Nurburgring 1000k 1966 8mm footage

[@72golfer]

Clifton Bennett That is indeed Nurburgring 1966. I was in the Army and stationed in Germany at the time and had the pleasure seeing this race. Also got to see Jim Clark drive in the German Grand Prix the same year at this track. Thanks so much for posting this footage. Lots of pride watching the Chaparral outrun those European sports cars.

[@automobiliac]

@automobiliac Also the famous Nurburg castle is visible at 3:24, so that is a positive ID! I am guessing that this is 1966 based on the Chaparral which was actually the race winner, driven by Phil Hill and Jo Bonnier!

[@shagnsti]

The gentleman that shot this was also in the army stationed in Germany at the time. His name was Abarnathy. Hall and Sharp were definitely the finest examples of American ingenuity... Probably my favorite car they ever put out was the "sucker" car with the snowmobile motors in the back creating the downforce.

[@shagnsti]

@automobiliac - No trolling suspected LOL! You are correct! This is "The Ring" and turns out it was 1966. A friend of a friend who worked with USF1 and a big Auto Racing historian buff tagged it by researching the Chaparral history that was in the film... This is indeed 1966, which would fit the timeframe(s) of when the owner of the footage would've been in Europe (Although he was just a little tyke at the time). Thank you for helping identify this vid's locale and timeframe!

[@plyspeed]

absolutly finest period of sportscar racing, so colourfull grids , so many makes, will never come again...glad, to have seen this live in period, and sorry about the sad developments of todays racing.....

[@shagnsti]

I completely agree. I wish I had been part of that generation and to have seen the amazing sights and sounds of that era.

[@automobiliac]

Fascinating footage! I am not trying at all to be a troll at all, but I do believe that this footage is from the Nurburgring, not Le Mans. Despite the LeMans style start, I recognize the starting tower from the Nurburgring, and most of the ads are for German companies. Also the layout of the front straight is consistent with the Nurbgring. I have a strong feeling that this is the Nuburgring 1000km sports car race, but I need to do more research to figure out the exact year.

[@andrewmurray7801]

Hello, I am still restoring car #70, Silver Lotus Elan in this video. I have watched many times. Great history insight. Any luck with hi res or being able to produce a good still from it at approx 1.30 ? Andrew Australia

[@keirmalpas4742]

Andrew - I'm Peter Mould's godson and now live in Canberra. Any chance of meeting you and seeing the Elan?

[@shagnsti]

Hey Andrew! Now THAT's a wonderful thing with regard to restoring the Elan! How in the world did you find that, let alone getting it to Australia?!! Do you have a blog or anything that shows the progress of the restoration? Unfortunately this is the highest res we could get. It was an 8mm film that was transferred to digital media. The original film was stumbled upon when a friend of mine's father passed and they were going through his belongings in an attic.

[@andrewmurray7801]

actually at 1.38