The Power and the Glory (1991)
The Power and the Glory was a 13-part television documentary series shown between 4 October and 27 December 1991 on BBC2. The series covers 100 years of motor racing history.
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The Power and the Glory
1991Seasons & Episode
The first Grand Prix was won 85 years ago at 73 mph. This year's Indianapolis winner averaged 176 mph.
What makes a champion racing driver? Some of the sport's great names, including Nigel Mansell and Stirling Moss offer an insight into what took them to victory. And at a school for racing drivers, students find out if they have that combination of skill, courage, toughness, and the will to win.
This is the story of the remarkable men whose daring and skill pushed the top speed of racing cars from around 20 mph to over lOO mph in the pioneering age of the sport.
The 20s and early 30s saw the expansion of grand-prix racing and the introduction of technical advances like supercharging and the first single-seaters. The designers produced some of the classic cars of all time - Bentley, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo
Hitler knew that victory on the grand prix circuits would demonstrate the Third Reich's technical superiority and bring his new Germany great prestige. So with government subsidies, both Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union set out to build a winning car, and the swastika became a familiar feature on the racetracks of the 30s.
Rallying began as a genteel amateur sport for those with a sense of adventure - today it is highly competitive, with special cars, large back-up teams and professional drivers.
The story of the brilliant red cars of Italy - so elegant to look at, so easy to drive - which dominated grand-prix racing after the Second World War, featuring, in particular, the great classic of its time, the Maserati 250F.
In 1958, a little Cooper Climax, driven by Stirling Moss , won the Argentinian Grand Prix. It was the first time in the modern era that a mid-engined car had won a grand prix. The front-engined racing car was soon consigned to history. This is the story of the men behind this very British revolution, which started in a family garage business in Surrey.
How Formula 1 was transformed into a multi-million pound global business. Featuring interviews with racing drivers Nigel Mansell , James Hunt and Gerhard Berger, and team bosses Ron Dennis, Frank Williams and Ken Tyrrell.
The Power and the Glory was a 13-part television documentary series shown between 4 October and 27 December 1991 on BBC2. The series covers 100 years of motor racing history.
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