Here’s a glimpse at Demaras Racing’s collection of vintage and antique racing programs acquired over the years. The best souvenir from a race weekend was always the official programs, which included the race schedules, maps and list of special events.
Some 1970’s programs included aerial shots of the track, providing a glimpse few had ever seen, and giving spectators an overall sense of the facilities’ size. For example, Mosport Raceway is over 900 acres, and the road course only covers a fraction of that.
Another weird thing about the racing programs is that in the late 1960’s it was OK to take candid photographs of girls in their bikinis and publish them in a section called ‘Birds’. This must be like the Sunshine Girls on page 3 of the Toronto Sun back in the day. Just think, that sexy ‘bird’ below is somebody’s grandma now.
Even the maps of the facility looked like Yellow Submarine album art with ‘groovy’ fonts and illustrations. Races were big events with stages and bands playing every night, plus thousands camping in the infield. Times were different back then.
Even adverts in the programs are surprising by todays standards. Brands of beer you’ve never heard of, and cigarette ads without warnings. Seems they weren’t dangerous back then. Racing seemed like a big business, and so many companies were involved in sponsorship. From Coca Cola the Royal Bank of Canada, racing was cool and everybody wanted a piece of the action.
Racing programs from the 1980s showed a real shift in style. Car companies were sponsoring single-make series to help promote their cars, and encourage grassroots racing. It was the age of tobacco sponsorship. Players Lights and Rothmans launched hundreds of Canadian racing careers. Cigarette money’s absence at the track is painfully obvious today.
Canadian companies did step in to fill the void tobacco money left, at least for a few years. Retailers like Mac’s Milk, Becker’s and Shopper’s World plus local beers from Labatt’s and Molson’s promoted their wares at the race track. It was a great era for road racing, and even 24 hour endurance races, at Mosport International Raceway just east of Toronto.
Looking through these old programs provides a glimpse into the history of Canadian motorsports, and for those old enough, even a feeling of nostalgia. For those too young to have been around at the Q107 24-Hours of Mosport, it’s a look at a bye-gone era that will never return again.
Cool! And the birds are not flying quite so high these days….little more low to the ground i’d say 🫢
I don’t know how they got away with the ‘birds’ section. Imagine some creep taking pics of girls in their bikinis at the track, then publishing them. Maybe I’m wrong… maybe they signed a waiver. But WOW is this old fashioned, yet within my lifetime!
I feel like the birds were the boobs ‘n not even the actual ladies lol
I think the Brits used to call hot young ladies ‘birds’ but it’s never been part of Canadian slang. However, since it was the British Empire Motor Club that printed the race program… it all makes sense.
The “birds” section reminds me that my wife often says motorsports are rather sexist. Things have changed, but not a lot. Girls are still used as “promotional material,” especially in the Latino macho land in South America.
An impressive collection, Chris. Congratulations, that’s a really cool material. I still have all the credentials I got from working at classic car meetings and drag racing events when I was in Brazil, but I need to find them.
You should display those credentials at work, so people know you’re a real gearhead!
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Yeah… the ‘birds’. I thought it was so sexist and old fashioned. Over here, there’s a newspaper called The Toronto Sun and all through my youth on page three there was a bikini girl to greet readers. As a teenager I loved it. Now as a modern man (and a father of a 15 year old girl) I see how out of touch the bird section is.
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And hey, Rubens. Look at the blonde one, with the bikini top. See her? She’s someone’s grandmother now!