Just can't vote.
Certainly the rear engine era and newer.
Nothing more romantic than Moss at Monaco, or Clark at Nurburgring.
The drivers and pits were accessible...of course, so were the trees!
The driver was out where he could be seen (and related to) in the old
space frame car, and privateers could race and even have a chance of
winning. A Lotus Seven was once narrowed and somewhat competitive.
Try channeling a new Ferrari and see if you can enter an F-1 race today!
Back then Graham Hill (??) said the drivers were paid an extra 25 pounds
to hook the trailer to the family sedan and tow the car to the race! The
suits were donated by Dunlop, but if you tried to remove the Dunlop patch
there would be a round hole in your driving suit where the patch had been!
"Back then, the tires were skinny and the drivers
were fat" (tip 'o the hat to C&D magazine circa '68).
The monocoque cars were fast and modern. They were still clunky , and
distant cousins to American hot rods (throw the collection of parts together
until it becomes a car, and squeeze out the hp until it blows), but some of
the romance was fading. The cars were a collection of parts rather than a
synergistic one piece system as are the cars of today. They are now much
more akin to karts than having a history of a weekend racer standing square-
jawed under the hood (ok, bonnet
) adjusting the carburation as the
exhaust growled to the enchanting sound of a twin overhead cam engine.
I did like the big slicks...
The front-on shot of Sheckter in the Wolf WR5 is the finest expression of
engineering art.
The high wings just took them one step farther away from the good '0l days.
The ground effect era was great, and who could ever forget the sound and
power of a turbocharged 1,500 hp Renault on a practice lap? Gilles & Rene'
doing battle? Unforgettable! By then the cars were getting faster, and
generating tons of power. The acceleration, and cornering were incredible,
but F1 was getting slick and streamlined. Dollars and Power were ruling our
sport. At least we haven't heard of Ballstre' for decades. He was just
unlikable, and also had the unfortunate luck of being born a Frenchman.
The V-10 era? Well...so what. Ok I guess. One thing I didn't like was 3.5 liters.
The cars looked good (Hill and the Williams). The safety zones, and deformable
structures are a welcome addition to driver safety, but the drivers are invisible,
and the cars are gigantic. One thing for sure, the spectator is forgotten, Max
and Bernie are into power, and money and certainly not the sport. Our wonderful
brotherhood of F-1 started life as a cute, soft kitten that everyone loved to cuddle,
but had grown into an over-regulated ravenous lion ready to eat anyone in its way.
It was inevitable...the march toward money, greed and power, and engineering
advances couldn't be stopped...they were a natural evolution.
One thing for sure, the fun and exciting days of F-1, and the entire sport itself
were finally dead and buried on a warm Sunday at Tamburillo. Like the Kennedy
assassination, it was a defining moment in history. Nothing has since been the
same.
I occasionally drop in to watch, but the sport is forever tainted.
-Rick
nice explanation mate 
Perhaps not the one id choose to be in ......but im stuck with it, so this one 
