The Ginetta could have had a roof. However, I heard the accident before I saw it over the heads of the spectators standing along the fence and by that time its roof had gone. Hence I thought it was an open car. Like I say, it was a while back...
Definately 1967, no question. As I said, I was at college and most 'Brands weekends' (I had a season ticket: £14/10/0d) I borrowed the college Mamiya C3 - great old camera, weighed a ton. I had only just begun using a pro camera and this was film number 33. By the time I stopped using film around 2004 I was up to roll number 10,000+. Not bad considering I shot mostly on 5x4 sheet film - and I used a LOT of that!
I have just returned from my state-of-the-art filing system (otherwise known as my loft) and have the relevant contact sheet. I took two shots of the Cobra, the first taken a little earlier and another showing two other Ginettas (cars 141 and 105) parked on the opposite side of the track where they spun off in avoidance. The same film shows the Cortina V8, another Ginetta, a couple of failed attempts at panning and a Fraser Imp, either Bill McGovern or Bernard Unett(?)
The date confusion may be due to my habit of noting the date I processed and filed the negatives. I still have my film diary that records details of the film type, developer used and processing times! So I guess I filed that film on Wednesday 18th but took the happy snaps on Sunday 15th. In those days, such forensic issues were not terribly important. As for '1971' appearing in my book, I find that odd but not unusual. I'd call that a publishing error as the photo above on page 131 shows the Taft Cobra in 1971 and somehow that date appeared on the photo below. In my original book 'Cobra' the year was not recorded (For the record, the Real Thing book was transcribed from my first book by another publisher. I made numerous corrections only to find they they were still wrong when the 'corrected' proofs returned.) So it was either moi or the publisher having a funny five minutes....
