A vintage motor magazine from 1968

I saw this magazine in a charity (thrift shop) this weekend and was immediately drawn to it because of the cover.

For those of you not familiar with the car shown it is a Ford GT40. Although I do not own one it is my favourite endurance racing car whose development was started in the very early 1960's. I also had the chance of a lifetime and drove one around the Goodwood Circuit for three laps.

The reason for my feelings for this car are that where we lived to the west of London there were the beginnings of what is now the M4 to south Wales. Between where we lived and London was a Ford factory at Langley close to Heathrow Airport. This is where some of the earliest models of this car were made and they were road tested along the embryonic motorway just 500 hundred yards from our front door. This was done very late at night when the road was quiet and maybe the police were not on patrol either?

This development work paid off at Le Mans in 1966 when the Ford GT40's trounced the Ferraris. They finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. The story behind and about this success has been made into a blockbuster film, Le Mans 66. If you haven't seen it, do as it is a compelling story.

This particular Ford GT40 was driven by Jacky Ickx (1945 - ) and Brian Redman (1937 - ) to victory in the BOAC 500 race on 7th April 1968. Originally the race was over 500 miles with a first past the chequered flag declared the winner. 1968 was the first year the race winner would be the one that covered the most distance in six hours around the Brands Hatch racing circuit. Ickx and Redman beat the Porsche 907 driven by Gerhard Mitter (1935 - 1969) and Jochen Neerpasch (1935 - ) by 22 seconds at the end 218 laps.

Beyond the initial attraction of the front cover is a magazine of 103 pages of motorsport history for the month of April 68. There are reports from around the world, reviews of new cars and motoring heritage.

Its pages are predominantly black and white with an 8 page central section of colour pictures.

The advertisements are from days long gone when misogyny was not exceptional. Men smoked always wore suits except in the pits and workshops and women were never behind the wheel.

It is the ads for pre-owned cars whose prices bear no comparison to the prices achieved at auction these days that are amazing.

A 1963 Aston Martin drophead coupe available for £1,665, including a radio. One similar was sold at auction recently fetching approximately £240,000.

An E-Type Jaguar with wire wheels that came off the production line in 1966 could have been snaped up for a humble £1,665. Their value today at auction would be close to £50,000. Not as big an increase in value as the Aston Martin but still a good investment for a pension fund.

Never has the old saying of 'With the benefit of hindsight' been loaded with so much rueful poignancy.

The content isn't just about competition cars in all disciplines but include articles featuring Ford Escorts, Volkswagon camping vans and the release of a new Rover 3.5 based on the already established Rover 2000.

This wasn't the only edition I purchased today. I also found the June 68 edition. It didn't have the same appeal as the May edition. Afterall, it was only a two litre Alfa Romeo 33 competing in a race in Sicily called the 'Targa Florio'. A public road race on a circuit of 72 miles with competitors and their cars having to complete eleven gruelling circuits along challenging roads.

I have gone through this second magazine and there is at least one mention of a Ford GT40. One came first in the Monza 1,000 Kilometres beating a Porsche 907 2.2 litre into second place by 2 minutes and twenty three seconds.

What I now wonder is how did these two magazines find their way to a charity shop in New Milton near the coast of Hampshire? In the same pile were some editions of 'Thoroughbreds & Classic Cars' from 1978. I couldn't leave them behind could I?

Sadly, this edition of Motor Sport carried the news of the death of the Scottish racing Jim Clark. He was tragically killed at Hockenheim. He was driving a single seater Lotus in a Formula Two race on 7th April.