Money in 70s Car Racing, Formula 1, NASCAR, Indy, Sports Cars, etc

Nowadays information about driver’s retainers, race earnings, the huge amounts some Formula 1 teams are paid, sponsorship deals seems public domain; $$$ are often featured in racing news stories. There are multiple reasons for that: public disclosure is required of public companies, a great part of the allure of motor racing these days seems pegged to the possibility of making large mounds of dollars, euros and pounds. Additionally, let us face it, we live in a very narcissistic world. Celebrities love to flaunt dough, and the sport has always been aligned with the idea of vast amounts of cash flying about. Buying a Ferrari to go racing in the 50s definitely cost more than buying soccer balls or swimming in lakes or buying cricket gear, after all.

I have conducted extensive research on car racing in the 70s, and to be honest, locating trustworthy and plentiful data has been challenging at best. People simply did not talk much about it, for reasons you may found out later. And some that do talk about it 40 years down the line perhaps embellish their stories a bit, and forget or add zeroes…

In my recently launched book Motor Racing in the 70s – Pivoting from Romantic to Organized, I discuss this very issue (and many others as well, such as sponsors), whenever possible contextualizing other economic data that will help readers assess what was really going on. You must also consider that a lot of published information does look awfully inconsistent, and some of the recollections from those active in the area often seem to have too many or lack some zeroes.

It does make for interesting reading and reflection.

If the subject interests you, make sure you get a copy of the book on Amazon.com today. Much more information about racing in the 70's can be found in my book MOTOR RACING IN THE 70'S - PIVOTING FROM ROMANTIC TO ORGANIZED. It is a 472-page book about racing in the period,  with 242 photos, covering Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula 5000, other lower formulae, Formula Indy, NASCAR, Touring Cars, Sports Cars, Can Am, Trans Am, IMSA, DRM, local racing scenes, main driver profiles, plus long lists of makes that raced in the period, main drivers and racing venues from 85 countries, year highlights, performance and financial analysis of the sport. It can be bought at Amazon shops in the USA, UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, Japan, 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732674426

Motor Racing in the 70s finally out

My book Motor Racing in the 70s - Pivoting from Romantic to Organized is finally out. At present time, it can be bought through Amazon.com, but I am looking into ways to get wider distribution. Not that there are that many physical bookstores around, at least not in the USA.

I am pleased with the result. It ended up with 384 pages, and a much different product than what I first envisaged.

I wanted to write a much simpler year-by-year account, a shorter book. It developed into something larger, more analytical, although there are tons of statistics and interesting facts pertaining only to the 70s. In other words, you are not going to find the final results of Formula 1 races or even points tables. These can be found in lots of other places, including wikipedia The only Formula 1 statistics I have placed in the book relate specifically to the 70s, such as laps in the lead (cars and drivers), total starts during the decade, and things of the sort. There is plentiful other Formula 1 information in the highlights section.

I was very happy with how the list of champions turned out. Here you will find much more than lists of champions in better known series, such as Formula 1, Formula, 2, Can Am. I have compiled information on champions in several areas of the world, including Greece, Portugal, Central America, etc. The lists are not complete, but they are the most complete I have seen anywhere.

The list of venues is also rather extensive, including dozens of hill climb venues in Europe. I do not expect it to be complete at this stage, but it does list some rather obscure places in Africa, Central America, Asia and Eastern Europe.

The list of constructors is also extremely long including research done in over 10 languages. Again, I do not expect it to be complete, so future editions will definitely have improvements.

The list of significant drivers is obviously rather subjective. I would need more than a 384 page book to list drivers in U.S. races alone, if I were to include everybody that raced in the country during the decade - a rather Herculean, impossible and fruitless endeavor. Thus I decided to pick and choose the drivers I felt are more relevant from several dozen countries. Not everybody will agree with my picks, I reckon.

There are sections on money, sponsors, and a long essay on what I call the "Pivoting". I also saw it fit to publish a case study I wrote years ago, that shows how Brazil went from being a footnote in global racing circles to being respected and relevant, in the short span of 3 seasons. I know many people might not enjoy this section, for it is too specific and mentions names and situations that are totally foreign to most readers. To others, it will be interesting, a unique work on the subject in the English language. Cannot please everybody.

Given the amount of information, and the fact I wanted to provide this book at less than US$ 30.00, this is not a pictorial book. Future editions or offshots may have tons of pictures, not this time.

This will be the first of a series of books on the subject, almost an outline. I hope you enjoy it.

It can be bought at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732674426