The Old Man

The "Old Man" was Juan Manuel Fangio's nickname in the 1950s when he achieved his five world championships. He was 45 in 1957 when he won the last one, and anyone who has read about his stunning drive that year at the Nürburgring will recognise his greatness.

Anyway, he is my favourite post-war driver (though I have a big place in my heart for Mike Hawthorn) in respect of his staggering talent and ability.

Here I have a couple of videos for you. Pertinently the first one happily in colour, shows Fangio at Monaco driving the Lancia D50 - OK, "Lancia-Ferrari"... The noise! EDIT: I have just this minute discovered this thread on the Atlas Nostalgia Forum. It appears that this film was made in 1970 and Fangio (at 58 years old) is driving a D50 - doesn't explain though why there is a Ferrari badge on the front of it, instead of the "shield and flag"

And here at the Modena Autodrome in a 250F - great car control and more wonderful noise. As a (English) Lancia Club friend observed to me, once the engines went above about 10,000 it became difficult to relate to the noise. I agree.

For all you youngsters, I should point out that in 1957, a 250F Maserati, running on the special fuels permitted (for the last time that year) produced from its 2.5 litre engine, around 295-300 BHP. Doesn't sound much today does it? But these cars weighed about half a ton and were very quick. Maximum speed was probably around 170 mph, and with drum brakes and those skinny cross-ply tyres, required a great deal of skilled input from the drivers. And a Grand Prix in those days was 300 miles...

Until the next time.