[Magazines] "Grand Prix International" magazine

[djb]

Anyone out there of my age or older remember a magazine by this name. I used to get it for a number of years in the late 70's, and unfortunately they have all disappeared. (there may be one or two stashed somewhere in boxes in my fathers' storage space, but I haven't been in there for at least 10 years.)

Was this a mag that was well read or seen. I have no recollection if it was a Brit or a Yank publication, all I remember was waiting in anticipation for it to arrive in the mail, ages and ages after the races, which I don't think I ever saw on the tube anyway. Back in the old days of following Mr. Villeneuve and co.

[SL]

I recall the title although I do not recall reading the mag.

Did it run in the James Hunt era, maybe only for one season before disappearing ???


SL

[Bononi]

It has been published here as "Formula Um Grand Prix",
in early 90s and 80's... I had many numbers of them, but I lost it in last move...
As you're almost old as I am, I had the same feeling about his releases... I used to go everyday, after a race, to a newspaper shop, expecting that it has been released.
That was the time when all information I needed would come from this magazine.
Nowadays, I have all of it from Internet... and the major Newspapers have a section about it.
And altought I write for a couple of local newspapers about F1, everything seems well covered by the TV...

[djb]

SL, I can't recall excatly the years, but I suscribed to it for at least 2 years and this would have been '78, '79, '80 or maybe '81. It was the years that as a teenage Canadian, me and my friends were following G.V. so it must of been in that neck of the woods.

[Murph]

Grand Prix International... what a great magazine. Once I bought issue No. 24..Holland 1980 with Nelson Piquet on the cover I was hooked.

Grand Prix International started out in the 1979 season. Each edition covered the previous Grand Prix though sometimes 2 races were covered when they ran back to back... as I remember the German & Austrian GP's were usually covered in the same issue. The magazine originated out of the UK.... but the Holland 1980 issue was published in French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, and in Dutch.

Here is a brief overview of the contents of the Holland 1980 Issue. (please understand that in succeding years the magazine grew in "content".)

1. In the Cockpit... JP Jarier discusses his concern that Formula One has to place more emphasis on driving skill over technology.... hmmmm

2. The Paddock in Zandvoort.... quick snips of f1 "news" from the weekend.

3. Feature article on the Brabham team by Mike Doodson

4. Face to Face.... interview with Rene Arnoux

5. Article on John Watson

6. The Film of Race.... article with 7 action pics of the Dutch GP

7. Stats from Zandvoort... grid, practice times, fastest race laps, pit stops & retirements, and race results

8. Zandvoort in pictures. 11 pages of race pictures.

9. 2 page lap chart.

10. Postcard from Zandvoort. 2 pages of pics "behind the scenes".

11. Technical article... by Geoorge Piola... on the McLaren M30 (2 pages with pics and drawing)

12. Article on the Alfa Romeo team (4 pages with pics)

13. Extra, Extra: 4 pages.. each page has an article with color pic. The 4 in this issue were on Alan Jones and his disasterous weekend, Rene Arnoux, Patrese, and Mario Andretti looking back at 1978.

14. In the Cockpits. For each team a short report on new modifications for Zandvoort, any problems in qualafying and the race, and car #'s for each driver and the spare.

15. Free Rein. by Jody Scheckter... Jody reveals that when he told Enzo of his decision to retire from f1 (and Ferrari), that Enzo asked him for a recommendation as to his replacement at Ferrari. Jody told Enzo he would tab Alain Prost ... and the rest of the article Jody gives his rationale for his choice.

All told... there were 59 pages in this issue.... 7 of which were advertisments ( including one from A+P Photography Agency for 9 exclusive slides of the Dutch GP so that a fan could build their own collection of color ssslides for the 1980 season). That leaves 52 pages of articles, stats, & color pics.. ( all told there were 64 color pics... and this was back when MOTOR SPORT, Auto sport, Motoring News, et all would have anywhere from 4 to 10 color pics covering a race weekend.

In 1984 Grand Prix International changed.... and then died. GPI decided to follow all 3 FISA championships... F1, Endurance Championship, and Rallying. They also promised to cover CART and IMSA here in the states...I didn't like the changes ( GPI had almost 800 pages of f1 coverage in 1983 !) and so I didn't renew my subscription. I guess they felt that they had to enlarge their base....
Hopefully Gerard can finish the story on GPI 'cuz I don't know when they finally pulled the plug.... but it was a great ride while it lasted.

take care, all

Murph

[TimD]

The last one I have is an '84 or '85. I actually liked the Sportscar coverage, as it was by far and away the most comprehensive out there at the time.

But the trouble with GPI for me was that it was so expensive. Yes, it was packed with glossy photos, but it was also the price of a month's Autosports, and to a teenager on a budget, that was a real issue.

Murph, you reminded me about the various European language editions of the title. I'd forgotten about that. I think I may have a couple of those, scrounged from the pitlane at Brands! I'll have to check.

[angst]

Great magazine - Great photography. I used to love it. But, like Tim said, for a young lad the price (compared with Autosport, to keep up on F2, F3, FF etc aswell as F1/sportscars) was quite high. I think '85 was the the last year I rememberan issue from.

[djb]

Reading your comments Murph of the details of that issue brought back memories alright.....

As all of you mentioned, the photos were a big pull for me as well, especially as they were the only images that I saw of the races, and I was already starting to do photography on my own and at highschool, so it was a double bonus.

As per being pricey, I have absolutely no recollection of how much it cost, but I suspect that the subcriptions were birthday and/or Xmas presents, as I was squirrelling away all my coppers for a helmet and leathers to go along with my first motorcycle. As well, I had never even seen an Autosport in those days, mind you, I think I would have taken four of them for one GPI.

[Valve Bounce]

I started subscribing to Autosport in 1975 by air mail, and I thought it was a great magazine with great coverage. I only stopped recently because I have all the news I need on the internet.

[not enough road]

i have a couple of hundred GPI magazines from the early "80's , plus 400+ beta cassettes (several races on each cassette ) which i'm trying to get switched over to DVD disk.

[Mekola]

Also had good memories from Grand Prix International: the Spanish edition, printed in Spain, started in 1980 and was mantained until about 1985.
To Argentina came the first numbers, but since the retirement of Reutemann the interest of public declined, albeit the rest of 1982 numbers had still been sold on newstands then. Nowadays, the 1980-82 numbers can still be collected at respectable prices in specialized motorsport memorabilia bookstores.

In 2003, Spanish editors tried to revive the brand and created another "Grand Prix" magazine, about it I only have one of the 2005 Spanish GP, and I dunno if the mag is still on the stores of the Hispanic country.

[Peralta]

I remember GPI. It was the best F1 magazine of it's day and loved the articles and interviews. The photographs were exceptional and it really was the first magazine to dwell inside the sport and not just race reports. Very valuable since it was pre internet. Expensive since I had to subscribe to it by post and I was just a teenager but it got me hooked to F1. I still have my issues which must be 40 or so

[ensign14]

I think there were 105 or 106 issues of "pure" GPI. 1978-1983, it was one per GP (other than Germany/Austria which got lumped in together), and a wrap-up season review issue. At the close of 1983 it went fortnightly, hugely glossy, hugely expensive, lasted about six months like that. Came back as a monthly and then vanished.

Until the fortnight era it covered Grands Prix alone, although in '83 it usually had a couple of sponsored pages about the British F3 battle (fortuitously it was Senna v Brundle). After '83 it was all sorts. And, almost as a taster, throughout 1982 and 1983 there were occasional sportscar special editions.

The best contemporary source for photography...they launched Bernard Asset onto the world.

[Tim the Grey]

I have 2 Gilles centrefolds from GPI on the wall behind me. Sideways over the crest in Long Beach, 312T5... They had simply THE best pictures, anywhere. Add in the best tech. talk till Paiola's drawings in Autosport, and it was irresistable. But, oh, yes, it was VERY expensive compared. £2-3 an issue when Autosport had only just gone up to £1? Something like that. Sadly, mine got lost in a house move, 10-12 years back. I have one or two, plus odd pull outs of Gilles!

[ghinzani]

Twinny, the moderator of Atlas's TNF forum worked for them. Bloody great magazine, wish I had the full set.

[LC2guy]

Just under 10 years between posts. Thats got to be a new record. Well done " not enough road " and welcome to ten tenths. PS i have some old GPIs from the early to mid 80s, but as already mentioned by others, the price for a student of the time was a bit prohibitive.

[clumbis]

Watching a vintage F1 season on ESPN recently I was reminded of the Alan Jones/Nelson Piquet feud that was documented in the GPI magazine of 1980 (tho I can't remember which race edition is was in) anyone own this one?

[chasing cars]

Bought or more likely my Dad bought me my first copy of Grand Prix international on a day trip to France in 1979 (Long beach edition if i remember rightly)unaware it could be got in the UK. Not speaking or being able to read much French obviously it was the pictures that sold it to me. After that i bought every edition , in english of course, up to 1983 & think (hope) they are still in my parents loft unfortunately though most are minus the centrespreads which were either stuck onto walls or used to cover schoolbooks.

[not enough road]

i have lots of them , most in fairly good condition . having a least about a hundred or more but i don't think i can part with them

[Fiorentina 1]

Does anybody know why it stopped? And, why so abruptly in middle of 1986? The final issue had no word that it was going to be the final issue. The final issue has Le Mans, Monaco & Canadian GP of 1986. Really sad to see it go.

Great magazine! The Le Mans specials of 82 & 83 are priceless; especially the Rothman Porsche posters that came with them! I have virtually the full set of GPI. I'm missing 3 or 4 of 1979. You could find them on E-Bay once in a while. I bought loads at a vintage book store for really cheap years ago.

[Samoan Attorney]

Originally Posted by Fiorentina 1

Does anybody know why it stopped? And, why so abruptly in middle of 1986? The final issue had no word that it was going to be the final issue. The final issue has Le Mans, Monaco & Canadian GP of 1986. Really sad to see it go.

Great magazine! The Le Mans specials of 82 & 83 are priceless; especially the Rothman Porsche posters that came with them! I have virtually the full set of GPI. I'm missing 3 or 4 of 1979. You could find them on E-Bay once in a while. I bought loads at a vintage book store for really cheap years ago.

The money ran out as I recall. The offices moved about a bit too........25 years ago I might have remembered.................

I have a full set of GPI in binders here in the library, I even had a few shots of Senna published from his F3 days. Right, now I have an incentive to dig them out and waste some more time instead of working, ah the joys of self-employment.

The last time that sportscars had such a dedicated magazine was the late, lamented Panoz/Haymarket effort Le Mans Series & Sportscar Racer. I worked on that too, till the money ran out.

[Fiorentina 1]

Samoan, what was the last issue? I have issue 105 as my last one (Le Mans, Monaco & Canadian GP of 86).

It was the best mag. No one has ever done it correct since. Such a shame.

[lemansnsx]

Sadly my copies are long gone but I still have some of the posters and my "I ♥ Grand Prix International" pin badge and models of the Kremer Porsche CK5 and 1983 Arrows A6 which both wore "Grand Prix International Magazine" as their main sponsor.
Great stuff!

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by lemansnsx

Sadly my copies are long gone but I still have some of the posters and my "I ♥ Grand Prix International" pin badge and models of the Kremer Porsche CK5 and 1983 Arrows A6 which both wore "Grand Prix International Magazine" as their main sponsor.
Great stuff!

Yes I remember the cars and perhaps the posters? I'm sure there was a big one of the Kremer car and at one time a massive Rothmans 956, which I had on my wall.

I had quite a few copies from 1982-84. They're around somewhere. I loved the double page images that were prevailent throughout the issues, something I believe 'Motor Sport' has mimicked nicely in recent times?

[carrera]

Originally Posted by Fiorentina 1

Samoan, what was the last issue? I have issue 105 as my last one (Le Mans, Monaco & Canadian GP of 86).

It was the best mag. No one has ever done it correct since. Such a shame.

Last issue I have is also #105.

If anyone requires the odd mag or binder let me know and I'll have a look through the collection.