Exhibition ‘F1 Legends’ in the Louwman Museum

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, 6 June --  Step into the history of the Zandvoort Grand Prix during the unique exhibition of F1 Legends in the Louwman Museum. The exhibition opens on 1 July and ends on 4 September, the day on which this year’s F1 Grand Prix will be held at Zandvoort. On display are Eight F1 cars of legendary drivers that took part in the Dutch Grand Prix between 1948 and 1970.

 

F1 Legends Ascari, Fangio and Clark

Highlights of the special exhibition are undoubtedly the winning Ferrari 500 F2 (1952/1953) driven by Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio’s victorious Mercedes-Benz W196 (1955) and the winning Lotus 33 (1965) driven by Jim Clark.

 

Ascari won the world title in 1952 and 1953 due in part to both victories at Zandvoort in his Ferrari 500 F2. In the 1953 season he had no fewer than seven successive wins, a record that stood until 2013. Alberto Ascari was Ferrari’s first World Champion.

 

In 1954 and 1955 Juan Manuel Fangio became the F1 world champion. In 1955 Fangio in his Mercedes-Benz W196 claimed the only win for Mercedes-Benz at Zandvoort to this date. Juan Manuel Fangio is widely regarded as the best racing driver of the 1950s. His record of five world titles in Formula 1 stood for 46 years.

 

In 1963 and 1965 Jim Clark became F1 world champion. He won at Zandvoort in 1965 in his Lotus 33 with the Coventry Climax V8-engine. Clark holds the record of four wins at Zandvoort and is regarded as the best racing driver of the 1960s.

 

More F1 Legends

The Talbot Lago T26C (1950/51) driven by Frenchman Louis Rosier, the BRM P25 (1959) of Swedish driver Jo Bonnier and the Lotus 49 driven by Graham Hill who all won Grand Prix races at Zandvoort are also on display at the exhibition. Louis Rosier won at Zandvoort in 1950 and in 1951 when the Grand Prix did not yet officially count towards the F1 championship. Jo Bonnier won the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix in a BRM 25. It was the only F1 victory of Bonnier's career.

 

 

F1 Legend Graham Hill

The Lotus 49 of two-time F1 world champion Graham Hill is also on display. However, it was actually Jim Clark who won the Lotus 49’s debut race at Zandvoort in 1967. The Lotus 49 was a revolutionary design. The new Ford DFV-Cosworth V8 engine formed a structural part of the chassis, a technology seldom seen before that time. Between 1967 and 1983 no fewer than 155 Grand Prix races were won by a car powered by a DFV-Cosworth V8 engine.

 

Dutch F1 Legends

The HWM - ALTA (1952) of Dries van der Lof and the Porsche 718 (1960) of Carel Godin de Beaufort complete the grid. Dries van der Lof was, together with Jan Flinterman, the first Dutchman to compete in a F1 race. He took part in the 1952 Zandvoort Grand Prix in his HWM - ALTA but retired from the race and was not classified. Carel Godin de Beaufort finished in sixth place at Zandvoort in 1962 scoring his first championship point.

 

Technology

The F1 Legends exhibition offers an excellent overview of the technological development within Formula 1 between 1948 and 1970. Just as today, rule changes influenced for example maximum engine displacement and whether or not a supercharger could be used. Visitors can observe the evolution from the conventional space frame or tubular chassis to the more rigid monocoque chassis and also the location of the engine which moved from the front of the car to the rear.

 

Louwman Museum

The permanent collection of the museum is open to the public during the F1 Legends exhibition. The museum presents every aspect of the history of the automobile and cars from all eras. Over 250 motor cars produced by more than 100 different manufacturers provide an overview of the wide variety of coachwork and numerous technological developments, particularly from the last century. The extensive collection of automotive art, including posters, sculptures, trophies and paintings, puts the automobile into an historical perspective.