17 replies to this topic

[Giraffe]

I have heard from Dave Taylor that "Mr.Super saloon" Mick Hill has sadly passed away.

[wolf sun]

Oh no, that's sad. RIP.

[alansart]

Sad news. He gave us some fantastic racing in the 70's.

[Mallory Dan]

Sad sad news, he couldn't have been that old could he?

[ReWind]

70 in August.

[backfire]

That is very sad. Mick had a heart transplant in the pioneer days (they actually left his old heart in - so he had two) and comfortably outlived the other patients of that era. I saw him fairly regularly and he always lived life to the full in the knowledge he had lived for many years on borrowed time. The last time I saw him (shopping in Costco Derby, convertible Bentley in car park!) he seemed a lot weaker, but still cheerful.

A very capable driver (check out his solid performances in the ex Mike Wilds March F5000) and, of course, a fine engineer producing, in terms of outright wins, the most successful racing car ever with the original Boss Capri.

Thanks Mick for the friendship and entertainment.  

[Paul Hurdsfield]

Very sad, thanks for all the entertainment Mick, from the days when special saloons were special.

[pete53]

Sad news. One of the great Special Saloon exponents. My earliest memory of him is in a Jaguar engined Anglia, but I think lots of us will particularly remember him in that Capri in the early 70s.

RIP

[Mick144]

Really sorry to hear this! I remember many chats with Mick at Brands in my early days as an enthusiast, always had time!  RIP Mick and thanks for all the great memories.

[john winfield]

Very sad news.  He provided great entertainment for this young enthusiast, and for many others too.

[carrotcruncher]

I,too, would like to add my condolences,

                                                               although I regret I never met/saw the man,his  undoubted skills as a racer and liking for a challenge had to be respected,I mean who else would attempt to put a F5000 engine into a VW Beetle,albeit with a silhouette body? Much Respect to you,Sir,you will be missed,

                                                                                                                              Carrotcruncher.

[foxyracer]

I was fortunate to know Mick, not well - we weren't close friends or anything, but it came about because of his early career as a GPO engineer.  As a civil servant he was a member of the Civil Service Motoring Association (CSMA).  At the time my father was editor of the Nottingham Group's newsletter "Driving Mirror" and as a teenager I produced a column following the fortunes of Mick and fellow GPO engineer Terry McNally and his succession of Anglias.  Mick was always very helpful to me - but then I wasn't a proper reporter!

 

It's a curious fact that when he had his heart transplant the donor lived on and for all I know might still be alive.  This was because he (the donor) had serious lung problems but the heart was OK and apparently it's easier to do a heart and lung transplant than just a heart or just lungs - or at least it was at the time. So that was what happened and there was a good heart going spare that suited Mick.  It is also true that he kept his own heart so ended up with two.  Unique and pioneering stuff.

 

I've often thought someone should have written his biography; I'm not aware of anything having been published but it would have made fascinating reading.  I guess it's a bit late now, or at least made more difficult by his sad passing.   

[ReWind]

Michael James Hill's obituary by the BRDC:

 

 

It is with regret the Club has to announce the death of Full Member Mick Hill who died on 19 November, aged 70 years after a long illness.

Mick joined the Club in February 2000. He was a stalwart of the national Super Saloons racing scene in the early seventies building and driving some memorable cars of the period. These included the J’Anglia (a Jaguar engined Ford Anglia), the 5 litre VW Beetle Super Saloon Beetle (under whose shaped skin was a Chevy V8 from Mike Wilds’ F5000 March, Trojan F5000 suspension and a space chassis) and the Ford Boss Capri V8 (which used a GT40 engine and T70 parts).

Mick recorded a total of 96 overall race wins, securing 7 championships along the way in a career that stretched over 21 years. Mick was ranked first in the 1971 Autosport National Survey of Race Results with 33 overall wins, all in a year that included winning the Triplex Saloon Car Championship. He also recorded 20 overall wins in 1972 which allowed him to become National Hepolite & Glacier Saloon Car Champion. In 1973, Mick was crowned KMS Silverstone Driver of the Year and Esso Uniflo Special Saloon Car Champion with 18 overall wins that year and his 10 overall wins in 1974 allowed him to win the Super Saloon Championship and the Forward Thrust Saloon Car Championship.

The funeral will be on Wednesday 3 December at 2pm at Markeaton Crematorium, Markeaton Lane, Derby, DE22 4NH.  All are welcome.

 

 

[Giraffe]

They're giving Mick quite a send off at Donington Park & then in Derby tomorrow.....

 

http://www.specialsaloons.co.uk/

[foxyracer]

Thanks for the tip-off.  Donington was cool.  Maybe the hearse driver was a bit out of his comfort zone but I'm sure the engine enjoyed a rare blast.  There was a small but select gathering to wave from the pit-lane and good to see Marcus Pye there too.  A great send-off for Mick.

[Tuboscocca]

Thanks for the tip-off.  Donington was cool.  Maybe the hearse driver was a bit out of his comfort zone but I'm sure the engine enjoyed a rare blast.  There was a small but select gathering to wave from the pit-lane and good to see Marcus Pye there too.  A great send-off for Mick.

 here are 24 sec

 

 

 

Michael

[rdmotorsport]

What a nice guy Mick was, we ran his ex BMW M1 after he sold it to Bernie Roonie for a while and he was always helpful with a wicked sense of humour, RIP

[mikeallen]

I was part of the small group at the end of the pitlane. I had to go, the guy was a hero, not just as a driver, but engineer, creator of such magnificent beasts as the J'Anglia, the Boss Capris (2), The VW Beetle Chevrolet, The Taylors 24 Jaguar, The Pheonix Chevrolet and the BMW M1. The service was a fitting tribute too, the final send off, the chequered flag draped coffin, was to The Chain...Fleetwood Mac...Of course...and we walked out to Walk of Life by Dire Straits...says it all really. If I could figure out how to upload photos I would post the ones I took all those years ago!