't remember. I seem to remember hearing James Garner talking about driving a formula ford. I don't think he ever drove an F1 car but I would not want to bet money on it.

[Neil C]

A magazine, perhaps "Motorsport" about a year ago did an article on James Garner's recent visit to England where many of the old cars were stored. In the article they explained that they did use FJ cars w/ F1 exhaust pipes bolted on for many of the staged sequences.

Supposedly, Garner asked to get into a car, then asked if they would start it up. When they reluctantly did so, it was reported that he took off for a slow, but I'm sure very satisfying lap. Garner was not, and is not, well. Kind of a "last hurrah" I imagine.

Hans, I too saw the short movie about the making of "Grand Prix". It was fascinating.