When I first caught sight of the cover of this DVD I wasn't sure what to expect, sure the title implied it was about the last 50 years of Mini, but the cover prominently showed two new minis with an original mini tucked behind one of them.  However we're not ones to judge anything by its cover, so into the player the DVD went.  After the Duke video ident we got to a modest menu whereby we could view the whole film, select individual chapters or check out the extras, nothing scary or unusual here, but easy to use and get what we wanted.
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The main film is really a documentary of the Mini's 50th anniversary celebrations at Silverstone, whilst it occasionally goes off to details certain aspects of the mini world the show forms the real heart of the DVD.  The film starts with an introduction to the mini, a bit of history, showing cars that are present at the event, some archive footage and retelling the initial story of the mini and its success.  Famous faces are present to give some meat to the stories with Paddy Hopkirk, Rauno Aaltonen and Mike Cooper all giving some choice opinion.  The Cooper name also connects the original Mini nicely with the new Mini in the first section on the new Mini, showing a linage and connection between the two in terms of their choice of tuning partners.  This juxtaposing of old and new happens throughout the video and really helps connect the two sides of this particular scene.

I thought the controversy between old and new would be a bit of an elephant in the room during the film, however it is tackled head on and all sides of the discussion are represented, really though it is all about uniting mini owners old and new in their enjoyment of their cars.  A section on modified cars shows some cool modern minis as well as some interesting old minis.  I feel the section on the racing could have been a bit longer, but it was great to see some footage of the exciting three abreast action which really give you a feel for the atmosphere on the track.

Alongside all this there is a fun section with Russ Swift doing his thing in new and old minis and some quick interviews with show attendees.  The extras menu gives us a glimpse into the world of two guys coming over from the Isle of Man with their classic mini, from the fun of getting it running, through the journey and onto the show.  This is a really nice addition it shows how we all generally experience our car ownership and show attending.  I'd like to see more of this kind of thing from show DVDs, the stories behind the show, as well as the obvious show coverage.

If you were at the Mini United 09 event you should definitely own this memento, for everyone else, I'd say it was one to add to your Christmas list, the mixture of old with new is really well handled and there are some gems on here.  Hopefully we'll see more coverage of events like this, I'd love to see something like this produced for something like the Hayride.

To grab your copy head to the Duke Video website.

 

Posted on: October 12, 2009 05:10

It will tell you everything you need to know about this DVD if I say that I was suppose to write this review days ago, but have in fact spent my time watching and rewatching it.  I guess I could justify it under the guise of research, but really I knew within the first 30 minutes that this DVD was top notch. The rest just confirmed that.

Can Am : A Speed Odyssey charts the rise and rise of the Can Am race series in the US and Canada, from 1963 through to 1973 where it hit its peak.  The footage is first class having been located from many different sources it is put together to give you a complete picture of what each years racing season was like, who the dominant forces were and where the innovations were coming from.  The footage of crowds, pits and paddock really add to the atmosphere of the time.

The whole DVD is feels like it was done in period, I don't know if this was a conscious choice but it really feels like something you could have picked up at the end of the 1973 season to commemorate 10 years of Can Am.

Narration by Sam Posey and Jim Hill adds polish and insight in equal measures to the racing that is going on in front of you, as well as sections on workshop visits with the likes of Maclaren and period interviews with the drivers.  This is racing from a time when drivers would be piloting a Formula 1 car one week and then in a Can Am car the next.

Without a doubt this is a film that also has a great sound track, the music is kept to a minimum and the cars allowed to speak for themselves and boy do they speak!

If there is a downside to this DVD it is that it gives me even more of an interest in seeing more footage, but I suspect there isn't much to be found.  One thing worth thinking about is the cost £22 is a lot to spend on a single DVD ... However I believe it to be worth this, just to sit in a darkened room, with the volume right up and the incredible sight of the cars and noise of the engines filling your world with motorsport at its very best!

Get the DVD from Driven And Ridden

Check out the trailer here : http://www.canamfilm.com/

Posted on: January 19, 2009 23:28

Retro Scene Mag recently got the chance to spend some time talking to Robert Nevison the man behind Can Am - The Speed Odyssey, a film about the history of Can Am racing that will be out this summer.  We got the chance to get behind the scenes of the inspiration for the DVD and fill our boots with information about the racing series it covered.

 

 

Origins of the DVD

One of Robert's first experiences of motor racing was the Can Am racing series when he was a young boy, the ground shaking spectacle of these thunderous racing cars stuck with him through childhood, all the way up until the present day where he finds himself in the position of movie maker.  The current projects germination was at the Canadian Grand Prix a few years ago when Can Am was one of the support races, it rekindled the fire of interest.  Looking around Robert found that he wasn't the only one that desired a quality xxxxx documentary of this race series, being in a position to do something about it work began.

Unlike today where television coverage of motorsport is very wide spread at all levels the 60's and 70's period of Can Am racing had much less in the way of television coverage, whilst there was syndicated coverage of the series the 16mm films were spread across a number of different archives and Robert had to do a lot of hunting, in total he used 12 different sources for the film, having viewed pretty much all the film footage of the series available.  It was a lot of work to locate all the footage, which dates from 1965 until the end of the series in 1973, but Robert’s previous work on the F1 On Board film has given him some great contacts to call on.

The audio was very carefully mastered as the sounds of the cars is very important, so if you have a suitable sound system you can experience the ground shaking sounds of 8 litre V8s.
Providing commentary for the DVD are Sam Posey, Can Am driver and veteran sports commentator along with Jim Hall, Can Am driver and team owner/designer of the legendary Chaparral Can Am cars.

What was Can Am?

It might be worth an explanation of what makes Can Am so special for those of you not familiar with the series.  Running in the USA from 1966 the Can Am series was what some of us dream of now days, an almost unregulated series where car engineers were allow to go almost as far as their brilliance could take them.   For example, the engine had to be a larger than 2.5 litres and no gas turbines powered cars were allowed, in 1970 more regulation was bought in, but it was still a very free series, particularly on a technical level. People like Jim Hall, as early as  1964 developed the monocoque chassis construction and wings on his Chaparral race cars, inspiring people like Colin Chapman.  Bruce McLaren was able to produce racing cars that were faster than the F1 cars of the time.  You can see the innovations being used for the first time in the film.  By the time the series stopped in 1973 there were cars like the twin turbo charged Porsche 917-30, pushing out 1,100 bhp with masses of torque and huge amounts of downforce, it could accelerate from 0 to 200mph in 10 seconds with a top speed of 250mph.  It was this immense speed that, like Group B after it, meant that Can Am became too fast for the tracks it was running on.

Luckily for us though the series continues to thrive in historic racing, with a number of events across the year in the USA, as well as events in Europe, including the HSCC Historic Superprix at Brands Hatch.  If you have the chance to go and see these cars racing in the flesh make sure you do it.

If all this sounds like the sort of thing that would be right up your street, and frankly if it’s not we fear for your sanity, then go and check out the trailer here at www.canamfilm.com .  The DVD will be out in Europe over the summer and is a must purchase for any discerning car enthusiast.

 

Posted on: June 24, 2008 03:08

We love Mooneyes here at RSM, so it pleases us to know that Mooneyes have made a DVD of their internationally renowned Yokohama Hot Rod Show. The 16th event in December last year showed off some of the finest hot rod and custom cars in the world, with some examples being brought over from America just for the show. A DVD of the event has been put together, showing you what was at the show, behind the scene and the journeys that some of the car undertook to be there. Check out the trailer Good news for us in the UK and Europe is that Road House Retro has a bunch of the DVDs on their way over to the UK. Price is currently unknown, but they are bound to sell out quick, so get on it!



Posted on: February 22, 2008 02:37