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http://www.autosport...799&series=5Rob Walker
Rob Walker has died
Started by
MrAerodynamicist
, Apr 29 2002 15:57
59 replies to this topic
#3
Doug Nye
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 16:10
Yes - I'm sorry to say this is true. He died this morning at home after hospital treatment for pneumonia. I told 'Autosport' after SM rang to tell me - they waste no time posting it, do they???
Don't greatly mourn his death - hugely celebrate his life...
DCN
Don't greatly mourn his death - hugely celebrate his life...
DCN
#4
Ray Bell
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 16:14
Agreed... recall his tales of his experiences...
Like the diamonds, was it? In the fuel tank of one of his cars, being smuggled into England... or being one of the very lucky few to have 300SEL 6.3 on Australian roads... having SM drive for him, indeed, and seeing Seppi win after that awful week in 1968.
Like the diamonds, was it? In the fuel tank of one of his cars, being smuggled into England... or being one of the very lucky few to have 300SEL 6.3 on Australian roads... having SM drive for him, indeed, and seeing Seppi win after that awful week in 1968.
#5
dmj
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 16:14
Rob used to keep all sorts of racing reports, passes, programs, tickets etc. in his famous albums. I used to imagine one day I will be able to visit Mr. Walker, see them live, asking its creator to explain me this and that, hear tales behind the pictures... Sadly, it won't be possible. 
R.I.P.
R.I.P.
#6
ray b
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 16:24
loved his F-1 insider reports in R&T
he will be missed but not forgotton
he will be missed but not forgotton
#7
Dave Ware
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 16:37
Sad...when I started following racing in late '71, most of my source of news was Road & Track. There was a guy named Rob Walker doing the Grand Prix reports, and he would often refer to "our car", meaning the Surtees that Mike Hailwood drove and which Mr. Walker was associated with. Eventually I caught on, and learned more about his life. A grand gentleman; a grand private entrant.
Dave
Dave
#8
Keir
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 16:38
Sad news indeed!
I always thought, in a very selfish way, that Rob would live forever.
He will, however, live on in all the great stories.
The last of the privateers.
Cheers, Rob
I always thought, in a very selfish way, that Rob would live forever.
He will, however, live on in all the great stories.
The last of the privateers.
Cheers, Rob
#9
paulb
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 17:04
His R&T reports were my first taste of F1.
Although his death is sad , there is much to celebrate from his life 
Although his death is sad
, there is much to celebrate from his life
#10
bs
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 17:11
I'm another fan through his R & T reports. Rooted for him, he always seemed to epitomize the privateer.
Sad news indeed.
Sad news indeed.
#11
Roger Clark
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 17:24
Originally posted by Doug Nye
Yes - I'm sorry to say this is true. He died this morning at home after hospital treatment for pneumonia. I told 'Autosport' after SM rang to tell me - they waste no time posting it, do they???
Don't greatly mourn his death - hugely celebrate his life...
DCN
Le Mans 1939:
"Things were different in those days, I mean at one time when I was getting a bit tired I stopped to have a glass of champagne. I took over after four hours when it was just getting dusk, and I was wearing a dark pin-stripe suit. When dawn came I thought, well I don't want to be seen in a dark suit in the morning, so I stopped and changed into a sports jacket."
#12
Paul Medici
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 17:26
Sad news. He gave so much to our sport.
I have often wondered what a Tipo 156 would have looked like in Rob's colors, and how it would have done with Moss behind the wheel.
PJM
I have often wondered what a Tipo 156 would have looked like in Rob's colors, and how it would have done with Moss behind the wheel.
PJM
#13
rdrcr
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 17:29
Rob Walker was the first private entrant to defeat the factory teams in World Championship Grand Prix Racing. Between 1958 and 1968, he did it nine times.
He was the one of the few privateer's that through his race preparation, good contacts with manufactures and excellent management, got many of the best drivers to race for him. This, a part of the testimony to his success in Grand Prix racing and set the tone for another great privateer, Ken Tyrrell to carry the torch of the independents against the larger factory teams.
His writings in R & T were legendary and I enjoyed hem immensely. His years of experience behind the wall that proved invaluable for his commentary.
Rob Walker epitomised all that was best about British sportsmanship
You wish their passing will never happen, like in the case of Ken Tyrrell, but their lives were rich with experience and they enriched ours by their deeds and their words.
RIP Mr. Walker
He was the one of the few privateer's that through his race preparation, good contacts with manufactures and excellent management, got many of the best drivers to race for him. This, a part of the testimony to his success in Grand Prix racing and set the tone for another great privateer, Ken Tyrrell to carry the torch of the independents against the larger factory teams.
His writings in R & T were legendary and I enjoyed hem immensely. His years of experience behind the wall that proved invaluable for his commentary.
Rob Walker epitomised all that was best about British sportsmanship
You wish their passing will never happen, like in the case of Ken Tyrrell, but their lives were rich with experience and they enriched ours by their deeds and their words.
RIP Mr. Walker
#14
Vitesse2
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 17:34
A sad day - the passing of a great man.
#15
Gil Bouffard
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 17:43
Some of the best moments of Rob Walker's F-1 career as an entrant can be seen in "A Gentleman's Diary of Motor Racing," the late John Tate's excellent films of the "good old days."
You wouldn't want to know how many times I have run them through my VCR.The cars were prettier.
Beats the rolling billboards of today.
I remember having a too brief chat with Mr. Walker at Zandvoort in 1980.
A true gentleman has left us richer for his life.
Gil
You wouldn't want to know how many times I have run them through my VCR.The cars were prettier.
Beats the rolling billboards of today.
I remember having a too brief chat with Mr. Walker at Zandvoort in 1980.
A true gentleman has left us richer for his life.
Gil
#16
Wolf
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 18:03
Sad news indeed. And to follow up on Richard, wasn't he the last privateer to win too, with Siffert in '68 British GP? His cars in scottish national colours were always something special for me.
And to follow up on Richard, wasn't he the last privateer to win too, with Siffert in '68 British GP? His cars in scottish national colours were always something special for me.
#17
Excell
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 18:08
Here's to a true motorsport gentleman. RIP.
#18
Gary C
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 18:17
Sad news indeed. I always liked him for taking on Graham Hill after his US GP accident. A true gentlemen.
#19
rdrcr
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 18:24
Originally posted by Wolf
Sad news indeed.
Yes Wolf, as the in the truest sense of the word "Privateer". He bought and paid for everything himself IIRC.
Jo Siffert won in the Walker Lotus at Brands Hatch in 1968. Though there has never been a privateer World Champion, Stirling Moss came closest in the Rob Walker- entered Cooper in 1959 when he finished third.
Walker was the first privateer entrant to win a World Championship Grand Prix with Moss in a Cooper Climax, in the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix.
All of the rest of the "Privateer's" from 1970 onward, including Tyrrell, had some sort of official / unofficial backing or support, either from engine manufactures or other sources.
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#20
ensign14
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 18:36
If anything thankful or benevolent
On the silent tomb can fall
From our grief
From the desire with which we resurrect former loves
And lament former friendships lost
Surely we feel less sorrow from your passing
Than joy from your companionship.
Guess Tazio needed a ride...
On the silent tomb can fall
From our grief
From the desire with which we resurrect former loves
And lament former friendships lost
Surely we feel less sorrow from your passing
Than joy from your companionship.
Guess Tazio needed a ride...
#21
Richard Jenkins
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 20:38
A fine man - I met him only the once & he was lovely & unassuming - you'd have never guessed he was a successful tean owner. Always one of my favourite people in motorsport. RIP Rob Walker.
#22
fines
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 20:57
Requiem In Pace
He used to write for the Swiss magazine "powerslide" as well. Great stories... sorely missed
He used to write for the Swiss magazine "powerslide" as well. Great stories... sorely missed
#24
stevew
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 21:26
I've lived in Indianapolis Indiana all of my life (I'm 52 now) and in the late '60s, 70s and beyond, it was Rob Walker's GP reports in Road & Track magazine that made me become an F1 fan.
I don't subscribe to R&T anymore, but every time I see an issue of R&T on the newstand, the very first thing I look for is any article or column by Rob Walker. If there is one, I buy the issue.
It was all I needed.
I don't subscribe to R&T anymore, but every time I see an issue of R&T on the newstand, the very first thing I look for is any article or column by Rob Walker. If there is one, I buy the issue.
It was all I needed.
#25
Gil Bouffard
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 21:45
Wolf,
"His cars in scottish national colours were always something special for me."
By now somebody has probably set this straight. David Murray's Ecurie Ecosse and Walker's blue cars were not painted in Scotlands national colors.. As Scotland is a part of England which means the cars should have been painted Green.
Sorry....
Gil
"His cars in scottish national colours were always something special for me."
By now somebody has probably set this straight. David Murray's Ecurie Ecosse and Walker's blue cars were not painted in Scotlands national colors.. As Scotland is a part of England which means the cars should have been painted Green.
Sorry....
Gil
#26
Roger Clark
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 21:48
Originally posted by Gil Bouffard
Scotland is a part of England
Oh dear...
#27
Gil Bouffard
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 21:54
Roger,
Or is it England is a part of Scotland?
Gil
Or is it England is a part of Scotland?
Gil
#28
Barry Boor
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 22:22
I wonder just how much different the history of Formula 1 would have been had Rob Walker not become involved.
Spare a thought for Stirling who has lost a great friend today.
Spare a thought for Stirling who has lost a great friend today.
#29
LB
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Posted 29 April 2002 - 22:50
Originally posted by Gil Bouffard
Roger,
Or is it England is a part of Scotland?
Gil
don't even go there - I won't comment because I don't want to ruin a tribute thread for a great man because of some idiot that doesn't know what a geography book is.... do a little research Gil...
Ecurie Ecosse and the Walker cars both ran in the Royal Blue of Scotland.
I didn't know Rob Walker but i have heard of his achievements and again we have lost another great motor racing pioneer..
#30
Dennis David
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 00:12
A great personal loss for me as he was one of my boyhood heroes. I'll have more on his passing this weekend, to a man whose occupation said it all ... Gentleman.
#31
mp4
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 00:37
Ron was a pretty cool man. I loved reading his reports in Road and Track magazine, especially when he would rate to 'loos at various circuits.
At Detroit, in 1987, I saw him wandering around the Lotus pits. Being young and brash, I asked him what he thought of the American toilets. He just looked at me and laughed.
A true gent, all the way.
At Detroit, in 1987, I saw him wandering around the Lotus pits. Being young and brash, I asked him what he thought of the American toilets. He just looked at me and laughed.
A true gent, all the way.
#32
Joe Fan
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 00:42
I am very sorry to hear this news. It seems like we have been losing some great ones in bunches lately.
#33
Carlos Jalife
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 01:21
I am sorry too, , had some neat correspondence with him in the last years. We (the Scuderia Rodríguez) even went as far as to send a letter to Blair proposing he'd be knighted or so, they sent a letter saying he'd be considered. Guess they found some more deserving guys. Maybe it was being a Scot.
Just a thought, RIP isn't Requiescat I.P. instead of Requiem?
And wasn't Hesketh the last privateer to win with Hunt in 1975?
And how about his wife, still in Somerset? Where can we send our condolences to?
Great loos, now who gets what? Hope the stuff is donated to some museum and not just auctioned.
, had some neat correspondence with him in the last years. We (the Scuderia Rodríguez) even went as far as to send a letter to Blair proposing he'd be knighted or so, they sent a letter saying he'd be considered. Guess they found some more deserving guys. Maybe it was being a Scot.Just a thought, RIP isn't Requiescat I.P. instead of Requiem?
And wasn't Hesketh the last privateer to win with Hunt in 1975?
And how about his wife, still in Somerset? Where can we send our condolences to?
Great loos, now who gets what? Hope the stuff is donated to some museum and not just auctioned.
#34
luisfelipetrigo
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 02:17
I read the news and was not sure about it or how to react.
Then sadness came into me, he is the reason I love F1. He was the best teacher with his writting in R&T.
I even got some tears in my eyes, I really admire him.
But after reading this thread, I am happy (still with wet eyes) because of all he gave to us in his years as a priveteer and his writting. As Doug said, I celebrate his life !!!
#35
Hans Etzrodt
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 03:33
An admirable person has left us. R.I.P.
#36
prettyface
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 06:07
His stories in R&T helped to ignite my interest in the history of the sport.
I raise my glass to Rob Walker.
I raise my glass to Rob Walker.
#37
mickj
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 06:38
This is sad, I wrote to Rob Walker in 1963 and recieved a reply and photos of Stirling Moss in his Lotus 20 and also 1 of Innes Ireland in the BRP Lotus (I had mentioned I would like the name of a photographer so I could buy 1 of the BRP). Sending the photos and info on his team made me a fan of his for life. The name of his garage Pippbrook Garage.
#39
eldougo
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 07:56
SAD news. His enthusiasm for life an motor racing was so appealinghow lucky we were to have him in our life time.
#41
byrkus
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 08:08
Now there can really be some terrific racing up above, Fangio, Clark, Nuvolari, Villeneuve, Senna, Chapman, Ferrari, Walker...Sounds better than today's races, mind you.;)
RIP, Ron.
#42
Maldwyn
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 08:24
A true gentleman and sportsman in every sense. RIP
#43
Option1
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 08:26
RIP, Mr. Walker. You're already missed.
Neil
Neil
#44
Catalina Park
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 09:31
There are very few real gentlemen left in racing and now we have lost one more.
Goodbye Rob Walker.
Goodbye Rob Walker.
#45
Breadmaster
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 10:42
Here's thinking of you...
#46
rolando
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 14:44
Very sad news, thanks to him (and to Innes Ireland), I started to enjoyed the history of motorsport and the F1 world, every time I buy a new R&T, I look for Rob's reports first, I was very sad when they stopped reporting every GP, but at least I could find one or two reports every year.
RIP Rob Walker
RIP Rob Walker
#47
Doug Nye
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Posted 30 April 2002 - 19:59
Originally posted by Carlos Jalife
And wasn't Hesketh the last privateer to win with Hunt in 1975?
Carlos - very different times, very different requirements - Hesketh qualifies as a constructor, not as a private owner in the Corinthian R.R.C.Walker Racing team sense.
Although Rob's mechanics assembled cars from bare frames supplied from Cooper and Lotus and built the Walker special(s) from the ground up, the latter was/were never raced by them, and their Cooper and Lotus team cars were always regarded as having been 'bought-in' customer cars.
DCN
#48
Carlos Jalife
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Posted 01 May 2002 - 00:22
Sorry, I thought the difference was about the idea of sponsorship which Hesketh was mostly lacking in their wide side panels and wings and supported by the fortune of Lord Alexander, and since they were mostly making their cars for themselves and it was in the Hunt times a one car operation, I figured maybe they counted as privateers. Plus their first cars weren't exactly their cars but modified Marchs. But then how does the Connew and the Nicholson and the original von Opel Ensign, and all those with funny names would fare, even the original Tyrrell from 1968. Were they privateers also or were they just small constructors? I know how Ensign evolved and Hesketh too since even Héctor Alonso was running a rented one by 1977, but calling them constructors then in the early 1970s sounds a bit too big, maybe like a PR padding the FOCA numbers to add a few more numbers and sound more important than they were, when they neded to face the constructori like Ferrari.
Whatever, I didn't mean to take away from Rob, nice man, great story teller, last privateer to win.
Another question comes up: was Hesketh a privateer when they ran the Marchs modified by Harvey P.?
Whatever, I didn't mean to take away from Rob, nice man, great story teller, last privateer to win.
Another question comes up: was Hesketh a privateer when they ran the Marchs modified by Harvey P.?
#49
Cal
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Posted 01 May 2002 - 02:23
What a shock. This is the 1st I have heard of this terrible news. A true gentleman of the sport with a real sense of humor.
My favourite story is one he used to tell about being at Watkins Glen for the GP in the 60's. I'm not sure of the year. Apparently the partys at the hotel after the race were pretty huge. Budget or Avis (I can't remember which) had an ad campaigne going at the time that stated that they would pick up their cars from anywhere. So they pushed one of their Mustangs in the pool. When they rang the company to tell him the car was ready to be picked up, they were understandably very upset. Until they took a photo of it and realised what a great advertising image it would make. I think that is how it goes anyway. Just one of the many tales he told from a far more friendly time in F1.
RIP Rob Walker.
Cal.
My favourite story is one he used to tell about being at Watkins Glen for the GP in the 60's. I'm not sure of the year. Apparently the partys at the hotel after the race were pretty huge. Budget or Avis (I can't remember which) had an ad campaigne going at the time that stated that they would pick up their cars from anywhere. So they pushed one of their Mustangs in the pool. When they rang the company to tell him the car was ready to be picked up, they were understandably very upset. Until they took a photo of it and realised what a great advertising image it would make. I think that is how it goes anyway. Just one of the many tales he told from a far more friendly time in F1.
RIP Rob Walker.
Cal.
#50
josh.lintz
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Posted 01 May 2002 - 04:10
Thank you, Rob Walker, for putting the Track in R&T!
