Auto Racing

For most of us, getting older means getting less agile, slower, less able to compete, weaker, and a number of other negative associations. In the sometimes weird world of motor racing, getting older sometimes means climbing up the ladder: getting competitive at heights never achieved at a young age.

The Amon F-1 project ranks among the least successful of the 70's, the era when Cosworth kit cars ruled, and when, in theory, building a competitive car should be a piece of cake. Luckless Amon was not lucky as a constructor as well, and his team suffered from lack of finances, poor component design and somewhat ambitious concepts from the onset. Amon was a man of principles, though, and he refused a drive with the competitive Brabham team, because he did not want to disappoint his mates in the team.

So, 33 years after the Amon F-1 car graced the F-1 fields, the car has become reasonably competitive in historic Formula 1 race. The car was rebuilt, and it is now raced by Ron Maydon. In a recent Grand Prix Masters sprint race, in England, the car finished in fifth place, battling the likes of a McLaren M23. In fact, in the picture below the Amon is racing in front of a McLaren M23, something unthinkable in 1974, when the M23 ruled. In front, a Brabham that might have been used by Amon at the time, if he were not so loyal to his team members.

The Amon is, of course, the baby blue car that appears after the Lotus 76.