48 replies to this topic

[AAGR]

In the nicest and most affectionate way, I'm wondering who might generally be agreed to have told the best and tallest stories in motor sport ?

I'll start the ball rolling by nominating that lovely man, Gregor Grant, whose stories got better and better as any evening progressed.

GRAHAM ROBSON

Edited by AAGR, 13 January 2012 - 20:15.

[Vitesse2]

Edgar Jessop?

[Doug Nye]

Cetainly justified in citing Gregor, Graham. Otherwise, any serious racing driver who has just made an unforced error...?

DCN

[D-Type]

Alfred Neubauer

And in fairness to GG his tall stories didn't get into his writing.

[elansprint72]

Hamish Moffat.

However, all his stories were tall but true. Sadly missed, we will never see his like again.

[Phil Rainford]

Eddie Jordan?


PAR

[Collombin]

Eddie Jordan?

He's only about 5'6".

[Phil Rainford]

He's only about 5'6".

[Ray Bell]

Best at telling the stories?

Or best at making them up?

Frank Gardner would take a lot of beating on both scores...

[Lee Nicolle]

Best at telling the stories?

Or best at making them up?

Frank Gardner would take a lot of beating on both scores...

Agreed

[xj13v12]

Duncan Hamilton. Just read "Touch Wood" for proof.

[Graham Gauld]

Graham and Doug,

I agree with you about Gregor as I was his Scottish correspondent for a number of years back in the 1950s however the trouble was that some of Gregor's apparently tall stories were actually true but he could come out with sime good ones. On a Fiat press trip to Turin about a dozen of us were waiting in the hotel bar to go for dinner when Gregor and that newspaper motoring legend Basil Cardew of the Daily express were having an argument about the Mille Miglia. Gregor announced that he had done the 1938 Mille Miglia with Campari ! Cardew replied " Don't talk rubbish Gregor, Campari was killed in 1933" Without a moments hesitation save for a puff of his ever present cigarette, Gregor replied "....I was with his son". There was no answer to that, there ws no truth in it either !

[cheapracer]

Best at telling the stories?

Or best at making them up?

Frank Gardner would take a lot of beating on both scores...

Agreed

Add another one to the count.

[Ducfer]

Oscar Koveleski
Founder of the PRDA, Autoworld, kid racers and a Early proponent of CanAm. Hilarious story teller.
http://www.oscarkoveleski.com/

[ensign14]

Stan Barrett, who counts on the basis he had a number of NASCAR races; in a Motor Sport interview he seemed to be the only person on the planet who thought he actually DID break the Land Speed Record in the Budweiser Rocket.

[brucemoxon]

How 'bout Smokey Yunick?

But I'm prepared to vote for Frank Gardner too.





Bruce Moxon

[delta44]

I for one never get tired of listning to motor racing stories from the past.I remember talking to John Fitzpatric and asking him about racing at Spa back before the track was altered.He told me about the time he went out and qualified the CSL BMW and had done a good couple of quick laps,he then said he had a new young team mate and that he had gone just a shade quicker than him.What!!! "I said".John then told me his new team mates name.Niki Lauda. Brilliant story.

[Allan Lupton]

Tall stories aside, there are some people who can make the most out of recounting strange happenings: they are the people to whom things should happen (and it often seems that is the case)! One such is Ivan Dutton - nice man and great raconteur.

[Paul Hurdsfield]

If you read the F1 diary in the Telegraph TNFr Simon Arron Tells a nice tale or two.

[Lemnpiper]

How 'bout Smokey Yunick?

But I'm prepared to vote for Frank Gardner too.





Bruce Moxon

Smokey Yunick would be great if you want "tall stories" but Chris Economaki might get my nod if i wanted to hear tales of the past more fact based.


On that point i'm sure many of the "elders" in racing now would all be great at telling stories about the past , without revealing how much of the comments are tall tales or the truth. The trick now is to get them to record those stories/tall tales for others to enjoy before they are gone. So much will be lost if it isnt.

I'm sure we all know folks on the local level that would fit into this category. Some in fact may also be posting in this forum now



Paul

Edited by Lemnpiper, 16 January 2012 - 01:31.

[elansprint72]

Perhaps we should abide by the Wiki definition of "tall tales"?

A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some such stories are exaggerations of actual events.

So; that's that one sorted.

[GMACKIE]

Perhaps we should abide by the Wiki definition of "tall tales"?

A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some such stories are exaggerations of actual events.

So; that's that one sorted.

Not motorsport, but in an effort to return to the 'tall-story' theme:-

The old stockman was sitting in the pub, [out west, Queensland], listening to the complaints about the drought.

"When I was a young fella, one drought was so bad, we had to take a herd of cattle all the way to Tasmania to get feed" he remarked.

"How did you get across Bass Strait?", asked one of the lads..... Quick as a flash, the old man came back with:-

"We didn't go that way".

[brucemoxon]

I have another one.

Bruce Garland - former rally driver, now off-roading (Dakar and the like). Bruce is incapable of going anywhere or doing anything without a funny incident. And he tells them so incredibly well.

At his first rally, he arrived (at warp speed) at a creek crossing. There was one of those water-level posts, but it said there was a metre and a half of water in the creek. Carrying far too much speed to stop, he ploughed into the water, of which approximately two drops splashed up. Here he was in a complete funk, and some people had cut the sign down. There was only a few inches of water.

But when Bruce tells it (taking about five minutes) it's the funniest story ever. And when he does an event like Dakar, or the Australian Safari or the Finke Desert Race, well, the yarns come thick and fast.





Bruce Moxon

[Vicuna]

Eoin Young is pretty good, Frank Gardner was FANTASTIC.

I bet Bobby Unser would be handy too

[Bauble]

Here! Here!

[Derwent Motorsport]

Stuart Turner must go on this list. He is of course an award winning after dinner speaker. We are fortunate to have him coming to our motor club dinner later this month.

[Catalina Park]

I saw the thread title and immediately thought of Frank. On how many different circuits and in how many different cars did he come around a corner only to have an ambulance coming at him against the traffic. (and if it wan't an ambulance it was a Peugeot being driven by a farmer)
I have heard him tell the same instability story about the GT40 and the Porsche 917 with only the engineers accent changed.

Frank told very good yarns and that is why we loved him. They were not always 100% accurate but that didn't matter.

[Giraffe]

We should try & get TNFer Jagracer who engineered Frank on occasion to describe some of his de-briefs which were seeming always told in story form, eg: "I knocked on the door of the brake dept., and there was nobody at home....." etc. Phil?

[James Page]

Best at telling the stories?

Or best at making them up?

Frank Gardner would take a lot of beating on both scores...

Agreed! I recently watched a DVD of a talk Frank Gardner gave, and he claimed to have been the person who did the famous 'bike jump' stunt in The Great Escape. By almost every other account I've read, it was Bud Ekins.

On the other hand, the whole talk was incredibly entertaining...

[David M. Kane]

Derek Daly...

[E1pix]

Though a Speed Channel announcer and not a driver, my money's on Greg Creamer all the way.

A friend's friend, I've done a few road trips with him and my jaw still hurts... perhaps the funniest man to ever live, and one Helluva knowledgeable guy about our sport.

[PCC]

In the nicest and most affectionate way, I'm wondering who might generally be agreed to have told the best and tallest stories in motor sport ?

Buford.

[wildman]

Working in the motorcycle industry has afforded me opportunities to spend time with a number of well-known riders. One of the most memorable and entertaining evenings of my life was a dinner seated at the same table with Kevin Schwantz -- a hilarious storyteller who pulls very few punches.

[Giraffe]

Derek Daly...

...along with every Irishman I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story!

[Vicuna]

Buford is a great call.

What happened to him?

[E1pix]

...along with every Irishman I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story!

Damn right, that would be bad and utterly unacceptable!

I met/photographed Derek at a ski "event" in Vail in late 1992, but wasn't able to get him drinking-hence-talking more than niceties. Sounds like I missed out, nice guy though.

Chatted with he and Mo Nunn on a Montreal elevator in 1978 also, all 30 seconds of it heading for the hotel-top bar. I was 18 and drinking, don't think the drivers were.

[Giraffe]

Louis T Stanley was good for a few; check out his book "Strictly off the record".......

[JacnGille]

Buford is a great call.

[CarlRabbidge]

Agreed! I recently watched a DVD of a talk Frank Gardner gave, and he claimed to have been the person who did the famous 'bike jump' stunt in The Great Escape. By almost every other account I've read, it was Bud Ekins.

On the other hand, the whole talk was incredibly entertaining...

Bud Ekins was of coure Tim Gibbes a very acomplished scrambles and motocross rider who now runs mylaps back in NZ. Tim was racing in Europe at the time and did a number of movie stunts to fund his racing. On his return to NZ he became a very good rally driver and to this day still organises major motocross meetings as well as runing the timing systems at major race meetings. Like most kiwis of the time he was pretty friendly with Frank too.

[RobertE]

Years ago, at Silverstone, I was chatting with the late, great, Walter Hayes. We were wandering back to the car park after listening to an address by a well-knowm Texan driver, noted for his sartorial elegance in his day - farmer's overalls. He had also helped to deliver the Sunbeam Tiger and the AC Cobra. Walter said:

"You know, he's a much better liar than he thinks he is..."

[GD66]

Bud Ekins was of coure Tim Gibbes a very acomplished scrambles and motocross rider who now runs mylaps back in NZ. Tim was racing in Europe at the time and did a number of movie stunts to fund his racing.

Bud Ekins is NOT Tim Gibbes. Bud did the jump, Tim did the lay-the-bike-down into the wire trick.
And if you look closely, even McQueen gets in on the act, appearing as one of the German bike riders in the pursuit.
Bud also did the lay-the-Bonneville-down trick under the truck in the chase scene of Bullitt.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Vicuna
Buford is a great call.

What happened to him?

He got sick of people calling him a liar...

[elansprint72]

Bud Ekins is NOT Tim Gibbes. Bud did the jump, Tim did the lay-the-bike-down into the wire trick.
And if you look closely, even McQueen gets in on the act, appearing as one of the German bike riders in the pursuit.
Bud also did the lay-the-Bonneville-down trick under the truck in the chase scene of Bullitt.

I heard it was Frank Gardner.

[Ray Bell]

Nahhh...

He was still recovering from fishing the car out of the lake at Enna! Remember, that was the time he had to fight off all the water snakes?

[Lemnpiper]

Buford.

And the longer he remains gone the bigger the legend grows.


For those not here then google his name and read his posts within the forums.


Beware some did consider him to be a big windbag so dont be surprised at some comments posted in response to his comments

[Jagracer]

Hi, As TNFer Giraffe has said I Worked with Frank Gardner when I was with Sid Taylor, Frank could never give you a factual answer like when we were testing at Silverstone & he went off, no damage to the car as we could see when he came back to the Pits, when we asked what had happened he replied "Came into the corner & knocked on the door of the brake department, but there was no bugger at home" which it turned out that a master cylinder rod had broken & the brake pedal went to the floor
On another occasion after practise the Rev counter was showing 8500 rev's he said " sorry about that but came into the corner & knocked it down a gear but ended up with a box full of neutrals & a boot full of rev's" which was his way of saying I missed a gear

This was typical of Frank, and if you were ever at the dinner table with him your meal would go cold with laughing & listening to his wonderful stories

Phil Bradford

[Richard Jenkins]

Searching for his wherabouts now, I found that this chap seems to have made his career an awful lot better than it ever was. I think the only two people on here who have actually heard of Alexandre de Andrade are me and probably Ensign.


But according to this "Alexander the Great"(!) won two International F3000 races, which is quite an achievement considering he only ever started one - http://translate.goo.....26prmd=imvnso -

A kind of Portuguese speaking Buford, except de Andrade was actually there, albeit at the back of the grid.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Richie Jenkins
.....A kind of Portuguese speaking Buford, except de Andrade was actually there, albeit at the back of the grid.

Are you suggesting that Buford 'wasn't there'?

I certainly hope not. You would be calling Don Capps and a number of others liars if you are.

[Twin Window]

Let's keep this thread clean please, chaps.