Not a terrible day at the office for Brabham, Surtees, Hill, and Clark.
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A Driver's Work is Never Done
Tag: Graham Hill
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Raised in the Pits
When you think about it, Damon Hill accompanied his father to the track so often that he really only had one choice: Become a racing driver or never go to the track again.
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A Bit of a Wiggle-Woggle
Then again, why just listen to Graham Hill talk about Monaco when we can just ride shotgun.
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Graham Hill on the “Proper Road Race”
If you’re going to get an audio tour of Monte Carlo’s road racing circuit, you may as well get it from Mister Monaco.
If this photo of Graham Hill isn’t the original photograph, I don’t want to know. I don’t want to believe that this was just desaturated and cooled in Photoshop. I want to continue believing that this photo is the kind of thing Instagram strives to achieve with it’s technology, not the result of digital retouching.
The hues. The angles. The drama. I can’t reasonably articulate why it matters to me whether this shot was composed “in camera” or on a laptop. It just does.
Thanks, Sex, Drugs n Rack & Pinion.
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1963 RAC Tourist Trophy
1963 RAC TT Poster 
Roy Salvadori pits in the E-Type Lightweight 
The start of the 1963 RAC Tourist Trophy at Goodwood 
RAC TT at Goodwood 63 
Graham Hill’s 250 GTO in the pits
More at IMCA Slot Racing.
Drama on the closing lap of the ’67 Italian GP at Monza. Clark set pole and fastest lap, and had a tremendous drive after coming back from a puncture—but he’d end up on the orangeade end of the equation.
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Around Rouen with Graham Hill
With a first row start and fastest lap in the race, the 1962 French Grand Prix really should have belonged to Graham Hill. But a minor bump with a privateer and later engine problems forced Graham to finish 10 laps off the pace. This race was made famous, of course, by Gurney’s win in a Porsche — the first Formula 1 win for both. Let’s take a spin around the forests of Normandy with Graham Hill at the wheel of his unlucky BRM, shall we?
Often when you say that a car is ex-racing driver it means that a driver of some note once piloted the machine. By that definition, this is certainly an Ex-Graham Hill. Very rarely however, can that same term be used to describe both the driver and the builder of a racing car. But that, amazingly, is the case with this very special Lotus 11. Graham Hill built this car with his own hands from a Colin Chapman supplied kit in April and May of 1956.
Hill was an employee of Chapman’s at the time, toiling by day at Lotus Engineering as a mechanic in order to stay close to the racing scene he loved so dearly. Hill had been racing for some time by ’56, but lacked the funds to keep a car together on his own. Taking a day job at Lotus was a great way to be in earshot of an opportunity at some seat time. And I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Old Colin Chapman kept Hill on for the very same reason.
Hill campaigned this Lotus 11 in the Autosport Production series as a works car. Chapman provided the kit, but maintained sufficient ownership of the car for her to run as a works machine: making this a very busy 11 indeed. Hill put her on the podium 9 times in ’56, winning 4 races (Hill must’ve loved Brands Hatch, it was the location of all of his wins in this car that year). The car’s work, however, wasn’t done there. Chassis #208 was also the factory’s show car and press mule. And, it is speculated, served as Hill’s road car for the drives to and from the races.
Ian Walker purchased #208 in 1957 and competed with a swapped engine. Eventually the car fell out of competition. Now, however, the car is reunited with her original 1,172cc side-valve and is fresh off a masterful Mike Brotherwood restoration and fantastic, patinad coachwork and paint by Sovereign Coachworks. Together they’ve done a tremendous job of making a complete restoration look lived in and not over-restored. Jan Lühn now offers the car. An amazing vehicle with fantastic history that will surely give the buyer entry in to the races of his choice.
Further reading:
Jan Lühn has photos, with more information to come.
Sovereign Coachworks also features a gallery of the bodywork. Wonderful.