69 replies to this topic

[Marc Ceulemans]

Paul Frère died on Saturday...

[Twin Window]

What a shame.

Can one presume that he never fully recovered from the accident he suffered a while back?

[Hugewally]

Oh no...

[Vitesse2]

Il n'avait pratiquement rien perdu de ses qualités de pilote à...87 ans, et le prouva au Mans en réalisant des chronos du plus haut niveau au volant de l'Audi S8, dans laquelle il roulait pour la première fois, et qui allait remporter la course avec le trio Biela - Kristensen - Pirro.

Would that we could all be driving competition cars at 87!

Adieu, Paul. A life well lived.

[Greatest]

My sincerest condolences to each whom this concerns. Paul Frere was a true gentleman! R.I.P., Paul!

[Pils1989]

That's sad

[Barry Boor]

What a terrible shame. Condolonces to all his family and to the whole of Belgium.

[Pedro 917]

Just returned home from a wonderful weekend at the Jim Clark Film Festival to find out about his passing away. Maybe Twinny should adjust the title of this thread. Another one of our heroes is gone, R.I.P. Paul.
Here are some pictures of the Brussels Rétro Fair in October 2004 which had a tribute to his career :

[David M. Kane]

I was a huge fan of his. A real loss for all of us, a great racer!

[Tim Murray]

Thanks, Paul, for all that you gave me via your writings. RIP.

[rx-guru]

Another great character gone. RIP!

[D-Type]

Adieu Paul

[Ray Bell]

A man of great intelligence passes...

Condolences to all who were close to him.

[D-Type]

Originally posted by Twin Window
What a shame.

Can one presume that he never fully recovered from the accident he suffered a while back?

My french is very rusty, but I believe that the last line of the obituary that Marc linked in the Paul Frere in serious accident thread says exactly that.

[Richard Jenkins]

Paul Frere's books (especially Starting Grid to Chequered Flag) were the effective starting point of my interest in motorsports history.
His writing style was fantastic, for in some way, he was just recounting a recent race when he penned those words, but for a young lad finding said book some 35 years after publication, the 1960 Le Mans or the Belgian GP's of the 1950's seemed as fresh & vibrant as if they had been raced the week before.
Certainly I gained more indepth knowledge of names from the past - who, until then were just names - Gendebien, John Heath, Fangio etc.

Damn good driver too, even though he was often modest & self-deprecating about his skill.

That he should go on testing cars until the age of 89 was nothing short of inspirational. It is not often I am surprised about a 91 year old dying, but I somewhat had the notion Paul was immortal.

A sad day - though I was born 18 years after he won Le Mans, Paul Frere was always one of my racing heroes. Adieu.

[Andretti Fan]

Truly one of the last of his generation. Farewell Mr. Frere.

[Ren� de Boer]

I feel very privileged to have known him, a true gentleman and an outstanding character. Next week, the press day at the Geneva Motor Show will be different without him, and so will the Le Mans 24 Hours this year... Merci for sharing all the great memories!

[petefenelon]

Awful news. A great writer and a fine driver who maintained the highest abilities in both fields almost to the end of a long and fascinating life. My Life Full Of Cars really does show just how captivated by machinery he was - but he also had the ability to tell a human story.

The one and only time I got paid for writing about racing I was privileged enough to get my name onto the same set of credits as Paul, although I never got to meet him.

[irvine99]

RIP Paul.

irvine99

[lil'chris]

Very sad news.

Has any other journalist had anywhere near the level of success in the sporting field he covered as did Paul Frere during the 50's ?

[SWB]

Very sad.

Only this afternoon I was leafing through his 'The Racing Porsches' and wondering why nobody writes books like this anymore. I suppose nobody can, he was unique and a great talent.

[Doug Nye]

A great man. Just read the news here in the past 30 seconds. Godspeed Paul - we had little contact, but when we did thanks for so much help, so freely given...

DCN

[Cris]

I had the honor of meeting him in 1994, a very elegant and gracious man.
Godspeed, Mr. Frére.

[Jack-the-Lad]

Style, elegance, skill, talent, intelligence....a very long life filled with accomplishment, adventure and the respect of many. A long life, well lived. We dare not ask much more than that from life.

So long, Paul. You are fondly remembered.


Jack.

[race4aliving]

Originally posted by Jack-the-Lad
Style, elegance, skill, talent, intelligence....a very long life filled with accomplishment, adventure and the respect of many. A long life, well lived. We dare not ask much more than that from life.

So long, Paul. You are fondly remembered.


Jack.

My feelings exactly.
Godspeed Paul.

[JacnGille]

aawwwwwwwwwww

[RA Historian]

Very sad indeed, but let's reflect on his 91 rich full years of living! The rest of us should be so lucky to do a fraction of what he did. Rejoice in a life well lived!

[macoran]

Borrowed a book from a library on high performance driving, as a school boy.
Couldn't afford to buy it from pocket money and copied it verbatim by hand !

The man always kept impressing me.

[Gerard Gamand]

Very sad new.

When I was a little boy, I was always fascinated by the team formed by Paul Frère - Olivier Gendebien in 24 hours of Le Mans. They represented the inaccessible.

Many years later, I was able to meet them both. They had a moral elegance, what is rare in the environment of motor racing.

[Jones Foyer]

Sad to hear. He was a very good friend of Mr. Honda and was a very good supporter of the company. We'll miss him.

[Graham Gauld]

Most Thursdays there is a "Historic" table at the Monaco Automobile Club and last Thursday we were talking about Paul as he had not been well for some time. Little were we to know he would pass away two days later. He will be sorely missed in Monaco as he was always a great personality. When I produced Historic Motor Racing in Hong Kong he reacted to one of the articles by sending a photo of himself in action in one of his favourite cars, an Alfa Romeo 1900. He didn't need to do that but it was part of his infectious enthusiasm for life and the sport. We will truly miss him.

[drivers71]

A gentleman, in every sense of the word, and a fine journalist and writer. His articles were always astute and to the point, and some of his books from the 50s and 60s are true classics - probably due to his ability to capture the action through the experience his fine and varied racing career gave him - but always with modesty. Condolencies to family and his many friends, but sincere thanks for sharing your wonderful life with us.
Rich.

[eldougo]

Sad to hear another motorsport great has passed.

[Bjorn Kjer]

Sad news , I remember in my teen years , one of the first books I bought (papaerback) , dont remember the title , but it fascinated me very much , not even knowing he was more a journalist than a race driver , but good at both !

[piperp2]

Very sad, as teenager in the 1970's I was fascinated with Paul's articles in Autocar, he was an excellent journalist, I always found his writing style so interesting and because of his racing background I had enormous respect for him. 'My Life Full of Cars' is a fascinating insight into his life but the last sentence in that book really sums up his boundless enthusiasm. RIP Paul.

[RobertE]

That is awful news; he was extremely helpful to me once or twice, gave freely of his time and was amazingly encouraging to someone who was a complete stranger. He even sent me a copy of his autobiography - gratis - to use as a reference: "Quote whatever you like..."

What a grand bloke he was...

[ian senior]

This is very sad news. I first came across Paul's writing when he had a regular column in Motor in the mid to late 60s. Even though I was only about 10 or 11 years old at the time, I thought his writing was quite outstanding, being both elegant and informative. I didn't know until later that English wasn't his native language, or that he had been a very succesful racing driver. Truly a remarkable man.

[ry6]

I really enjoyed his books.

He was modest about his achievements and his writing was practical and interesting.

He also took care to help others. A case in point being a photo I sent him (with duplicate) to autograph.

He sent it back and said how grateful he was for the copy as he had had a copy of it but loaned it to someone who never returned it!

[green-blood]

This is sad news.

His 911 books are the definition of the car. And "My Life Full of Cars" was a superb link between 2 very different eras.

Go n-éirí on bóthar leat (very aptly, may the road rise up to meet you)
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam (RIP)

Paul

[FLB]

How many Grand Prix drivers would say they were something else first and a sportsman second? How many journalists could/can say they've actually finished a Grande Épreuve on the podium?


Reposez en paix, Monsieur Frère!

[Hieronymus]

Paul was a humble, gentleman. He was kind enough, and had the patience/time, to discuss racing matters with even a "nobody" like myself. He asked me once why I have a French name (being a South African national) and he was more than interested to receive a bit of a history lesson in the end.

[Rosemayer]

One of my first Heros
RIP Paul.

[Frank de Jong]

[alfredaustria]

Hi - Perhaps anybody knew? Paul went to school in Vienna (Austria). He attended the Amerling-Gymnasium in the sixth district in Vienna. That's why he spoke very well German and moreover he was long time journalist for the Austrian motorsport magazine "autorevue".
My heartfelt sympathy from Vienna - Alfred

[Keir]

His book, "Sportscar and Competition Driving" is a must read !!

[Paul Parker]

Another sad day in 2008.

I recall him driving the yellow D type at the Goodwood Festival of Speed some years ago.

Unique and irreplaceable.

[1george]

Sad news

A nice obituary made by the Belgian paper Le Soir (in french)

http://www.lesoir.be...24-579739.shtml

[fines]

Paul's regular car tests on German TV were a steady diet in my teens - I never even knew he had been a racing driver! But his style and elegance left an indelible impression on this young motorhead!

RIP, Paul

[LOLE]

A nice tribute from a Belgian artist and friend "Clovis"...
RIP Champion!

[Hieronymus]

ry6 asked me to post this photo.

Paul Frere, exhausted after winning the South African Grand Prix on 1 January 1960 in sweltering heat, accepts a welcome post race drink.

Note the holes in the Cooper’s windscreen AND the special little flap.

(From the book “Springbok Grand Prix” - copyright Robert Young)