9 replies to this topic

[JeffStein]

Famously, Stirling Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia,with Denis Jenkinson as his navigator. So much attention has been paid to the "Map Roll" that Jenkinson used, with detailed notes about the course. Has anyone heard anything about the other equipment that might have been used by Jenkinson in this event? Did he wear a watch / chronograph or use a handheld stopwatch? Maybe a Heuer attached to a lapboard? What other equipment might he have used and where is that equipment now? In a museum? Photos in a book? Any evidence on this question?

Thanks for any information on this subject.

Jeff

Edited by JeffStein, 21 April 2010 - 21:46.

[Glengavel]

Famously, Sterling Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia,with Denis Jenkinson as his navigator. So much attention has been paid to the "Map Roll" that Jenkinson used, with detailed notes about the course. Has anyone heard anything about the other equipment that might have been used by Jenkinson in this event? Did he wear a watch / chronograph or use a handheld stopwatch? Maybe a Heuer attached to a lapboard? What other equipment might he have used and where is that equipment now? In a museum? Photos in a book? Any evidence on this question?

Thanks for any information on this subject.

Jeff

Spare pair of glasses...

[David Birchall]

I think there may have been a length of rubber tubing involved too...

[D-Type]

A good excuse to re-read his account of the race. With one hand holding onto the grab handle and the other to the "bog roll" he wouldn't have had the opportunity to use a stopwatch. He refers to feeding Moss sweets and in his 1956 account talks of a tin of biscuits and fruit - but I don't suppose that counts.

[Doug Nye]

Oranges - a hand of bananas - spare specs - the roller map - wristwatch - no separate stopwatch that I know of, no reason to have one...this was no regularity event. By the way - Stirling - not Sterling.

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 21 April 2010 - 21:25.

[JeffStein]

wristwatch - no separate stopwatch that I know of, no reason to have one...this was no regularity event. By the way - Stirling - not Sterling.

DCN

True, it was not a typical rally or regularity event, but it seems that navigator and driver might want to get a sense of how they were doing, as they progressed along the course. So no need for calculations via the Halda or Curta, but I would have thought that navigator would have wanted to keep an eye on elapsed time.

Thanks for correction on the Stirling spelling.

Just for fun, and to see how the photo posting goes on this forum, here is a nice pair of Heuer Autavias, likely from the mid-1950s. Perhaps more than a navigator might have wanted on a timing board, but also far more legible (and reliable) than any wristwatch or chronograph.

Jeff

[Ray Bell]

Moss is recorded as looking at his watch in Jenkinson's account of the race...

This was as he was about to attack the Futa Pass, IIRC. Jenks realised that he wanted to beat the hour over this section and relished the thought.

[bradbury west]

- spare specs - DCN

Which, IIRC, he needed, as he lost a pair over the doorside when he was sick. jenks wore a light waterproof jacket as it was a bit cool at the early start time, whereas SCM started and drove throughout in his overalls, reckoning DSJ would have time to remove the coat later.
Roger Lund

edit. BTW, since he was mistaken for a priest by some reports, he might also have carried a hypothetical Bible, a somewhat ironic view mindful of Jenks' view of religion
RL.

Edited by bradbury west, 22 April 2010 - 07:34.

[D-Type]

True, it was not a typical rally or regularity event, but it seems that navigator and driver might want to get a sense of how they were doing, as they progressed along the course. So no need for calculations via the Halda or Curta, but I would have thought that navigator would have wanted to keep an eye on elapsed time.

~

As the Mille Migllia was a race, not a rally with cars starting at 1 minute intervals the competitors had absolutely no idea how they were doing in comparison with the opposition. Basically a driver had to go as fast as he could without taking a risk too many or breaking the car. All that in-car timing would tell you was how fast you had gone, but that was irrelevant as what matters is what you had done relative to the opposition.

Jenkinson's account says that they were given the latest position on a scrap of paper at each of the 3 or 4 refuelling stops. He also refers to passing cars that started ahead of them and seeing some that had fallen by the wayside (and failing to see Fangio). When they reached the finish they still didn't know for certain they had won until the competitors who had started after them had finished or been accounted for.

Edit: Sorry, I somehow missed the last few posts and this doesn't really tell you anything new.

Edited by D-Type, 22 April 2010 - 14:15.

[fuzzi]

Jenks' original Roller Device is marked

M Papier Ltd., Footscray, England

Replicas have been made since.