8 replies to this topic

[GMiranda]

I'm sad to announce the passing of the widely renowned  Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira. The wide public don't know, even here in Portugal, that Manoel was an accomplished driver on the late 20's/30's, alongside his brother Casimiro, who went to become a local Ferrari driver and won several of the biggest races here till his crash at Boavista, I think at 1955. Manoel also won some of the main Portuguese races before the WWII already while doing short movies. He had 106 years old and worked almost till the last day.

 

RIP

[Vitesse2]

One of the few European private entrants to venture to Brazil before WW2 as well - along with his brother. A life well lived, although, as Guilherme says, not as well-known within the sport as he should be.

[GMiranda]

Indeed, here in Portugal I think only the biggest enthusiasts and historians know

[Richard Jenkins]

Sad news, but what a wonderful, long life he led.

 

It's funny, but when I saw the news, the first thing I thought of is Manoel de Oliveira, the racing driver, has died - not as a film director.

[Vitesse2]

Richard, I can't think of another driver who raced at a reasonably high level who has lived longer than de Oliveira. Ciro Basadonna, who died aged 103, is the only one who comes close - unless you know better, of course.

[GMiranda]

Strange you think that way Richard Jenkins, I think only a few are so aware!!! In fact, probably the eldest driver to die!

[ReWind]

The centenarians among racing drivers are rare. The deceased ones I know of are the following:

1988 Reeves Dutton (101)

2000 Louis Gérard (101)

2004 Edgar Kehoe (100)

2005 Ernst Henne (101)

2009 Ciro Basadonna (103)

2011 Pierre Louis-Dreyfus (102)

2012 Paul Pietsch (100)

2012 Bill Milliken (101)

2015 Tom Clarke (103)

2015 Manoel de Oliveira (106)

 

In my “Lives on 4 wheels” thread I have lots of people with question marks concerning their passing. The oldest one who actually seems to be alive is American Frank Burany who is about to turn 100 in August.

[O Volante]

I agree with Guillermo not so many people in Portugal (and elsewhere) know about Manoel de Oliveira's motor racing career - not a single word in all TV coverage of his funeral and about his life I saw these days.

However, in the last few years several pieces about about him and his brother Casimiro's racing exploits have been published in the Portuguese old car magazines. And there is a whole book about "Manoel de Oliveira - Piloto de Automóveis", telling the story of his engagement in car competition from 1935 to 1953 in detail and with a lot of pictures. 176 pages, Portuguese text, published by Caleidoscopio Edicao e Artes Graficas, Casal de Cambra, 2008.

RIP, Manoel.

Edited by O Volante, 04 April 2015 - 18:48.

[GMiranda]

Yes, there's that book and I saw him mentioned on other books and articles about arly Portuguese motorsport. My knowledge of my own country's rich motoring history isn't good, as there are few generic books and the other ones arer rare and expensive, so I have collected mainly international things. But I hope to find more things on him and others in the near future.

And here motorsport has quite a bad coverage in the generalist media (and even some of the specialist one), so it's not unexpected for his feats being forgotten.