Motorsports Trivia Thread!

  • Thread starter Cap'n Jack
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Dotini
Peter, Lance and Stirling were amongst the drivers.
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Peter Collins, Lance Macklin and Stirling Moss?

Hmm, some sort of Austin-Healy then, if it's an English car; Lance Macklin is most famous for driving the Austin-Healey 100 that Pierre Levegh launched off.

Either that or the early, uncompetitive HWM cars.
 
Liquid
Peter Collins, Lance Macklin and Stirling Moss?

Hmm, some sort of Austin-Healy then, if it's an English car; Lance Macklin is most famous for driving the Austin-Healey 100 that Pierre Levegh launched off.

Either that or the early, uncompetitive HWM cars.
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At length you have tumbled to a crucial insight. It only remains to ID the driver and purpose of the modified vehicle.
 
I was going to say it looked like an HWM. There's a well known British classic car journalist and sometime commentator, Simon Taylor, who's a long time owner of an HWM - known as the Stovebolt Special. Given that it had at one point stared in a Hollywood film called The Racers i imagine that the driver is one Kirk Douglas. It was, allegedly, the first sportscar to utilise the small block chevy. The car as it is now:

3be5c2b489c5623e2c033977c7b22d4d.jpg
 
TheCracker
I was going to say it looked like an HWM. There's a well known British classic car journalist and sometime commentator, Simon Taylor, who's a long time owner of an HWM - known as the Stovebolt Special. Given that it had at one point stared in a Hollywood film called The Racers i imagine that the driver is one Kirk Douglas. It was, allegedly, the first sportscar to utilise the small block chevy. The car as it is now:

View attachment 741758
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Excellent! A second crucial data point is revealed, the starring role in a Hollywood movie starring Kirk Douglas, Cesar Romero, etc, loosely based on the life of Rudolf Carracciola. But the driver in the photo is not an actor, but an expert professional racing champion of the day. Who?

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I happened across the name of the driver whilst fact-checking Simon Taylor's ownership credentials. So i'll let someone else take this particular win.
 
TheCracker
I happened across the name of the driver whilst fact-checking Simon Taylor's ownership credentials. So i'll let someone else take this particular win.
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Nah, you did alright there. Give us a question if you have one. :)
 
The HWM driver, i think, was John Fitch.

Q) What or who links Elvis (the pelvis) to Herbie (the VW Beetle).
 
Dotini
Dean Jones.

dean-jones-judy-tyler-elvis-presley.jpg

Dean Jones, Judy Tyler, Elvis Presley. 'Jailhouse Rock' publicity still.


Dean Jones, star of 'The Love Bug'.
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Whilst that's true enough. It's not the answer i'm looking for. It's a more motorsport or motorsport featured in film based one.
 
TheCracker
Q) What or who links Elvis (the pelvis) to Herbie (the VW Beetle).
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NASCAR racing links Elvis with Herbie.
In the 1968 film Speedway Elvis plays a NASCAR driver. Richard Petty, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough and others played bit parts.
In the 2005 film Herbie: Fully Loaded, Herbie goes NASCAR racing. Bit parts are played by Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., etc.
 
Dotini
NASCAR racing links Elvis with Herbie.
In the 1968 film Speedway Elvis plays a NASCAR driver. Richard Petty, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough and others played bit parts.
In the 2005 film Herbie: Fully Loaded, Herbie goes NASCAR racing. Bit parts are played by Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., etc.
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You are on the right track. The films are almost correct, but there’s something specific that links the two films in an unexpected way. I think you above anyone else who regularly posts on this thread would likely get this.
 
ok who drove the 1971 Datsun 510 in the Road America trans am under 2.5 class in the same and next year. It was the Datsun/Nissan debut in American pro racing. Extra points for the Alfa driver he bested.
 
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and what had the team
owner done of note prior to that season....other than win the run offs with that car.

Hint: he was a designer as well as a team owner/entrant.
 
GTP_Nail
and what had the team
owner done of note prior to that season....other than win the run offs with that car.

Hint: he was a designer as well as a team owner/entrant.
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Was it Pete Brock, the designer of the Daytona Coupe?
 
Dotini
The driver was the well respected (and bespectacled) John Morton. He bested Horst Kwech in the Alfa.
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It's a fantastic story, as well. Datsun missed the 2 first rounds of the season, and won a few races in a row to get into contention. Engine failure at Watkins Glen for Morton meant the season would be decided at the finale in Laguna Seca. Both exchanged the lead a few times, until Kwech bumped Morton out of his way at the Corkscrew and flew to a victory and the championship. But whereas every competitor had to make a pitstop to refuel the car in order to make it to the end, Kwech's car didn't, and BRE protested that it was impossible to make the race distance without pitting, especially not at the pace Kwech was going. The officials investigated and found the Alfa's gas tank to be 3 gallons bigger than the regulations allowed, DQ'ing the team and giving the title to Morton and BRE.

There's this fantastic recap video that pretty much sums it up.
 
-Fred-
It's a fantastic story, as well. Datsun missed the 2 first rounds of the season, and won a few races in a row to get into contention. Engine failure at Watkins Glen for Morton meant the season would be decided at the finale in Laguna Seca. Both exchanged the lead a few times, until Kwech bumped Morton out of his way at the Corkscrew and flew to a victory and the championship. But whereas every competitor had to make a pitstop to refuel the car in order to make it to the end, Kwech's car didn't, and BRE protested that it was impossible to make the race distance without pitting, especially not at the pace Kwech was going. The officials investigated and found the Alfa's gas tank to be 3 gallons bigger than the regulations allowed, DQ'ing the team and giving the title to Morton and BRE.

There's this fantastic recap video that pretty much sums it up.
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Having had four 510's in my family (2 sedans and 2 wagons), it has a special place in my affection.
 


One of these dudes finished on the podium in a dirt race over the weekend, and was positively mobbed in the pits by adoring females. Whozzit?
 

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