


1955 Great Britain
1956 Italy
1956 Monaco
1957 Great Britain
1957 Italy
1957 Pescara
1958 Argentina
1958 Holland
1958 Portugal
1958 Morocco
1959 Portugal
1959 Italy
1960 Monaco
1960 United States
1961 Monaco
1961 Germany
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  In the United States when you hear the name Mario Andretti
the first image that comes to your mind is auto racing. The same can be said for Stirling
Moss on the "other side of the pond." Moss was born to racing with both parents
involved in motorsports. His father Alfred Moss raced at Brooklands and when his
studies took him to America he raced at Indianapolis. His mother competed in various
trials and rallies. At the age of nine his father bought him an old Austin Seven in which
the young Moss would drive around the fields surrounding their home. The family was also
involved in horses and competitive riding which saw Stirling and his sister Pat entering
various horse show competitions. While his sister continued to compete Stirling's heart
lay more in horsepower of the mechanical variety. Despite being a natural athlete he
suffered from various childhood health problems including a kidney affliction which made
him medically unfit for National Service. This would later involve some controversy before
his father had his medical records published. While motorsports ran through the family it
was soon time to consider a proper career. Like his compatriot Tony Brooks it was once
thought that he would follow his dad's footsteps and become a dentist and take over the
family business. His father owned a lucrative business providing dental care to lower
income patients which Stirling would call a "quick yank and out, next please"
operation. But his indifferent school record made that impossible. He next tried a
"crammer" school but this too failed to dislodge any innate brilliance. At
age seventeen it was decided that the young Moss would go into the hotel trade. His
training included serving as a waiter and later night porter - another occupation he was
totally unqualified for.
Still Moss
maintained his interest in cars and was soon driving on the open road, when of legal age,
in a three wheeled Morgan. His next car was a MG and after seeing an advertisement for a
racing car with an Aspen engine he promptly ordered one for 50 British Pounds. When his
father found out, he angrily contacted the car company and had the order rescinded.
Stirling was crestfallen but eventually his father relented and allowed Stirling to borrow
his BMW sports car that he had recently purchased. It was in this BMW that Moss would
start to compete in local speed trials. His first proper race car was a Cooper 500 which he used
to compete in local hillclimbs. This car and its descendants formed the breeding grounds
of future champions. Moss became aware of these cars through fellow competitors and went
looking for the Cooper factory which he found in Surbiton. Factory may be to the wrong
word to use as it was actually just a garage but one with a showroom that had on display
one of the little jewels. Stirling contrived to drive past the showroom one day with his
father as his unsuspecting passenger. Remarking on the car in the showroom he impressed
upon his father how wonderful it would be to race such a car as this. His father agreed
that it would be so if only Stirling would assume most of the cost. Reduced to selling
most of his worldly possessions he was still short of the £600 needed but on his 18th
birthday his parents made up the difference. This would be the beginning of a long
association which saw him driving Coopers on and off for much of his career.
Since all of the pre-war racing venues were no
longer available racing in Britain was very much a small time affair, that is to all
except the competitors. Great Britain was still feeling the effects of World War II with
the rationing of Petrol, yet almost every weekend played host to some form of competition
as most of the race cars used methanol. This
tradition of numerous events every weekend continues to this day as any visitor to this
country can attest. Britain is the center of motorsports because more of it is happening
at any one time than anywhere else in the world and Moss would enter as many races as he
could and began to win more than his share. His obvious racing talent finally convinced
his parents where his future lay if they needed any convincing as his weekend races had
long become family affairs. With this support group Moss was on his way driving and racing
anything that he could get his hands on. This became a trademark of his success. In
1950 Moss got his first works team drive for HWM. Created by John Heath and George
Abecassis, partners in Hersham & Walton Motors the team consisted of three
four-cylinder Formula 2 cars. The team leader was the free spirited Lance Macklin. |
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A fascinating chance to hear Stirling Moss talk about his life and career, in a selection of interviews taken from the BBC radio and TV archive. Sir Stirling Moss, OBE, is a legendary British racing driver. In this collection we hear - in his own words - about his family and upbringing, on starting out and his early career choices, and why he became a racing driver. He discusses being a businessman, his relationships and the bittersweet feelings that occur with racing. He also touches on the many dangers involved with the sport, including the loss of friends. Stirling talks about his crash in 1962 - including his injuries and recuperation - as well as his celebrity lifestyle, his continuing popularity and reaching 70.
Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. |
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Moss
would learn his racing craft from HWM and lessons about life from Macklin. HVM's chief
mechanic was an Polish ex-serviceman by the name of Kovaleski who adopted the English name
of Alf Francis and who would later become a legend himself. At the Monza Autodrome GP he
was involved in a terrific dice with the veteran Ferrari driver Villoresi who later
congratulated the young Moss on his skill. His record with HWM was uneven to say the least
with the cars breaking down more often then not but Moss would remember this period as a
great learning experience. During this time he also raced other cars including the Jaguar
C-Type in which he won the sports car race leading up to the French Grand Prix. This would
be the first win for a car using disk brakes. |
In 1951 he was contracted to race for Ferrari at
selected events but when practice began for the first race at Bari he was told
unceremoniously that the car he supposed was his had been given to Taruffi. Deeply
embarrassed he vowed to exact his revenge against the red cars. In 1955 driving for
Mercedes alongside Fangio, he tasted his first
victory at Aintree. In 1956 he drove a Maserati and won twice more. The following year
although again pursued by Ferrari he chose to drive for the British Vandervell team. This
decision to drive for British teams whenever possible may have cost him future World
Championships. A telling example that shows the measure of this man happened in 1958 at
the Grand Prix of Portugal. During the race Mike Hawthorn spun his car but was able to
continue and eventually finished second. Which when added to his fastest lap gave him 7
points to Moss' 8 for the win. Hawthorn though, was accused by the officials of breaking
the rules by restarting in the opposite direction. Moss who witnessed the incident came to
his rival's defense and a relieved Hawthorn was able to keep his 7 points. Moss would
eventually lose the championship to his rival by one point even though he bested his
fellow countryman in race wins 4 to 1. It makes one ponder what any of the current racers would do
today in similar circumstances. Moss would continue to win against larger teams but the
championship was always just beyond his reach.
In 1962 a terrible accident at Goodwood would eventually force
his retirement. To say that his career was in any way a failure is not to know of the
achievements that were made in his name in such legendary races as the Targa Florio, Pescara and the Mille Miglia . At home in any type of car he partnered with journalist Denis Jenkinson to win
the historic Mille Miglia in 1955, the first foreigners since Caracciola
and the only Britons to ever do so. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans he was
partnered with Fangio in the lead Mercedes,
Neubauer rightly believing that if they were to race in separate cars they would race each
other to the possible determent of finish the endurance race. While leading the race they
had to withdraw with the rest of the team after tragedy struck and 78 spectators lay dead.
The result of a racing accident involving one of the Mercedes.
Moss was considered by many as being the first
modern professional driver who raced for the love of the sport but also was intent on
earning a sizable income. Staying in top physical shape he would travel all over the world
to race. He was not above
haggling for more appearance money and between races he would work at his home office
dealing with correspondence, managing endorsements or recording his thoughts for his
latest book. He had begun writing books about the sport and would later comment that when
he would race in a particular country the sales of his book there would increase. This
would help to increase his fame and conversely the amount of money he could require in
exchange for his appearance. He courted endorsements as no other driver of his day and was
sometimes ridiculed for this when in truth he was just ahead of his time. In the end he
was a racer who enjoyed driving all sorts of cars and raced only to win.

Moss still keeps track of the current Grand Prix
scene and is not hesitant to voice his opinion on current circuit design and their vast
run-off areas and ubiquitous chicanes. "To race a car through a turn at maximum
speed, is difficult", he said, "but to race a car at maximum speed
through that same turn when there is a brick wall on one side and a precipice on the other
- Ah, that's an achievement."
The Official Stirling Moss Website
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