**** - and you think you're a crazy driver!!

http://vimeo.com/20247765

-or-

 

It's amazing anyone survived. Very surprising to see some of those guys pop up and run off track.

Did I see a lot of the old Monza circuit?

 

noobs should have used roll bars

 

my grandfather tells me stories time to time he did dirt track racing in the 50's.

He wrecked once and spent a month in the hospital, its quite amazing anyone survived anything with how little safety they had.

 

Open wheel bravery. Man, that took guts.

 

I remember reading about how many drivers back then felt it was safer to be ejected from the car than to stay with it when it crashed.

 

I've heard it said that they would prefer to risk being crushed or thrown over being burned, therefore no harnesses.

 

God that was rough. You know you're watching the last moments of some of those guys' lives. And yeah thats so crazy that they'd rather be thrown. We've come a long way.

 

I think sixshooter is thinking of the magnesium cars. They'd rather be thrown because you can't put it out if it catches fire. And grinding against concrete at 100mph is a great way to generate some sparks. I'm sure some of the earlier cars that weren't magnesium didn't have belts either though.

 

Now I want to hear how those engines sounded back in the day.

 

This was racing before fuel cells. Did you see the car that went backwards along the wall on fire? That's a horrible way to go. Having worked on Model A Fords and a few others from the 1930s I can say that there is a big difference in the way they are designed now to prevent rupture even if they are crushed.

There were no fire suits and the helmets were leather.