Le Mans 1955.

[TheJunkass]

Still...they still should make cars out of magnesium! Magnesium, the material of the future!

[kelhar33]

Mike Hawthorn didn't raise his hand indicating he was going to pit which led Macklin to swerve around him at speed and come into the path of Levegh who had nowhere to go. This was Hawthorn's fault.

[Toony698]

Sorry.... I had to lol

[crayman31]

I didn't realise the pits had no dividing wall from the straight & I feel sketchy changing a tyre on the side of the road! Crazy times

[56BUICKRiviera]

Mercedes engine was a monster.

[goddamnedbush]

@56BUICKRiviera Mike Hawthorn still too

[uberkid100]

The only reason why they continued the '55 Le Mans was that if the race was over after the disaster, the people were going out on the roads, roads needed for the ambulances to arrive, and the traffic would be stopped........that calls for buying some old school rescue helicopters, don't you think?

[McLarenMercedes]

@uberkid100

I think only the army used rescue helicopters in 1955. They were first used in the Korean War of 1950-1953.

I don't think ANY hospital in Europe at the time used rescue helicopters. Those 1950's helicopters were notoriously expensive to operate.

[anothercrapvid]

At least 3 brit cars won....jeez stupid commotaor

[Hlover01]

this was one ghetto race

[beetleman64]

Just to answer the people wondering why the race wasn't stopped, you have to remember the different attitudes. Back then, a driver being killed was an inconvenience. 80 spectators, while really bad, still didn't have the impact it would have today. This also explains why it was only bluntly described as "the worst disaster in motor racing history".

At the time, the organisers said they didn't stop the race because the leaving crowd would clog up the roads, blocking the ambulances.

[JO1045]

unbelievable, 87 people died but they didn't stop the race !

[KirkTheGod]

Tom n Jerry music!! =D

[nicolewishes]

ever put magnesium in water at school? shit blows up!! intense

[spudracer13]

the comentator is that stewie griffin sounds like when hes older

[pocketjohnson]

@spudracer13 - I think the commentator a guy called Raymond Baxter - but most commentators sounded pretty much the same in those days. 

[spudracer13]

like how the announcer makes the crash sound like a side note... classy

[Shtoops27]

I can't understand why they didn't cancel the race after 86 people died and were decapitated, it seems so disrespectful. Also why the hell are the crowds and narrator so calm WTF!

[krysala]

@Shtoops27 From what I understand, the race officials decided to continue the race to prevent spectators from further clogging the entrances in order to leave the roads open for the ambulances.

[jgdudy]

At 6.13' you will see the MGA Nº 41 drove by Jonnie Lockett & Ken Miles who finished 12th in that tragic day. Nowadays im 33 and own a MGA. Shes my dayly driver and everytime i start the engine i cant avoid imagine me living those days.

[jgdudy]

At 6.13' you will see the MGA Nº 41 drove by Jonnie Lockett & Ken Miles who finished 12th in that tragic day.

[bellcord]

Stirling Moss perhaps best expressed the attitude of the times.. when asked if he thought racing was dangerous he replied, " Oh no Madam..it's the first time in four years that no one's been trying to kill me."..

[Enk64]

That's the 50's for you, 84 people dead and no one really gave a crap. These day's if just one person died the race would be stopped.

[hebneh]

The accident "wreaks havoc in the dense crowd of spectators" but then, importantly, there's the "tricky task of moving the wreckage of the Healey". And so much for the "worst disaster in motor racing history" - let's get back to cars driving around really fast again and again and again. THAT'S the important stuff. Those 86 dead people? So what? Just a momentary, insignificant diversion.

[samfisher20041]

Sick, everyone's walking on the track. And the guy with the shovel :-O Imagine another car crashing into the sand bank! Those were different times...

[rubencitostyle]

This got to be the most cold blooded narration of this disaster . It's so British centered that it makes me puke an extremely insensitive to the tragedy. yet again, car racing is among the most stupid activities the human beings have invented

[Pintac87]

@rubencitostyle Hey douchewaffle, it was a tragedy but it was an accident. Let's see, a couple of hundred people killed in plane crash, well then, let's stop flying altogether and, like a douchewaffle, call it one of the most stupid activities that human beings have invented. Go back to your boring life and leave the commenting to the adults, ok douchewaffle?

[rubencitostyle]

who's saying anything about stopping car racing - that it is a stupid sport goes without saying. Very few things are as idiotic as making 60 laps at 200 miles/hour for 4 hours, and even more idiotic is to sit down and watch it. I've been done surfing, scuba diving, rock climbing, and soccer my whole life and I'm sorry if you didn't like my opinion, but everybody is entitled to express them and it takes an adult to accept that. Too bad u can't handle it

I should go back to my boring life

[Taff1967SC]

@rubencitostyle You don't understand, this was a different breed. After fighting off the Nazi onslaught and being bombed to shit in the not too distant past, a motor accident does not really compare. It's a case of get over it and carry on with the task at hand. He did say it was the worst accident in motor racing history, and that was enough for 1955.

[OrbvsTomarvm]

Fucking amazing how they all carried on driving, chuffing away on their pipes dear boy. Fucking amazinger how the crowd carried on watching, chuffing away on their pipes right beside where an engine block went through a hundred people... Even more fucken amazing how our dear chap at pathe here news didn't think this news was the real news being fucking new!

...different fucking breed back then... a different fucking breed.

[Shtoops27]

@OrbvsTomarvm agreed, PINK FLOYD!

[alimacdee]

fuck me! excuse my french, its like stick your head in the sand time!

[sjrickard2008]

I cannot believe what I'm hearing!!!

[funkmasterjee]

Is that Raymond Baxter (ex spitfire pilot) doing the commentary ?  Sounds like it

[Jorge1Jigen]

80 people dead, but nevertheless the important thing is that "No nation fought nation morely than the English!" How callous can yo u get? This film was created by

PR firm of a car company though, that would be why.

[abcpc1]

"80 KILLED but the race GOES ON...pip pip, cheerio"! This Brit is NUTZ!

[RobertM408]

A terrible tragedy yes. But in a way the 1955 world sports car championship was one of the greatest sporting contests in history, certainly more important than the single seat championship. Motor Racing at this time was so dangerous it was virtually war as was the motor racing contest between Italy, Uk and Germany

[FerchitoCZ]

How can continue with the race where there has been an accident like this?

5:30 the man trying to get-out he car as if you win what was everything.

Definitely a tragic event that claim the lives of more than 80 people.

[mj19992]

the race was carried on so the  ambulances could get to the victims otherwise the crowds would have dispersed and blocked the roads

[freqeist]

@mj19992 thats what they said but still

[orangejonny]

the mercades had magnesium bodywork, one little fire and there's no putting it out!

[goddamnedbush]

@orangejonny mercedes, idiot.

[orangejonny]

@goddamnedbush

Look out everybody it's typo man!

Offensively fixing the world one spelling mistake at the time...

[Toony698]

@orangejonny world's* ....

[daemonolator]

The 'worst disaster in motor racing history' claimed the lives of 80 spectators.

[wautersandreas]

@daemonolator so disturbing how the comentator fails to mention that. :p