The New Year celebrations had barely faded when the great and the good of the Formula One Constructors' Association gathered at Olympia in London. They were there to give their side of the story in a dispute with race organisers, who had recently formed their own 'union' Grand Prix International. With less than a month to go before the start of the 1973 World Championship, battle lines had been drawn and it all boiled down to one thing: money.
The Constructors' Association included all of the top teams and, in effect, offered the organisers a 'package deal': we'll come to your race if you pay us a certain amount. If you don't, you get none of us. With costs going up, it said its members needed much more start and prize money to survive, and Grand Prix International said it couldn't afford it. Its argument was that much-needed improvements to both safety and spectator facilities at its circuits simply didn't leave enough in the pot.
Over the winter of 1972-'73, it seemed that the situation had reached an impasse. It was typical of a turbulent decade in which the sport moved away from old-style Grand Prix racing towards the modern, trademarked entity. known as Formula One. Great road circuits were being replaced by sterile autodromes, and financial necessity dictated that famous team names were now officially prefaced by those of their sponsors - John Player Team Lotus, Yardley McLaren and Marlboro BRM.
Into the middle of it all came Hesketh Racing, a team with zero commercial backing but money seemingly to burn, a confidently stated ambition to make James Hunt World Champion, an unashamed desire to enjoy themselves in the process, and a car that would take on a grid full of mobile billboards finished in nothing more than virginal white with patriotic flashes of red and blue.
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Denne historien er fra July 2023-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Mick WALSH
'Had someone said that this worn-looking titan would win the most famous old-car event, we would have laughed'
ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QF
Rewriting the rulebook on what an SUV can do, and how it can make you feel
FLOATING INTO THE FUTURE
Citroën's DS-replacing CX was at a cutting edge so sharp it still looks fresh today, and it had the drive to match - as five superb survivors reveal
"It's a car for posing in really"
Broadcaster Michael Buerk reflects on more than three decades with his beloved Jaguar E-type S1 3.8 fixed-head coupé
HONDAS DECK THE HALL
The Japanese firm's Los Angeles collection is now on public display for the first time in two decades
ABSOLUTELY buzzing
Honda's Si Civics brought agile, cheap fun to motorists long before the Type R name got anywhere near a hatchback
THE FEMININE TOUCH
In 1955, General Motors styling guru Harley Earl brought 11 talented women into the male-dominated world of automotive design. What was their lasting impact?
Out on a limb
Panther's innovative Solo 2 was something completely different, both for its maker and the sports car market
Restyles with substance
Panther Westwinds blended a passion for pre-war designs with modern-era mechanical usability and remarkably fine coachbuilding
Dead ringers
The Maserati Kyalami and De Tomaso Longchamp share much, having emerged from the same stable, but are poles apart at heart