1962 1st Ed. FORMULA 1 Motor Car Racing Board Game by Waddingtons, England

This classic British board game is complete and in very good vintage condition as shown. Made in England by John Waddington of Leeds, this is the very first edition of the game and dates from 1962, making it over 60 years old!  An excellent race game and the Grandaddy of all tactical Formula 1 board games, predating Speed Circuit (1971) and Championship Formula Racing (2017).

The game is complete with contents as follows:

– Double-fold game board.
– Six dashboards with all dials present and working..
– Six original race cars (unchewed!).
– Full packs of ‘Tactic’ and ‘Pit’ cards.
– 2 dice.
– Original Instruction booklet / Flyer / Q.C. Packing Slip

“A simple racing game. The players use “dashboards”, cardboard cutouts resembling dashboards, complete with a speedometer and tire and brake wear gauges. Maximum acceleration is fixed, tire and brake wear may happen as a result of cornering too quickly—then there are the dreaded spinouts. A few tight spots exist, so blocking is also an effective tactic.
Tactic cards (you get 5 for the entire race) put a few aces up your sleeve. They can give you an extra burst of speed or of cornering ability.
Pit stops will get you fresh brakes and tires but you must reach them by exact count—otherwise you’re forced into another lap. Also, pit cards throw a monkeywrench in—usually you’ll lose a turn, but now and then you’ll get extra fast service, a burst of speed in coming out of the pit, or special brakes good for one extra corner.
The race runs for up to 10 laps; the player furthest past the finish line when all players have had the same number of turns wins.
The game’s simplicity makes it accessible to younger players, whilst it remains enjoyable by adults.”

Comments:
“Don’t let the dated appearance fool you. This is an excellent racing game. It’s the predecessor to Speed Circuit. It uses a clever Dash Board mechanic to maintain and easily visualize all the cars resources and speed. A fixed turn order with careful use can force an opponent to make a less than optimum move. And a selection of Tactic cards. Very simple to learn. A nice caveat : Almost any of Speed Circuits tracks can easily be converted for play in this game!”

Extract from Wikipedia…

An original copy of the game is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, a prominent art and design museum in London. The museum describes the game by saying “It was a success when released in 1962, and was released in various international editions throughout the next two decades.”

The British broadsheet newspaper the Daily Telegraph carried an online motoring-section article in 2004 noting that “In the 1970s, many a wet Saturday afternoon could happily be spent in your living room, … Waddington’s Formula 1 – the prince of all board games – on the floor.” and the following year the same column mentioned it as a recommended retro purchase.

Reviews by board-game enthusiasts and special-interest sites include:

Formula 1 is, arguably, the benchmark against which all other motor racing board games must be measured. The reason is simple: skill is the predominant factor… The central idea that makes the game worthwhile is that movement is fully under player control… I never understood why they stopped making this game: if you ever see it anywhere, buy it.
— Dave Budd