NEWS FROM TERRIFIC STUFF …

The Saga of Formula One
It has been a while since we have unearthed any really good archive footage but this time we think we may have struck gold! Terrific Stuff has worked with Alain Boisnard for a long time and many of you will have already seen his ‘Lap of The Gods’ DVDs. ‘The Saga of Formula One’ was produced in 1992 and is a brilliant series of programmes made originally for TV and never seen before on DVD. To produce it, Alain searched his own massive archive of Formula One GP footage and, as well as going through the all the other archive material he could find, he also shot footage specially for these programmes. He also conducted several in depth and very candid interviews with various drivers ranging from Fangio to Senna. The result is a highly informative and visually stunning series of programmes. The commentary has been written by Formula One ‘guru’ Bob Constandurous, who has added his own entertaining, often slightly controversial, views of events.

Volume One consists of ‘The Drivers That Made History’ and ‘Monaco: The Jewel in the Crown’. Full details can be seen on the website.

"The Saga of Formula One may not have the gloss that comes with big-budget production values, but it does have some truly spectacular previously unseen film salvaged from the vaults of former sponsors. The onboard footage recorded with Fangio and Jackie Stewart is worth the asking price alone..."
Autocar November 11th 2009

In the future we hope to produce further DVDs featuring the balance of the programmes.

Terrific Stuff Ltd...

Our roots go back to an era when, during the winter months, motor clubs would hire a room at a local pub and show 16 mm films for their members between food and the occasional glass of beer. These top quality films were produced as a PR exercise by major manufacturers and suppliers such as BP, BRM, Elf, Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union and Shell. Sadly, the advent of VHS/DVD and the total upheaval of motorsport and the industry meant that they got left on shelves or in many cases were simply thrown away or destroyed.

Motor Racing historian Chris Nixon and racing enthusiast Jock Simpson were both fans of what they would describe as ‘proper’ motor sport! Before modern F1 racing took over it was possible to recognise the drivers, the cars had different shapes and with no advertising plastered all over them you could even read the racing numbers. Nixon and Simpson learned of the existence of the BP Film archive and set up Terrific Stuff, determined to get these films back into circulation. The title came about when Nixon heard the legendary Murray Walker say " this is terrific stuff ….” during his commentary on a touring car race at Silverstone.

We began with the BP Collection (TSV1 to TSV8). BP's Head of TV Production Chris Bratt took a huge leap of faith and was enormously helpful; without his enthusiasm we would never have got the project off the ground.

Jock Simpson is a self-confessed Porsche freak so it was imperative that we found something that involved the Porsche 917. With help from Porsche Cars Great Britain and the director Michael Brandt, we not only got the Porsche but the Ford GT40 as well (TSV9 & TS-DVD2 The Gulf Wyer 917s & GT40s).

Chris Nixon unearthed the next source of footage (TSV10 & TSV11 and TS-DVD3 Lap of The Gods) after seeing some stunning ‘on car, driver’s eye view’ footage of the great Ayrton Senna at Monaco. After some serious research the next stop for Nixon and Simpson was France to meet Alain Boisnard of AFAVA, who casually mentioned that he had reel after reel of footage shot from F1 cars during practice for the GPs of the 1980s. Made for the Elf petrol company, this featured the ‘Turbo Era’ and all the Grand Prix circuits of the time, plus 17 drivers. Murray Walker added a superb commentary and another best seller was born! You will also find that, with Alain Boisnard’s help, there are some excellent ‘extras’ on the DVD's. Each has around 30 minutes of additional material. These comprise twenty two, 3 minute snippets, that cover virtually every aspect of Formula One in the 1970’s. After a fair bit of research we have been able to identify all but the most obscure drivers and team managers. There are interviews with Nikki Lauda, Ken Tyrell and the late Keith Duckworth, plus Jackie Stewart gives us a live commentary during a one-off drive in the six-wheel Tyrell. One of the advantages of DVD is that both discs are fully ‘authored’ so finding your way around will now be much easier.

But it wasn’t only the ‘big guys’ who were making films. David Clarke was a very successful businessman and a gifted amateur movie maker. He took a couple of 16mm cameras and a tape recorder to the races and shot some superb footage. He had no passes, just talent! The outcome was two stunning films, The Monaco GP of 1955 and The Reims GP of 1957. (TSV12 Chips and Champagne).

TSV13 is not missing for superstitious reasons, it was a compilation VHS for WH Smith.

The next target for Terrific Stuff was the BRM Archive. The good news was that the archive had been ‘digitised’ and was in superb condition. The credit for this has to go to the directors of Rubery Owen who saw the value of their archive and they looked after it. (TSV14 to TSV17 The BRM Collection).

The most comprehensive book about pre-war Grand Prix racing is Chris Nixon's ‘Racing The Silver Arrows’, which formed the basis for more titles for Terrific Stuff (TSV18 & TSV19 and TS-DVD4 Racing The Silver Arrows). The success of this book prompted Audi to grant us access to the Auto Union film archive, which enabled us to show the heroic drivers and their fabulous Mercedes-Benz and Auto Unions in all their glory.

When putting ‘Racing The Silver Arrows’ together we did not have access to the Mercedes-Benz archive, but this all changed when Chris Nixon’s long term association with Mercedes paid off and we were offered access to their archives. Some of the most fantastic footage came from 1954-55 and this formed the basis for ‘The Return Of The Silver Arrows’, which marks the 50th anniversary of the Stuttgart concern's return to GP racing after WW2 (TS-DVD1 The Return Of The Silver Arrows).

The Books

These speak for themselves and were nearly all written by Chris Nixon. Chris had an appetite for detail that moves these books away from being simply history books. They contain carefully researched human and technical details that make them all thoroughly readable.

What turned out to be Chris Nixon’s final book was called ‘Kings of The Nürburgring’. This, as we have come to expect from Chris, is a huge work with over three hundred photographs. There are also masses of those brilliant insights, that Chris was so good at, into the drivers of the day. The book is not only about the history of the ‘Ring itself, but also about the ‘Ringmeisters’ who took on this awesome circuit and won. Chris will probably be best remembered for his book on Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins called ‘Mon Ami Mate’ but many of the critics believe that ‘Kings of The Nürburgring’ will run this a very close second. It is believed to be one of the only books written in English that features the Nürburgring.

In 2006 we added Michael Cotton’s excellent Autobiography of Norbert Singer titled ’24:16’. This of course refers to the sixteen wins that Porsche has had at Le Mans, all of which were under the auspices of their senior race engineer .. Norbert Singer.

The Prints

As you will see from the selection of cutaway drawings we have on offer, Tony Mathews has an extraordinary talent. It is a stunning combination of technical drawing and artistry. Terrific Stuff obtained the rights to reprint several of these masterpieces and they have proved very popular. Chris Nixon also commissioned Graham Turner to paint ‘Rosemeyer’ for his book ‘Racing The Silver Arrows’. These limited edition prints are 51 x 35 cm and are signed by the artists. They have been produced on the highest quality paper and look superb.