The Golden Age of Racing Comes Alive in These Videos

What is it about the early days of racing that’s still so captivating today? Here, we celebrate interesting cars and films that captured those years, and in one case, a company even tries to tie its early history into its then-modern ‘60s sports car—with mixed success.

Enjoy this unprecedented look at racing’s Golden Era with these largely forgotten mini-documentaries and clips.

Targa Florio comes alive in this 1972 documentary narrated by Vic Elford. It’s just epic.

We’ve filmed a number of vehicles and owners with a close connection to the Mille Miglia. Here they are.

What did the 1963 Road America 500 look like? Glad you’ve asked—this footage shows a great battle between the then-new Shelby Cobras, Porsches, Jaguars, and Chaparrals. 

The Magic Midget is a short promotional film by MG that covers the marque’s early history—and even though it’s decades old, it’s still quite watchable even today.

It’s in Italian, but, well, just look at that footage that recaps the history of the Mille Miglia. Perfect.

What was the sports car of the year in 1955-1956? Well just watch!

With a title like, “Porsche 908 at Nurburgring 1971”, how can you go wrong? It’s in German, but once the cars start moving it’s easy to see what’s going on!

Here, newsreel footage captures both the 1965 and 1966 12 Hours of Sebring—yes, the colors may be a bit off with both, but they’re still fun to watch. Take note of the wildly different approaches between the two films!

Cover Image by Federico Bajetti