Grid Dandies - 1970s F1 Box Stop Fashion

Long hair, flares and champagne were the essence of 1970s Formula 1 way beyond cars and engines. We take a look into the fashionable days of F1 aesthetics off the circuit and by box stops, where grid dandies like James Hunt, Jackie Stewart, Jochen Rindt and his wife Nina ruled the races.

 Ask to any Formula 1 connoisseur what was the best era of the sport and 1970s will be answer. In the Seventies F1 went technicolour. Drivers grew their hair long, engineers and designers relentlessly and bravely gave shape to vehicles that looked as if they came straight out of a sci-fi saga, and the lack of modern health and safety regulations made every lap a race against death. Putting their life at risk, for passion rather than for money, made pilots a breath-taking crossover of dandies and rockstars, the last of the sports gentlemen loved by the press as much as by women. 

Although the race has always been the fans’ focus, it’s at box stops where the essence of 1970s F1 was defined. In the epic narration that Formula 1 is, if drivers are the fearless and nihilist heroes, at box stops is where the sports’ philosophers gather, pondering on how to win races with wit and intellect. 

In the 1970s box stops captured photographers’ attention more the race did. Among colorful chassis, flares, hats, extravagant patches and loud sunglasses frames were F1 real deal. Box stops were a catwalk where sportswear in the style of padded nylon windbreakers and racing teams’ caps met with the latest designer cuts and 1970s casual wear. The peak of grind fashion was yearly reached at the Monaco Grand Prix, whose vibe could be summed up as The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Streets-meets-Serge Gainsbourg’s decadent French elegance. Here the flamboyant Lord Hesketh wouldn’t certainly wait for the end of the race to pop champagne bottles open from a yacht with his playboy driver James Hunt. 

Formula 1 was so hip and its drivers so cool that even musicians paid tribute to them, see Brazilian Zé Roberto’s homage to Emerson Fittipaldi in his uptempo bossa ‘Lotus 72D’.

It wasn’t just a matter of drivers and engineers, though. Finnish model Nina Rindt - wife of pilot Jochen - was a regular sight, side track taking lapse time in astonishing outfits that included elegant hats and psychedelic patterns.

Talking about head wear, 1970s F1 in its fashionable dandy camaraderie was coming no short of that. From Jackie Stewart’s corduroy fisherman caps in the style of Lennon and Donovan, to Arturo Merzario’s trademark Marlboro white cowboy hat or Clay Regazzoni’s bucket hat.

This photo gallery, curated by Synaesthetic Magazine, aims to capture the electric and mundane feelings of life on the grid in the best days F1 ever lived.

From top to bottom: Great Britain Grand Prix, 1974; Clay Regazzoni, 1979; Patrick Head, Frank Williams and Alan Jones, 1979; Denny Hulme at Silverstone, 1969; Peter Gethin on McLaren, 1970; Jacky Ickx and Mauro Forghieri, Netherlands Grand Prix, 1970; Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark, Italy Grand Prix, 1967; Jochen Rindt, Monaco Grand Prix, 1970; Jackie Stewart and wife Helen, Monaco, 1972; Jackie Stewart and wife Helen, Monaco, 1972; Jacky Ickx, Monaco, 1970; Monaco grand Prix, 1973; James Hunt, Silverstone, 1976; Jacky Ickx, Spain Grand Prix, 1970; James Hunt and wife Suzy Miller, 1974; James Hunt and wife Suzy Miller, 1974; James Hunt, ca 1974/5; Grid fashion at Monaco Grand Prix, early 1970s; Nina Rindt in full Swinging London style, ca 1969/70; Arturo Merzario in his trademark Marlboro cowboy hat; Nina Rindt, 1970; Niki Lauda and CLay Regazzoni, Monaco Grand Prix, 1976; Niki Lauda, Italy Grand Prix, 1976; Mauro Forghieri and Niki Lauda, ca 1974; Niki Lauda, Clay Regazzoni and Enzo Ferrari, Maranello, Italy, 1974; Luca Montezemolo and Niki Lauda, ca 1976; Jochen Rindt on Lotus, 1970; Nina Rindt, 1970; Nina Rindt display of psychedelic fashion, 1970; Nina, Jochen Rindt and Lotus’ Colin Chapman, Austria Grand Prix, 1970; Nina, Jochen Rindt and Lotus’ Colin Chapman, Austria grand Prix, 1970; Nina and Jochen Rindt at home, 1970; Piers Courage, Belgium Grand Prix, 1970; James Hunt, 1976; Ronnie Peterson and Jackie Stewart, 1971; Nina and Jochen Rindt, 1970; Colin Chapman and family, Austria Grand Prix, 1970; Nina Rindt, 1970; Jo Siffert, South Africa Grand Prix, 1971; Donatella De Adamich, Austria Grand Prix, 1970, Germany Grand Prix, 1976.