90th anniversary special

Celebrating nine decades with the world’s oldest and best motor racing magazine

‘From Brooklands to Bernie, Blower Bentleys to blown diffusers’ reads our cover tagline this month. Motor Sport really has seen it all.

When we commissioned the following nine stories documenting key themes of Motor Sport’s life and times so far, the intention was to reflect the breadth of development in competitive motoring over the decades. The articles, written by a collection of the finest motor racing writers, achieve their aim. But they also remind us how so much has stayed the same.

In the new hybrid era, motor racing continues to be used by the wider automotive industry as the best and most direct promotional tool. National governments recognise its value, too – to the sport’s loss and gain – just as they always have. Racing still attracts the brightest and most inventive minds, eager to push the boundaries of convention to find that indefinable edge.

At a glance, motor racing has changed beyond recognition since the first days of The Brooklands Gazette in 1924. But scratch the surface, and its essence – the desire to be better, faster, for longer, for less – hasn’t changed a bit.

Within these pages, we also present the results of our recent website polls in which we asked our online community to vote for the greatest cars and drivers of each decade. Some results were predictable, but others, as you will see, might raise an eyebrow or two.