old school "drifting"

[Matra et Alpine]

Kyalami Drift, An Axis Remix on Vimeo

Kyalami Drift, An Axis Remix on Vimeo

Fantastic footage found from F1 racing at Kyalami in 1971 South African Grand Prix

For me Chris Amon pulls it off best in the Matra -- no surprise

[NSXType-R]

"Drifting" was done when the A/C Cobra was being driven by Carol Shelby, before he went senile and started making all these special edition Shelby cars.

[csl177]

Love old footage like that Matra, thanks for posting. Even as car tracks widened and fat(ter) tires, all those guys regularly drifted corners because they had to. I love watching 1930s footage of the big Mercedes, Auto Unions and Alfas using every inch of track. There's also plenty of footage from 1950-60s F1 races that illustrate the classic 4-wheel drift, a very different thing. Vintage races are a great place to watch the technique since it's still the only way to hustle a skinny-tire car though a fast sweeper.
Great fun to watch, how about with an old Jag sedan?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKJDaNmbZHs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKJDaNmbZHs&feature=related

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

"Drifting" was done when the A/C Cobra was being driven by Carol Shelby, before he went senile and started making all these special edition Shelby cars.

Shelby worked the deal with AC cars and Ford to create and market the Cobra, but never drove one in a race. His racing career ended in October 1959 because of his health. Pretty sure ego and profit drove the production of so many special edition Shelbys, not senility.
He's still pretty sharp... though by now he's probably autographed at least 50% more cars than he built.

[NSXType-R]

Originally Posted by csl177

Shelby worked the deal with AC cars and Ford to create and market the Cobra, but never drove one in a race. His racing career ended in October 1959 because of his health. Pretty sure ego and profit drove the production of so many special edition Shelbys, not senility.
He's still pretty sharp... though by now he's probably autographed at least 50% more cars than he built.

Darn, I assumed that he drove too. Should have looked it up.

Yup, never knew an autograph would make cars worth so much.

[Matra et Alpine]

Thanks guys the "old school drifting" was nothing to do with what the kiddies get up to today.

Back then it was the car on the limit and trying to go fastest to win a race.
I'm on record as describing current drifting more akin to competition ice dancing where "style" gets points and by necessity they are takign corners slower than they MIGHT achieve if they coudl keep the wheels in the right places and maintain traction

"drifting" was done from the first time man started racing cars and speed exceeded grip

[clutch-monkey]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

"drifting" was done from the first time man started racing cars and speed exceeded grip

thats what makes it fun.. it's not supposed to happen and it takes effort to get there.
entering events where that's all you're supposed to do, in cars that kick out as soon as you touch the throttle, makes it mundane..

[whiteballz]

Originally Posted by clutch-monkey

thats what makes it fun.. it's not supposed to happen and it takes effort to get there.
entering events where that's all you're supposed to do, in cars that kick out as soon as you touch the throttle, makes it mundane..

Grip is for pussys.

[Matra et Alpine]

^^ with you on that 100%

[fpv_gtho]

Wasnt this also brought on with the crossply tyres?

[Matra et Alpine]

race tyres are a different case, but road for sure.
Going out in a classic with new cross ply tyres is scary.
Can't beleive everyone drove on such bad rubbber once

[Cobrafan427]

Amon prolly had to make an extra pit stop too, he looked to be the only one getting smoke off that left rear. It prolly wore that tire down real fast.

[derekthetree]

I wish you could see some of that in modern F1.. good video. Also a good reason for including gradients on your corners/tracks

[Matra et Alpine]

daerek, modern F1 circuit requirements would not let them have blind apexes and off camber corners

All hail health and safety !!!!

WHY we must fight to retain every original old race track/circuit out there as no new ones will ever come close

[kingofthering]

Originally Posted by csl177

Shelby worked the deal with AC cars and Ford to create and market the Cobra, but never drove one in a race. His racing career ended in October 1959 because of his health. Pretty sure ego and profit drove the production of so many special edition Shelbys, not senility.
He's still pretty sharp... though by now he's probably autographed at least 50% more cars than he built.

This brings up an interesting story. Upon being asked where he learned to drift, I believe it was Bob Bondurat who said something along the lines of "driving Cobras in Europe."

[csl177]

Originally Posted by whiteballz

Grip is for pussys.

...and those without adequate reflexes. See below for the proper stuff.

Originally Posted by kingofthering

This brings up an interesting story. Upon being asked where he learned to drift, I believe it was Bob Bondurat who said something along the lines of "driving Cobras in Europe."

Well, sort of. When he added drifting to his driving school in 2004, Car & Driver naturally covered it since it was motosport's New Big Thing. Bondurant said "It's been around for 14 years in Japan, where it originated. My grandson and I went to California Speedway to watch a demonstration with some of the Japanese champions, and I thought, 'Wow, this is really fun.' Of course, we've been power-sliding for years. When I raced the Cobras, the only way to go fast was in a four-wheel drift."

And still is. Power slides and controlled drifting have been around since the era of fat drivers and skinny tires. Pascal Pandelaar is actually pretty skinny, but check out his car control and drift technique on wheels and tires approved for vintage class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-hXjerSPMw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-hXjerSPMw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ84Fa-AqXY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ84Fa-AqXY