Book Review: Formula 1 The Roaring 70s by Rainer Schlegelmilch
:
Positives
Negatives
While everyone harps on about the lack of 70’s style driver personalities these days, I don’t think that much has actually changed. “Formula 1 The Roaring 70’s” is another large hardcover format photo book by Rainer Schlegelmilch which follows on from one of his earlier titles “The Golden Age of Formula 1“. Although I’m a […]
While everyone harps on about the lack of 70’s style driver personalities these days, I don’t think that much has actually changed. “Formula 1 The Roaring 70’s” is another large hardcover format photo book by Rainer Schlegelmilch which follows on from one of his earlier titles “The Golden Age of Formula 1“. Although I’m a self-confessed Schlegelmich fan and despite the excellent Rindt Lotus 49 Monaco photo on the cover, I feel some of Rainer’s other books cover this era better.
It’s clear from the opening pages that Schlegelmilch’s focus for this book is on each of the drivers’ female companions just as much as the drivers themselves – in fact, this book might be more easily described as the WAGs of F1 in the 70’s! There are photos of : Pedro Rodriguez’s girlfriend, Mrs Nina Rindt, Mrs Barbro Peterson, Mrs Helen Stewart, Mrs Surtees, Andrea de Adamich’s girlfriend, Mrs Maria Helena Fittipaldi, Elizabeth Taylor, Mrs Stommelen, Mrs Bette Hill and Linda Vaughn.
Only about 50% of the photos have a driver and his car. The rest of the photo collection are lots of candid pitlane, garage, podium photos which tries to capture some of the camaraderie of the drivers and the WAGs during the 70’s. Among the driver photos, its mainly Jacky Ickx, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda and Ronnie Peterson that feature the most.
Niki Lauda pens the book’s foreword, although its only a short paragraph.
To be honest, I prefer the more car focused photobooks like Fascination Formula 1 that Rainer is more famous for, but F1 fans who like the personal aspects of F1 might will find more appreciation for The Roaring 1970’s trackside photos.
Wow Factor/Money Shot: For some reason the colour reproduction in this book is particularly vivid, especially the scarlet red of the Ferrari’s and the Martini Brabhams. Although there are plenty of iconic shots like Clay Regazzoni in the 312B3 airborne at the Nurburgring, Jackie Stewart driving past the burning Ferrari of Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver’s BRM and Gilles Villeneuve in the bare cockpit frame of his 312T4 in the Monaco pitlane – my favourite is the closeup rear shot of John Watson’s Penske PC4 Cosworth at the 1975 Austrian GP.
Suitable for: The more genteel 70’s F1 fan.
