1958 Coup Des Alps, Thank You Shell.

It's a long one, (If you're watching at work, take care to at least look like you're getting something done). But I really would watch this, so sit back and take a moment. It's a film taken by Shell Oil for the 1958 Alpine Rally, and it's a great window into what rally driving used to be like. It's also some of the prettiest motor racing footage I've ever seen (Rallying was done almost entierly on public roads at the time), and features names like Paddy Hopkirk and eventual winner Bernard Consten, as well as enduring gearhead crush object Pat Moss. There's also super-rare in-period footage of a Denzel (an early Porsche rival) which unfortunately comes to grief on one of the Stelvio Pass' less forgiving walls. Of course there's lots of great engine noise, especially from Consten's Alfa SZ.

Really though, it's the footage of Europe in the 1950s that's so captivating. It's amazing how colorful and empty everything looks, a timely look back at a world now completely past.