Keith Collantine of F1 Fanatic has written a fascinating post on the 2008 Monaco Historic GP, accompanied by some excellent photographs. These illustrate most effectively a change in the appearance of GP cars from 1968 to 1970 that was probably greater than the move to rear engines (1959/1960) and the exploitation of ground effect (1979/1980).
A failed attempt at change - six-wheeled Tyrrell P34
Take a look at the oldest cars in Keith's array of photos, the pre-war Auto Union and the Ferrari 312. Both are coincidentally rear-engined but resemble the front-engined cars of the first half of the 20th Century in being essentially a metal tube with a hole cut out somewhere near the middle for the driver and a wheel at each corner.
The Ferrari 312B2, together with the BRM P33, are most interesting in this context in that they are cars that bridge the interim period between the "tube" era and the winged age. The wings are very obviously just additions to an existing design - almost afterthoughts to an outdated philosophy.
Then look at the McLaren M23, one of the first cars to include wings in its initial design. Suddenly the wings seem an integral part of the look of the car and we know that, were they to be removed, we would be left with a very odd-looking beast indeed. Part of the reason for this is the accompanying fashion for sidepods. They had been tried before in various ages but now they become essential to the look of a F1 car, combining with the integrated wings to create a new basic shape that is with us still.
And that is what strikes me most forcibly when looking at these pictures; the main reason why old fogies like myself are laughed at when we suggest getting rid of wings has nothing to do with aerodynamics at all. The idea is anathema because it would alter the archetypical appearance of the F1 car so radically that we would be in a third age of the sport. We are conservative creatures and never so happy as when our environment is comfortable and secure because we know it so well.
I should warn you, however. Somewhere out there is a Colin Chapman who will introduce an idea to F1 so ingenious, so radical and so surprising that it changes the shape of the cars. Perhaps it happens only once in a century but it happens, of that you can be sure. It may not come tomorrow or even in the next decade, but it will come, sooner or later, it will come...
Oh, I do enjoy setting cats among pigeons!