Françoise Hardy inside Eagle Weslake Formula One Car

Monza, Italy - September 1966  What does this racing car and its chic female occupant have in common?  This Eagle Weslake formula one car, with its eagle’s beak nose was considered by many to be the most beautiful Grand Prix car ever built and as far as I’m concerned, Françoise Hardy was one of the best and most beautiful French singers ever.  She didn’t actually drive this car (it was driven by Dan Gurney) and she was only posing in it.  I recently had the opportunity to do what she did by posing inside a Honda Indy race car and was quite thrilled to do so!  Although Françoise Hardy starred in the movie Grand Prix, she was more well-known for her singing than her acting.  Still, it was quite an accomplishment for her to be in the best car racing movie ever made only at the age of 22.  When she was 19 years old, Françoise Hardy signed her first contract with the record label Vogue in November 1961.  In April 1962, shortly after finishing school, her first album came out. The song Tous les Garçons et les Filles (All the Boys and Girls)  became a huge success, with two million copies sold and was one of my favorite songs when I was a little kid.  Although she had long hair and usually wore jeans with a leather jacket while accompanying her songs on the guitar, she wore a genuine racing driver costume in this picture! When I was 7 years old, Françoise Hardy (as well as Sylvie Vartan) became my idols.  Several decades later, they would still be my favorite singers!