Some Memories of Sir Stirling Moss & Other Racers From That Era

[scannon]

This is the first of several emails on a closed group. I have permission of the author, Bob Storck to post them here. This one starts with some background on the author. Some of you may know him.

 

I likely would have become a hot rod enthusiast, but for having a dentist who was a sports car nut in the late 50s when we lived in Pacific Beach. My mom had bragged a bit too much about my math and science skills, and the next weekend, I was ensconced in the right seat of his Porsche with a Curta calculator and a Stevens Rally Wheel, navigating a local event.

 

We won our class, and from there, he took me to many races. He had two supreme heroes, Stirling and Rodger Ward, the latter whom he and friends supported financially. During the off season from Indy and European Races, many international, stock car and champ car drivers were lured by the big purses to Riverside, Laguna and Palm Springs. I met his heroes there, and became a lifelong fan of both. Over the years, especially as an auto journalist, I was blessed to spend close times with Sir Stirling, and rode with him whenever possible.

 

I was captivated by Moss' epic win in the '55 Mille Miglia, and my fandom was cemented by reading accounts, as they happened, of his magnificent drives in an Aston Martin in the '59 Nurburgring 1000km and the earth shattering win in a two year old Lotus vs. new Lotus and shark nose Ferrari steeds at the '61 Monaco GP.

 

Luckily, I managed to hear the tale of the Mille from not only Sir Stirling but his co-competitor, Dennis Jenkinson at separate slide illustrated dinner talks. You could have thought they were describing different races.

 

Jenks was full of awe and stretched his considerable vocabulary of superlatives giving us an impassioned account of the full throttle sojourn across the length and breadth of Italy. You may recall photos of the MB SLR's dented fender, but Dennis related at least five spins and off track excursions, all handled with aplomb and without speed reduction by Stirling. I am sure that I was not alone in being on the edge of our seats, our dinner ignored until the final flag dropped.

 

By contrast, Moss began with an analysis of his three previous DNFs at the Mille in Jaguars, and how he applied the lessons of each to the '55 running. He described working with the obsessive Daimler engineers and technicians, his interviewing and practicing the route with Jenkinson, and their attention to details including weather reporting, meals, and resting/physical preparation before the event. Each track incident was described as 'learning experiences' with Stirling taking the blame in each case. And then the summation. What else did we expect?

 

Stirling Moss after his epic win in the 1955 Mille Miglia ...

 

https://forum.miata.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=330737&stc=1&d=1586828791

 

 

In finality, being blessed by friendships and visits with dozens of racing luminaries from Denise M., to Eric Carlsson, to Eddie Cheever, to Bob Tullius, and countless more, when discussions turned to drivers and impressive races, Sir Stirling was invariably among the first mentioned.

 

He was a model for us all, and we were privileged to have shared his time with us.

[escondidoron]

Thanks for posting.

 

I have many fond memories of Sir Stirling. Reading Jenks' recounting of the MM is an epic 1st person tale recounted here in the Motorsport article, 'With Moss in the Mille Miglia' right after it happened in 1955 is a stand out for me. Lotus got their 1st F1 win at Monaco in 1960 thanks to Moss and privateer Rob Walker. He came from a racing family with both parents and his sister showing considerable talent and results. I remember another interesting tidbit from the 70s when Moss was a TV motoring correspondent covering the F1 circus. An especially enlightening interview with James Hunt comes immediately to mind:

 

I will always cherish the couple of opportunities that I have had to briefly chat with him at the FoS and Revival. He was a very personable and approachable gentleman in my brief encounters.

[scannon]

This came to me through Bob.

 

From: "Graham Brown in the Racing History group

 

In the days before South London's famous Wimbledon Stadium was sadly demolished, oil company BP used to sponsor a big meeting there towards the end of each season. The main fare would be Hot Rod racing, but the company would also arrange for some Banger racing (a sort of cross between jalopy racing and a demo derby would about describe it for US citizens not familiar with this barbaric practice!) to take place and would have the regular drivers prep a number of cars for a combined press-celebrity race.

 

I used to get an entry as a journalist and Stirling often raced too as a celebrity entry. One time he was in a 'Wedge' Austin Princess. They were a 'sideways 6', so it had loads of power, plus it was fwd, so perfect for Wimbledon's tricky shale surface. Allied to Stirling's innate talent, he paralysed the lot of us and won easily.

 

Us "celebs" had the choice to go out in the rest of the meeting, or retire to the restaurant for a jolly and return the cars to their owners. Mr Moss and I both decided to race on, and I was lined up behind him for the next race. I thought, 'there's more to this than just going fast matey' and shoved him straight into the barriers when the green came out - a perfectly legal move I might add.

 

I have a pal who still sends me Xmas cards addressed to the 'The man who put Stirling Moss in the fence'! Many years later, I was able to make amends somewhat when I was sat in the VIP lounge at the London Racing Car Show and saw Sir Stirling having a polite (but fruitless) discussion with security, who wouldn't let him in as he didn't have the correct pass. I was able to convince them that if anyone was entitled to come into this area, it was certainly him!

 

Slightly OT but perhaps still of slight interest, is a small anecdote regarding Stirling's Mille Miglia co-pilot, Denis Jenkinson. Back in '92 when Aldershot Stadium was closing down, I was tasked with writing several obituaries for the place. Someone suggested that I should speak to 'Jenks' as he was a regular on the terraces there. I thought that sounded highly unlikely but, despite his reputation for irascibility, he was both charming and forthcoming during our long telephone conversation about his long-standing interest in all forms of UK oval track racing.

 

(the accompanying photo is not 'Mossy' in the Princess but at the wheel of an Austin A60 on another 'BP Night'. The other picture is Stirling with Graham Hill and a Midget racer at another London stadium, White City, in the early 1970s.)

 

 

Graham Brown

Horton UK

[Croc]

Great posts Skip and Ron! Very much enjoyed reading them.