F1 pulled from TV in response to car advertising

"Advertising on racing cars in England doesn't exactly seem to have taken place by storm, but I gather that several people are working hard behind the scenes with sponsorship deals," wrote Autocar's motorsport columnist, Eoin Young, in December 1967.

- KRIS CULMER

"It's interesting that the Rhodesian Gunston tobacco company is considering John Love [reigning champion of the high-profile South African Formula 1 series] for a season on the World Championship circuits." And indeed it would be Love and fellow Rhodesian Sam Tingle who would make history at the 1968 season-opening South African Grand Prix as the first drivers of sponsored cars, their Brabham and LDS machinery painted in the bright orange of Gunston's cigarette packets.

Teams were in a tricky spot financially after BP, Shell and Firestone pulled their support, and so Gunston's scheme caught the attention of Lotus chief Colin Chapman, and for race two in Spain (weirdly, a full four months later) his cars would appear not in their traditional green and yellow livery but in the red, white and gold of Gold Leaf fags.

This was problematic for British fans wanting to watch Graham Hill win from home, due to the BBC's and ITV's unmoving aversion to advertising.

A month prior to the Spanish GP, Autocar had reported on a televised discussion between motorsport and TV management about sponsorship.