I saw Clark drive a Lotus Cortina at Brands Hatch and Crystal Palace, and in the same afternoon he also drove a sports car race, a formula 2 race and I think yet another. He not only won nearly every race he entered, he routinely got pole and best lap too. Paddock Hill Bend at Brands was probably the most challenging corner I have ever seen at any race track (it has been made easier now). In those days paddock was a blind, off camber, steep downhill hidden apex corner with almost no run off, round which hundreds of cars came to grief over the years. Clark would do a perfect 4 wheel drift every time, without fail. You could hardly believe a saloon car could possibly be chucked around so quickly. It was breathtaking. In 45 years of watching motor racing I never witnessed a more accomplished, more naturally gifted driver, and he could drive ANY car of any type with the same flawless style, using less tyre wear, less fuel, and less brake wear than anyone else, yet being so much faster. It was poetry in motion.
Yes I watched Jim at Brands and Crystal Palace in the 60’s, like you, what a privilege to watch close up the greatest racing driver we have ever seen and ever will see, I’m so lucky 😢
Jim Clark reminds me somewhat of Tazio Nuvolari - both men so gifted, they were capable of winning a race with a car, that at times, was not on par with the competition. That is the true sign of a real driver!
What a driver. The best ever and a shy person out of the car. I saw him racing in the Tasman series in New Zealand from 1964 until 1968, all in a Lotus, first Climax powered, then in 1968, the Lotus 49 with the then new DFV engine. He never won at the Pukekehoe track. I had his autograph as the drivers were approachable in the paddocks. He was a shy man and bit his fingernails up to "his elbows". Sadly missed.
HJR written similar comments about the Tasman series. Five or six incredible years, lived close Sandown so was down there ASAP on Thursday and Friday after school. Saw Jimmy and the other overseas drivers relaxed. I've written elsewhere about how Jimmy affected me.There is an amazing RU-vid video by Peter Windsor about this period with Sally Stokes his gir friend (did you ever see her,she was gorgeous) and Frank Matich who on occasions beat Jimmy fair and square. He talks about a race at Lakeside where Frank had a problem and Jimmy was a lap up but Jimmy raced Frank and they had a ball. Even though I was young I found Jimmy to be all wrong, Sally Stokes said a similar thing (she said he completely changed when in the car) he just didn't even then seem like a racer but as we know he was. I consider myself lucky to have experienced those afternoon from 64 to 69. The race itself on Sunday was always second to the enjoyment I had on Thursday and Friday afternoons.
This brings tears to my eyes...there has never been another F1 driver who could/can drive the variety of cars that Jim Clark did....and win...head and shoulders above anyone before him, or since...and a total gentleman on and off the track...it wasn't in his nature to force another driver off the rack to gain an advantage....we all know who those F1 "champions" are........
Sadly the noble sport of motor racing changed with the advent of sponsorship and money. After the Lotus cars became Gold Leaf Team Lotus, Graham Hill and many others regretted driving motorised fag packets and advertising panels. It hasn't all gone downhill since then but the era of Clark, Hill, Brabham, Surtees, Amon, Gurney, McLaren and others will never return.....sadly.
Barrie McArthur. Such a great man. so quiet, unsssuming and very modest. Not like modern day F1 driver's. As you say, give him a car with all 4 wheels & a steering wheel and he could drive it to the limit & beyond, faster than almost anyoneelse on the planet. Memories of Jim driving the Fortuna with one front wheel way off the ground, with a trail of big V8 Galaxies in his wake. I was only 10 when died, but my interest In motor racing almost completely disappeared that day. And as far as the Lotus Cortina was concerned, it was David against Goliath. But Jim knew how to make it outperform cars with over twice the power. A true genius behind the wheel, he could drive F1, Indy Cars, Le Mans Sports cars and Rally cars& be on the pace immediately. R.I.P Jim, 50 year's on.
The Lotus Cortina on tighter tracks was a real winner. I never saw Jimmy driving anything but single seaters, he would have been formidable in the Cortina on a track like Brands Hatch.
I'm from Scotland and when I ask my dad about Lauda, Stewart, Hill, Moss and other greats, he'll go for ages. When I ask about Jim Clark he just shakes his head...too sad even now.
Videos and personal comments such as yours demonstrate the very real value of You Tube as an archive for the present and future. Clark and the way people were affected by his life are well preserved here.
JIM CLARK - By far the greatest driver ever - no doubt. He is and was the Best of the Best. No other driver in history until today was so superior as Clark. This man is the Olymp of driving - the Michelangelo of racing - a dynamic art at the highest level. So smooth, so precise, so fast....simply out of this world. One, who won in Spa by 5 minutes (!) in monsoon rain...One, who takes back a complete lap (!) in Monza and back into the lead... One, who took pole on the original 22,8 km Nürburgring track by 9 (!) seconds and more....One who won Indy by 2 whole (!) laps...For eternity and by lightyears unmatched in the sport. That`s just four examples of his mesmeric unique genius...
What a wonderful tribute to one of the, if not the greatest F1 drivers of all time. Clark, Hill, McLaren and Brabham just to mention a few. Let's hope the next generation remember a golden era as we do.
Wonderful Video...his mother looks so proud of him...When he crashed in April1968 , I lost s.th...what a gentle man and for me the best of F 1 drivers...greetings from germany
What a blast from the past! I'm from Kelso, my dad knew Ian Scott Watson and we went to Ingleston Showgrounds when I was 12 to meet Clark who was promoting the construction of a car race course on the grounds. It started by go kart racing. I immediately recognized in the video the Pathead straight on the way north into Edinburgh… now its all changed and when I visit from Canada I am totally lost! Thanks for the memory of my childhood hero and champion.G. Tait, Kelso and Montreal.
The music ,very apt and nostalgic. Enough to bring tears to one's eye's! as an after note ,they say Jim was never happier than when at home at the farm.
Good days. RIP Jim Clark. I recall reading that Colin Chapman took a ride with Clark and was scared at the way he turned-in so early to bends. I now see what Chapman meant. Shows what you an do if you know the road and have amazing feel for the car.
I'm no Jim Clark but I do have a mk1lotus Cortina. Back in 1961 when I started driving I was told by my driving instructor that I cut the corners as is shown in the video and should not continue to do so.later in the 60s and now in my Mercedes 190e I still drive the same way. Always thought it was the way to go. Rog.
Without doubt, the most desirable Lotus Cortina with perfect provenance that must surely exist, and probably ' priceless '.Owned by a supreme F1 driver, a true unassuming gentleman in the days before F1 became boring and obsessed by 'Image' and so called ' stars '.
Goodness me! Thank you for uploading this precious footage Roy. Iv was searching for the sound of the Lotus twin cam engine. But when I saw Jim Clark's name in the title, I had to watch the whole video. And when it ended, I realized that when Jim lost his life, he was only half my age now. He was just one of so many to be lost on race tracks with almost no safety provisions back then. " Mine eyes smell onions. I shall weep anon."
I remember reading about him and Road & Track magazine when I was just a kid I saw him drive it Indianapolis IN 65 and 66 he was my all-time favorite growing up
My dad and I are both avid Jim Clark fans; he even had the pleasure of seeing him race once at Laguna Seca. We took a trip to the UK in 2014 and made sure to get up to Duns to see our hero's stomping ground. Unbeknownst to us until we got there, we ended up staying at a B&B right across the road from Edington Mains. It was quite a thrill to drive down the same country roads that Clark must have driven.
As Innes Ireland took over driving duties from Jim in a touring car race Jim asked Innes why was everyone driving so slowly! Innes replied "They're not! You're just too bloody fast!"
George Jacob I believe that conversation was with his pal, Ian Scott Watson, who loaned him his little saloon and five laps later Jim was three seconds faster than Watson.
At a local car rally I met an Elan Sprint owner who used to own Jim Clark’s ( road ) Lotus Elite . I never knew Clark owned such a car . I checked and he did . The car is now in Japan .
Visited the Jim Clark room in the late 80s and spoke with a lovely old man who had known Jim. The guy said with a smile that "you always knew when Jim was home" as he would be driving something Chapman and Ford had put together... My father- in-law saw Jim race a Cortina. Jim was down on the grid but when the flag dropped took to the grass on the side of the track to get up front with a total disregard to his own safety. What times they must have been...
My god, that Cortina must be absolutely priceless. If I was stupidly wealthy, I cannot even begin to think at what price I'd stop bidding for that car.
I recognize the roads there after he leaves town. A68 Lauder Road: the three lane stretch is called the Beeches (for the trees), between Pathead and Dalkeith ; a super straight bit (Old Man would floor it whenever he bought a new car to see how fast it went -70mph speed limit back then). The next road is the A7, from Dalkeith passing Danderhall on the way to Edinburgh. Then Turnhouse Airport. For our summer holidays we stayed in a hotel in Longformacus ("The gallery in the hills") (Near Dunns) Jim must've drank there I remember his Lotus Cortina outside. I cried myself to sleep as a little boy when Jim Clark was killed. (something I've done for very few people).
I had seen this before and it said it was filmed by Ian Scott Watson, his narration obviously done many years afterwards which would explain why he wasn't so sure about some of the parts.
After the initial footage, the road that Ian doesn’t recognise is the A68 north of Pathhead after the turnoff to Pencaitland, and then the approach to Edinburgh also on the A68.
@Adrian Coppola i'm sure the last part in the video is just past Danderhall which is a few miles north of Pathhead almost in Edinburgh. So the route is certainly correct.
The start of the footage is in Duns and he drives of heading towards the Jim Clark rooms at around 54 seconds. The Jim Clark rooms are on the next street up on the right hand side, about 200m away or so.
my dad and my uncle saved up for 3 years to buy a mk 1 specia; edition with a frame and aluminum panels in 1964 then raced them in hill climbs with an all steel race engine
um dos maiores de todos os tempos ao lado dos inigualaveis juan manuel fangio , rudolf caraciola , tazio nuvolari , antonio ascari o nosso sem igual airton senna, que tinha o estilo dele e o inesquecivel bernad rosimeyr entre tantos outros
the days of happy motoring few cars on the road No Speed camera No speed limits when i bough my first car £20 a 1956 zodiac MK1 petrol was 4 shillings n 6 pence a Gallon that is for 4.5 litres insurance £12 a year n road tax If i remember right under £20 a year low crime rate lots of work about sirloin stake 6 shillings a pound
Hamilton thinks Senna was the greatest driver of all time. Senna thought Fangio was the greatest driver of all time. And Fangio thought Clark was the greatest driver of all time.
