Whitney Straight
#1
Posted 28 January 2002 - 22:01
Advertisement
#2
Posted 28 January 2002 - 23:21
Originally posted by William Hunt
I quite like Straight, he was quite talented.
William, as a Rosemeyer fan, I think you would agree that you had to be slightly more than "quite talented" to be invited to drive for Auto Union, as Whitney Straight was. That was two years before Dick Seaman joined Mercedes Benz ...
#3
Posted 28 January 2002 - 23:30
#4
Posted 28 January 2002 - 23:59
"I would have liked to have driven for Auto Union, but I doubt that I would have survived to tell the tale. I don't think the prospect held much in the way of life expectancy. The Auto Union was a tricky car to handle - 16 cylinders, 600bhp, weighed 12cwt, and spun its wheels up to 160mph!. Plus I had got married by this time. I told them I wouldn't be racing any more."
And with Ramponi as chief mechanic and Reid Railton rebuilding his cars, did he really need a works car ... disregarding the Silver Arrows, had he continued, it is conceivable that his Maseratis might have emerged as the "best of the rest" in Grands Prix. On the other hand, he would probably have dropped down to Voiturette ... works Alfa Romeo driver perhaps?