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Share some thoughts on Rob Walker...................


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#1 63Corvette

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 01:51

My wife and I met Rob Walker in the paddock at Watkins Glen in 1973, 1974, and (I think) 1976.

He was a great gentleman, very approachable, and ready with a quick wit, and a quick story.

For Instance: Rob initially told us: "You must have me confused with Ken Tyrrell..............He is an awful guy;-)" He remembered us in the following years tho;-)

 



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#2 Andretti Fan

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 04:43

My favorite Rob Walker story concerns his passport. His occupation was listed as "Gentleman".

 

His race reports in "Road and Track" were one of the things that led me to fall in love with Grand Prix racing. His stories about the leading drivers of the day really made them come alive for me.

 

It really was a different era then, when a small independent team could buy a car, and compete with the big boys......and win.



#3 Eric Dunsdon

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 09:03

My wife and I met Rob Walker in the paddock at Watkins Glen in 1973, 1974, and (I think) 1976.

He was a great gentleman, very approachable, and ready with a quick wit, and a quick story.

For Instance: Rob initially told us: "You must have me confused with Ken Tyrrell..............He is an awful guy;-)" He remembered us in the following years tho;-)

Driving in an early 1950's Le Mans 24 Hours race, Mr Walker stopped on the sunday morning to change into a grey Prince Of Wales chequered suit, more sutable for a sunday spent in the countryside. As a Gentleman would of course.



#4 Stephen W

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 09:59

Rob Walker was a competent race driver who was successful at club level. He loved cars and was a car dealer as well as "gentleman".



#5 kayemod

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 10:18

He certainly had style. I recall a story that he was writing about the Long Beach GP for Road & Track magazine. Accommodation was arranged for press on the retired Cunarder Queen Mary that was docked there. Rob asked the organisers if he would be able to have his usual cabin...



#6 AAGR

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 10:55

Is it also the case that Rob Walker was not only an all-round and very civilised 'gentleman', but a member of the famous family which had founded, developed, and marketed the Johnny Walker brand of Scotch whisky ?


Edited by AAGR, 13 January 2016 - 10:55.


#7 kayemod

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 12:15

Is it also the case that Rob Walker was not only an all-round and very civilised 'gentleman', but a member of the famous family which had founded, developed, and marketed the Johnny Walker brand of Scotch whisky ?

 

True, he often mentioned that, it was this family wealth that financed his racing, he often spoke of having to sell a few whisky shares to keep things going.



#8 P.Dron

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 14:16

Rob Walker served in the Fleet Air Arm during the War. He was in one of the missions to attack the Tirpitz off the coast of Norway but could not find it. I have lost my book about the Tirpitz by Patrick Bishop, but I think that on that raid there was genuine fog obscuring the ship's location rather than a smoke screen. 



#9 B Squared

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 14:37

I wrote to him during his Road & Track days covering Formula 1 and received his answers to my questions in a letter a couple months afterwards. I know I have it stashed amongst the boxes somewhere...



#10 Nemo1965

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 14:50

The man who was there at the Guildford Bypass...



#11 Peter0Scandlyn

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 17:01

Rob Walker was a competent race driver who was successful at club level. He loved cars and was a car dealer as well as "gentleman".

 

Sounds like a man Bernie could have aspired to be........



#12 63Corvette

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 17:37

Is it also the case that Rob Walker was not only an all-round and very civilised 'gentleman', but a member of the famous family which had founded, developed, and marketed the Johnny Walker brand of Scotch whisky ?

Yes, and in one of his R&T stories, he profiled the "21 cars he owned by age 21". He said that he loved racing cars, but quit at the urging of his lovely wife.



#13 Sharman

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 18:17

Is it also the case that Rob Walker was not only an all-round and very civilised 'gentleman', but a member of the famous family which had founded, developed, and marketed the Johnny Walker brand of Scotch whisky ?

I belong to a Rugby Club which numbers among its members a senior director of Johnny Walker, I have of course asked about RRC's connection. I am told that he never participated in the management of the company but had such a large shareholding that his death through motor racing would have had ramifications above death duties. He was asked to desist, and complied.



#14 Rob Ryder

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 18:56

I hated Rob Walker because he monopolised the important personalised 'ROB' licence plates, 1-8 I believe! :evil:
 
Rob (without a plate)
 
P.S. Only joking.. I met him once in the 1970 at Brands and enjoyed the experience immensely.



#15 kayemod

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 18:57

My only tenuous involvement with RRC Walker was buying a car in 1970something, a little gem of a Fiat 124ST twincam from a Bournemouth dealership that bore his name, the Rob Walker Garages sticker on the back window was worth at least an extra 10mph, though sadly it was red, not dark blue with a white stripe across the bonnet. My favourite Rob Walker story concerns a car he used to own himself, I saw it once or twice at the dealership, a Facel Vega 500, registration RW7. I read, I think in R&T, that his wife refused to drive it, saying that it was too fast for her. Accordingly Rob had the speedo recalibrated so that the dial always showed less than the true speed, not a practice that would be advisable in today's speed camera infested UK.

 

OT, but that Facel Vega has always been one of my most lusted after cars, along with the Citroën Maserati. Maybe neither of those are really that good, but I just don't care, what presence, what style! I've never driven either, and don't really want to, just in case my illusions would have been shattered, I'd rather dream.



#16 63Corvette

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 19:07

In a story in R&T, Rob told that he was "offered" ownership (by MB) of a "lightweight" alloy bodied 300SL gullwing with magnesium Rudge KO wheels. He sent them to be chromed, and the shop (not knowing they were magnesium) dissolved them in a preparatory step to chroming them. Rob brought suit to have them replaced, and the cost of the four wheels bankrupted the chrome shop!


Edited by 63Corvette, 13 January 2016 - 19:09.


#17 B Squared

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 20:19

OT, but that Facel Vega has always been one of my most lusted after cars, along with the Citroën Maserati. Maybe neither of those are really that good, but I just don't care, what presence, what style! I've never driven either, and don't really want to, just in case my illusions would have been shattered, I'd rather dream.

In case you should change your mind; the 1963 Geneva Motor Show car, in original condition, is being offered in Paris in early February.

 

http://www.rmsotheby...acel-ii/1078611



#18 dryden

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 20:24

In the mid nineties, I frequented Nunny Catch garage just outside Frome in Somerset, I often saw Rob, then driving an old and untidy Metro with his BRDC badge on the grille!



#19 doc knutsen

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 21:48

He certainly had style. I recall a story that he was writing about the Long Beach GP for Road & Track magazine. Accommodation was arranged for press on the retired Cunarder Queen Mary that was docked there. Rob asked the organisers if he would be able to have his usual cabin...

 

I seem to remember it being reported that one of the cabins  had mirrors fitted to the ceiling.  Rob's comment on that feature...was that this was done so that a gentleman might shave while still in bed.


Edited by doc knutsen, 13 January 2016 - 21:49.


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#20 Alan Cox

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 22:59

At a recent evening with Nigel Roebuck, Nigel told of how great a help Rob had been to him as a young reporter undertaking his first grand prix assignment and how he had taken the time to introduce him to all the people that mattered.



#21 kayemod

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Posted 13 January 2016 - 23:05

In the mid nineties, I frequented Nunny Catch garage just outside Frome in Somerset, I often saw Rob, then driving an old and untidy Metro with his BRDC badge on the grille!

 

He lived not too far away, in Castle Cary.

 

Edit, yes Nunney Court, that's what I was thinking of, but I think it was reported as "near Castle Cary", which was what stuck in my mind.


Edited by kayemod, 14 January 2016 - 10:52.


#22 Robin Fairservice

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 00:13

I had one brief contact with Rob.  I had ben flagging for practice for the 1968 Grand Prix at Brands Hatch when I saw one of the Lotus emblems had come off of Siffert's Lotus wheels.  I retrieved it and whilst walking back to the paddock I saw Rob talking to Colin Chapman on the pit road.  I offered the emblem to Rob, who, looking straight at Colin thanked me profusely, adding loudly "That they were very expensive".  Colin didn't seem to be very impressed!



#23 Tim Murray

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 02:29

He lived not too far away, in Castle Cary.


My understanding is that the Walker family lived for many years at Nunney Court, just a few hundred yards from the garage at Nunney Catch. I have a friend who lives in Nunney, and the village is still very proud of its links to Rob.

http://www.telegraph...ish-racing.html

#24 bradbury west

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 08:51

His garage was, of course, over at Corsley near Warminster. Did he own the garage at Nunney Catch?. We lived in Bruton for a period in the late 60s and have had connections there since 1935. It is a fascinating little town, over 2000 souls there in the mid/ late C19th but far fewer now. It used to be quite a little hub for the area, hence the very large church and the two substantial schools, not forgetting Redlynch House and Park a mile or so outside. Very Downton-esque in those days especially, post 1930ish, as the chatelaine was the classic daughter of an American grain baron bringing her family money to rescue an impoverished "old" English titled family early in the C20th. As a widow she moved there after her son took the title and assumed title to Charlton Park near Malmesbury. But I digress.... Bruton seems to have re invented itself nowadays.
Roger Lund

#25 Roger Clark

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 10:11

This story was told by John Wyer in The Certain Sound.

In 1965 Rob Walker entered a Ferrari for Le Mans. He was persuaded to give up the entry to allow Ford to enter an extra GT, subject to certain conditions specified by him and agreed by Ford. The car performed poorly and Rob felt that his conditions had been ignored by Ford. Typically, he wrote to Henry Ford about it. "Dear Mr Ford"...

He had specified that the car must run on Dunlop tyres "because I have an agreement with Dunlop, apart from the fact that my uncle, Lord Baillieu, is Chairman".

He was unhappy that his preferred driver, "Amon was to be replaced by Maglioli, entirely against my wishes".

"It may not be considered of great importance in the United States to keep agreements but I feel that if one ignores principles one is unlikely to win races".

#26 Supersox

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 10:35

His garage was, of course, over at Corsley near Warminster. Did he own the garage at Nunney Catch?. We lived in Bruton for a period in the late 60s and have had connections there since 1935. It is a fascinating little town, over 2000 souls there in the mid/ late C19th but far fewer now. It used to be quite a little hub for the area, hence the very large church and the two substantial schools, not forgetting Redlynch House and Park a mile or so outside. Very Downton-esque in those days especially, post 1930ish, as the chatelaine was the classic daughter of an American grain baron bringing her family money to rescue an impoverished "old" English titled family early in the C20th. As a widow she moved there after her son took the title and assumed title to Charlton Park near Malmesbury. But I digress.... Bruton seems to have re invented itself nowadays.
Roger Lund

 

.

 

I was at school in Bruton in the early sixties, went to two of the three major schools there officially and the third-the girls variety-unofficially.

Rob lived at Nunney Court which was adjacent to Nunney Castle. indeed iirc the castle was in his garden.

He never owned Nunney Catch garage only Corsley Garage.

At some point I had the use of one of his Minisprints.

Bruton is indeed a reinvented town.


Edited by Supersox, 14 January 2016 - 10:40.


#27 Roger Clark

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 14:34

For those who have access, I strongly recommend the two-part article Rob Walker wrote in Motor Sport's Cars I Have Owned series Oct, Nov 1951) and the August 1955 article on his 300SL.  He has an amusing anecdote for every car he owned and he wad owned 21 by the time he was 21 years old.  You can get these article from the Motor Sport online archive and they are worth the price of the subscription in my opinion.



#28 63Corvette

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 16:31

I recall reading a first person article about the day Mike Hawthorn died. Rob talked about driving his 300SL and being overtaken by Mike in his Jaguar 3.4 sedan, and for a bit, they raced each other in the rain. Then (according to Rob) he "realized" that he was racing a curent world driving champion, a driver whose talents far exceeded his own, in the rain, and on public roads, and decided to back off to more normal speeds. Shortly thereafter, he saw Mike spin and his car back into a fence. Rob stopped to offer help if needed, but saw there was very little damage, and therefore thought that it was not a serious accident. Then he found that Mike was fatally injured with a head injury, and was devestated, feeling that he was in some was responsible.



#29 D-Type

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 18:16

I recall reading a first person article about the day Mike Hawthorn died. Rob talked about driving his 300SL and being overtaken by Mike in his Jaguar 3.4 sedan, and for a bit, they raced each other in the rain. Then (according to Rob) he "realized" that he was racing a curent world driving champion, a driver whose talents far exceeded his own, in the rain, and on public roads, and decided to back off to more normal speeds. Shortly thereafter, he saw Mike spin and his car back into a fence. Rob stopped to offer help if needed, but saw there was very little damage, and therefore thought that it was not a serious accident. Then he found that Mike was fatally injured with a head injury, and was devestated, feeling that he was in some was responsible.

 

Have you seen a photo of Hawthorn's Jaguar after the accident?  "Very little damage" is a gross understatement - The car is unrecognisable. 

 

What is true is that at first glance Mike appeared uninjured



#30 63Corvette

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 20:27

Have you seen a photo of Hawthorn's Jaguar after the accident?  "Very little damage" is a gross understatement - The car is unrecognisable. 

 

What is true is that at first glance Mike appeared uninjured

No. sorry. I was only remembering a tale that I read um...........................30 years or so ago. I didn't know the extent of the damage.



#31 D-Type

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 20:34

No. sorry. I was only remembering a tale that I read um...........................30 years or so ago. I didn't know the extent of the damage.

 

I have the advantage of having book and photo in front of me  :cool:



#32 63Corvette

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 20:57

I have googled up the crash and pictures, and I see now the terrible extent of the damage that you mentioned. I note that Rob initially did not know that Mike had hit the tree, and (from the prose) think that perhaps I had read some of Rob's "witness report" before and that is where I got my memory from. I also did NOT know that Mike had bad kidneys, had had blackout spells, ans was "not expected to live more than a couple of more years"???? 

From the accident PM I have to agree that the tires (of the day) were probably the major contributor to the accident. I drove Michelin X tires on a 356 Porsche for many years, and that combination was lethal in the wet.



#33 P.Dron

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 21:12

 I drove Michelin X tires on a 356 Porsche for many years, and that combination was lethal in the wet.

 

Not much better in the dry!



#34 GMACKIE

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 21:24

Managed class win and 2nd outright in the rain, on Michelin X tyres. Pressures are important...my Beetle ran 17 psi front, 20 rear in the wet:-

 

1%20Mackie%20VW%20Kev%20Fisher%20Fiat%20

 

Edit:-  That was May, 1963.


Edited by GMACKIE, 14 January 2016 - 21:27.


#35 63Corvette

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Posted 14 January 2016 - 22:54

Managed class win and 2nd outright in the rain, on Michelin X tyres. Pressures are important...my Beetle ran 17 psi front, 20 rear in the wet:-

 

1%20Mackie%20VW%20Kev%20Fisher%20Fiat%20

 

Edit:-  That was May, 1963.

Gmackie my hat is off to you! You are a much better driver than I am.



#36 Sharman

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Posted 15 January 2016 - 08:18

Ran a Twin Cam MG on Xs, 51psi all round. Superb handling, bit bumpy on the road tho'



#37 Allan Lupton

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Posted 15 January 2016 - 09:10

From the accident PM I have to agree that the tires (of the day) were probably the major contributor to the accident. I drove Michelin X tires on a 356 Porsche for many years, and that combination was lethal in the wet.

There's a long dissertation on the accident and a photo of the remains of the car in "Mon Ami Mate". Whoever wrote " . . .saw there was very little damage" as 63Corvette first quoted had no right to do so, as a more tangled heap of metal is hard to imagine.

My memory that the Jaguar was on Dunlop Duraband tyres is confirmed there.

"Stop Pattern" Michelin "X" (and I assume the Duraband) were renowned for a rather sudden breakaway but that seemed to occur long after conventional cross-ply tyres would have let go, so if you knew your car as well as JMH knew his Jaguar, driving to its limit was quite rewarding.


Edited by Allan Lupton, 15 January 2016 - 09:10.


#38 mgtd

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Posted 15 January 2016 - 09:55

I hated Rob Walker because he monopolised the important personalised 'ROB' licence plates, 1-8 I believe! :evil:
 
Rob (without a plate)
 
P.S. Only joking.. I met him once in the 1970 at Brands and enjoyed the experience immensely.

 

Coincidentally I have been struggling to scan some negs unseen by myself for years on to a new iMac.

 

Wandering around the Silverstone paddock at the International Trophy back in May 1971, I just had to snap these two.

Look carefully at the registration of the Dino....

 

Silv_Int_Trophy_08_05_71_003.jpg
 
Edit: Sorry about the image size.
First time I have attempted a piccie post in ages...it is "ROB 2"
 
Stephen

Edited by mgtd, 15 January 2016 - 09:59.


#39 kayemod

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Posted 15 January 2016 - 10:15

 

Coincidentally I have been struggling to scan some negs unseen by myself for years on to a new iMac.

 

Wandering around the Silverstone paddock at the International Trophy back in May 1971, I just had to snap these two.

Look carefully at the registration of the Dino....

 

Silv_Int_Trophy_08_05_71_003.jpg
 
Edit: Sorry about the image size.
First time I have attempted a piccie post in ages...it is "ROB 2"
 
Stephen

 

 

Hmm. I think we're just going to have to take your word for that...



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#40 Tim Murray

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Posted 15 January 2016 - 10:38

Here's a photo of Rob with some of his cars, including the ROB 2-registered Dino:

http://www.gettyimag...s-photo/3248092

#41 kayemod

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Posted 15 January 2016 - 18:23

Here's a photo of Rob with some of his cars, including the ROB 2-registered Dino:

http://www.gettyimag...s-photo/3248092

 

On that photo of Rob and his cars, wasn't the ordinary Mini estate called a Countryman rather than a Clubman as the caption says?

 

Also, it's fun to imagine an imaginary conversation, "I wonder what to buy to replace my Mercedes 300SL and Facel Vega. I know, a Ford Zephyr!"

 

Apart from that, his taste is pretty good, but I wonder what happened to all his RW registrations..



#42 Sharman

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Posted 15 January 2016 - 19:54

On that photo of Rob and his cars, wasn't the ordinary Mini estate called a Countryman rather than a Clubman as the caption says?

 

Also, it's fun to imagine an imaginary conversation, "I wonder what to buy to replace my Mercedes 300SL and Facel Vega. I know, a Ford Zephyr!"

 

Apart from that, his taste is pretty good, but I wonder what happened to all his RW registr

 

The mark lV was an absolute horror, we had them on fleet when I worked for Hertz. The only thing that could be sais for them is that they had a spacious back seat. :cool:



#43 Rob Miller

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Posted 16 January 2016 - 18:24

My dad had a mark IV after his Merc 220S and we agreed that it was rubbish. The back seat was wonderful after my mom's Renault R8.

 

After Stan Mott and Henry Manney III, Rob Walker was the best part of Road & Track.


Edited by Rob Miller, 16 January 2016 - 18:30.


#44 raceannouncer2003

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Posted 17 January 2016 - 06:34

This story was told by John Wyer in The Certain Sound.

In 1965 Rob Walker entered a Ferrari for Le Mans. He was persuaded to give up the entry to allow Ford to enter an extra GT, subject to certain conditions specified by him and agreed by Ford. The car performed poorly and Rob felt that his conditions had been ignored by Ford. Typically, he wrote to Henry Ford about it. "Dear Mr Ford"...

He had specified that the car must run on Dunlop tyres "because I have an agreement with Dunlop, apart from the fact that my uncle, Lord Baillieu, is Chairman".

He was unhappy that his preferred driver, "Amon was to be replaced by Maglioli, entirely against my wishes".

"It may not be considered of great importance in the United States to keep agreements but I feel that if one ignores principles one is unlikely to win races".

 

Wow, I never knew about this.  Where is this car now, as 1084?  Here are links to photos of 1004 at Le Masn:

 

http://www.racingspo...5-06-20-007.jpg

 

http://www.lemans-hi... 7&equipa_seq=0

 

Vince H.


Edited by raceannouncer2003, 17 January 2016 - 06:38.