I know that you guys get Top Gear but the BBC actually do some quality motoring documentaries. You might want to watch this on BBC iPlayer instead of the three Top Gear knob-ends. It has some amazing footage of motor racing in Europe and the USA in the 1950's and 60's. "Portrait of the eccentric, charismatic British motor racing legend Graham Hill, a man who lived and died during a time when sex was safe and racing was dangerous. Uniquely, he won the Formula 1 World Championship, the Indy 500 and the Le Mans 24 hours; he won the Monaco Grand Prix five times and was a great raconteur and a dashing figure with a keen eye for the ladies. Features contributions from family, close friends and former colleagues including son Damon and track rival Jackie Stewart" Here's the link; http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00bv14q/Graham_Hill_Driven/
as a kid growing up in the 60's and into sports cars and road racing he was a hero along with Stirling Moss.
Graham Hill was a favorite of mine, hope you don't mind me sharing some images..... Winning the Indy 500....
I read his book when I was a kid, he was quite the character. They dont make them like that anymore...
Great Pictures Mr. Finch. The Lotus 49b is stunningly beautiful. Stripped down to the bear minimum. It must have been a touch loud sitting six inches in front of a DFV.
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Very sorry that you can't get this over in the USA. How very shortsighted of the BBC. Thanks for posting all of the wonderful photographs. Loved the one in the bath!!! Could you see Shuemacher taking part in something like that??
Hill was quite a driver, but Jimmy Clark was even better. Maybe the best ever, IMO. I've got some old VHS tapes of Clark driving a Cortina at Brands Hatch that would make a rally driver sweat. Amazing car control.
Seeing him race in person was just one of the benefits of growing up 45 min from Watkins Glen- and having a uncle who was head of PR for the winery that supplied the winner's circle champagne made it pit-passes-r-us. Quite a list back then, and still have a couple boxes of slides- Graham Hill, Phil Hill, Stewart, Clark, Surtees, McLaren, Hulme, Gurney, Grant, Rindt, Bonnier, Miles, Foyt, Amon, Revson, Hall, Sharp, Penske as a driver, Parsons, Fulp, Motschenbacher, Donahue, Titus, Hansgen, Savage, MacDonald, Follmer, Jones, Posey, Siffert, Ickx, Oliver, all the old greats- nothing like the whiney primadonnas in todays NASCAR etc. G.Hill always had an aristocratic, but real air about him- he would have been perfect in many roles in the old WWII movies- like Peacock in "The Devil's Brigade"- or many of the roles played by Sean Connery
Cool pics - Thanks. i Think he still the only driver to have won the Indy 500 and F1 championship in the same year.
A Graham Hill story that gives a bit of insight as to his personality. Back in the 1960s he was testing a new engine and gearbox ratios. I cannot recall which track. He had over revved two engines to destruction. The car had a tell tale tach which was evidence of his abuse. At the next test he wore a ring he had fabricated which had a magnet in the setting. When the engine over revved, he used the magnet to pull the tell tale needle back to limits. A team mechanic, Phillip (can't remember his last name), took a tach apart and fabbed a needle of brass. Another test day and Graham missed a shift. No engine damage, but high RPMs. He didn't want to return to the pits with that showing so he used his magnetic ring. He repeatedly ran it across the glass, so many times, with so much pressure, that he scratched and cracked the glass. Never did hide upper limit. A great laugh for all. The man had a wonderful sense of humor. A true gentleman. R.I.P.
Theres a way of masking your IP address that is EASILY found online which fools BBC iPlayer into thinking your in the UK...and you can watch it.. Not that I would know anything about that of course.... The site of Graham's fatal plane crash was less than 10 mins from the house I grew up in.
His sense of humour really showed in his book "Life At The Limit". Really funny read, and considering what most successful race car drivers egos are like, fairly self-effacing. This thread has actually inspired me to try to hunt up a copy and read it again, its been about 40 yrs since I last read it.
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