17 replies to this topic

[O Volante]

This is a spin-off from the de Janzé thread: I wonder if not a second race driver appeared on the very fringes of the Lord Erroll affair ...
In order to grasp the rather crooked character of Sir Delves Broughton, James Fox examinates in his book on the murder of Lord Erroll two straight (and sucessful) attempts of fraud in 1939: one of these enterprises was that Sir Delves hired somebody to steal a well insured string of pearls belonging to his wife Diana from a car at Cannes. Two investigations were undertaken, one by the insurance company, which finally led to the payment of 17000 pound to Broughton, and another by the police: and in this, Fox notes, a "playboy" in Southern France, "Freddie McIlvray" was questioned ...
Now in a book on Porfirio Rubirosa and the apparently dying species of "playboys" I found that at least two famous examples had some interest in motor racing: Porfirio himself, of course, and a fellow called Freddie McEvoy... (Fon de Portago probably considered too professional ...)
Indeed, a Freddie McEvoy is well known as the driver of 1500cc Maseratis and an early SS Jaguar in the 1930s. He is described as Australian, but said to have lived in Southern France. And he was also active in bobsledging, winning for Britain an olympic bronze medal in 1936 (Imperial days ...). From a record of medalist comes the information that his full name was Frederick Joseph McEvoy, born 12 February 1907, died 7 November 1951.
Yes, and all these facts are relating to the same person: the death date above fits together with the information from the Rubirosa book which says that Freddie was from Tasmania, educated by Jesuits, worked as designer of jewels, PR-consultant, professional gambler, dealer and - indeed - gigolo - and that the life of this most imminent "big-dame hunter" ended in 1951, when his yacht went down off the Maroccan coast ... One more detail: of course, at a time he was also married with Barbara Hutton ...
All together this looks to me as that 'McIlvray' was a printing error, and 'our' man is meant, but ... Who knows more about this rather colourful person???

[RTH]

Any relation to McEvoy the coachbuilt special body builders of the 1930's, who rather like the famous Italian firm's created their own cars on other manufacturers chassis' & running gear ?

[O Volante]

Nope - at least to my knowledge!

[m.tanney]

  I don't know about the McEvoy/Mcilvray question, but Freddie McEvoy is mentioned several times in Michael Seth-Smith's book The Cresta Run:

...it was said of him: 'Born in obscurity, the tall handsome Australian has the gift of making friends, news, money and marrying heiresses. His feats of derring-do on the high seas, in the game-filled jungles of Africa, and on the icy runs of Switzerland have earned him the nickname of "Suicide Freddie".' His zesty aproach to business matters - he launched the fashion of flowered shirts for men by selling his own right off his back to an Argentine millionaire for $2000 - made him several fortunes. His careless gallantry in the bedroom earned him the undying affection of many, including his first wife, a Standard Oil heiress. A great friend of Errol Flynn, Freddie gave evidence in Flynn's favour when the film star was accused and acquitted of statutory rape in 1943. Freddie and his third wife, a French model, were drowned off Morocco, when their 104-ton auxiliary schooner was smashed on the rocks near Cape Cantrin.

  It has been suggested the McEvoy was a Nazi sympathizer and, perhaps, agent. But, given that his accuser is Charles Higham, an author whose works are often a pastiche of unattributed and uncorroborated rumour and credulous supposition, I wouldn't take it too seriously.
  O Volante, that book on playboys sounds like it might interesting, do you recall the author and title?

[O Volante]

Surely that's our man! Well, as far as I know, fellow Tasmanian Errol F. was also thought be sympathising with, and being a spy for the Nazis ... Definitely a lot of detail to be find oust!!!
No problem with the book, but unfortunately I can't come up with such juicey citations - simply because it's is in German: Andreas Zielcke, Der letzte Playboy. Das Leben des Porfirio Rubirosa . Steidl: München 1994.
A simple paperback, 112 pages, on the MAN (very capital letters!!!) Rubirosa, not the racing driver (very, very small letters!!!) - title translated into English: The last playboy. The live of Porfirio Rubirosa ...
PS: There was a feature on Rubirosa (the driver) in one of the latter Ferrarissima books ....

[terry mcgrath]

I chased up a McEvoy lead in a book "The last Playboy" The high life of Porfirio Rubirosa by Shawn Levy and it has this on McEvoy in reference to Barbara Hutton. I can not yet find actuall evidence of McEvoy being Australian as yet

But when in Paris she (Barbara Hutton) was squired by the notorious Freddy McEvoy, and that was likely only to lead to trouble. McEvoy, the Australian sportsman and playboy, was best known for being a chum of Errol Flynn's and for his adventures as an athlete (he captained England's bobsled team in the 1936 Olympics); Suicide Freddy he liked to be called. He had a brace of broken marriages to American heiresses behind him, a shadowy reputation as a sex machine and as a doer of rich folks' dirty deeds—both of which qualities recommended him, of course, to Barbara. Their affair was physical, but it was even more a kind of business arrangement: She seemed to have fronted him money, which he poured into suspicious operations such as selling black market American military goods and performing illegal currency exchanges; Barbara, of course, had no knowledge of these dealings and sought no profit from them, but it was with seed money from her that he was able to open an office on the Champs-Elysees to put a shiny face on his dirty work.
It wasn't surprising, then, that McEvoy didn't wed Barbara but rather brokered her introduction to the man who would serve as the fourth in her line of failed marriages: Prince Igor Nikolaievitch Troubetzkoy, heir to a worthless Lithuanian title, then employed as a journeyman bicycle racer and one of Freddy McEvoy's bagmen.

[ReWind]

"McEvoy was that rare individual whose life was more exciting than the legend." (Source)

Freddie McEvoy was a swashbuckling legend in aristocratic British sporting circles. He was educated at the Jesuit School of Stonyhurst, and early turned his attention to sports, becoming an expert in shooting, race-car driving, deep-sea diving, and boxing. He competed at the Olympics in 1936 as a bobsled driver, after having won the 1935 World Championship in the 4-man. Among his professions are listed jewelry designer, public relations consultant, professional gambler, smuggler, black marketer, and gigolo. He was well-known in European gambling casinos and was known to have won and lost fortunes during his lifetime. He admitted to being a rogue, swindler, and con man who used his intelligence and charm to move among the highest of the monied classes. In appearance, he was almost a twin of his very close friend, Errol Flynn.

McEvoy was that rare individual whose life was more exciting than the legend. Among the stories that surround him are that he once killed a man in a barroom brawl in Marseilles, that he once won a $10,000 bet by driving from Paris to Cannes in under 10 hours, and that he once won $25,000 playing backgammon in Monte Carlo and then spent that money the next day to buy a Maserati. In the Maserati he placed 3rd at the 1936 Vanderbilt Trophy races at Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island. When McEvoy won car races, he usually used his earnings to bet on the horses, and when he picked a winner he celebrated by drinking pink champagne.

He used his connections and his sociability to marry well several times. The first was in 1940 to a woman twice his age, Beatrice Cartwright, an heiress to the Standard Oil fortune. He and Cartwright had lived together at the Badrutt Palace in St. Moritz for several winters, prior to their marriage. One year, McEvoy brought a much younger model to “care for him,” explaining to Cartwright that he must have a younger bedfellow than her. The marriage lasted two years, and in the same year they were divorced, he married Irene Wrightsman, the 18-year-old daughter of the president of Standard Oil of Kansas. That marriage also lasted but two years, and he spent most of 1944 going back and forth from Mexico City to Beverly Hills, smuggling arms, jewelry, liquor and other valuables into the United States. In Mexico City he stayed with Dorothy di Frasso, one of Freddie’s most generous patrons. Di Frasso spread his fame among her friends for his bedroom performances, which she said was worth all the money she gave him. American bobsledder Billy Fiske, once commented on how much he admired McEvoy, and when someone protested that he could not, he noted, “Yes, I do, I admire anyone who can get away with something that I could not do myself.”

In 1945, McEvoy began a long-running affair with the wealthy heiress, Barbara Hutton. Hutton agreed with di Frasso concerning Freddie’s skills, considering him a superb lover, and felt that he understood women better than any man she had ever met. They later lived together at a fashionable ski chalet in Franconia, New Hampshire, which Hutton bought for McEvoy. They never married but remained friends throughout his life. McEvoy eventually married French fashion model Claude Stephanie Filatre. In November 1951 they were sailing on his 104-ton schooner, _Kangaroo_, near Cap Cantin off the coast of Morocco when a storm hit. The ship went down, but Freddie lashed his wife and maid to the mast, and then swam to shore seeking help. But he was unable to find any assistance and swam back out to the mast. He and Claude Stephanie then began swimming to shore, but she was unable to make it. He attempted to tow her to shore, but the waves pulled them to sea, they crashed against the rocks, and were not seen alive again. Their bodies were recovered the next day.

Edited by ReWind, 03 June 2009 - 17:22.

[fbarrett]

Friends:

See Poor Little Rich Girl, The Life and Legend of Barbara Hutton, by C. David Heymann, Lyle Stuart, 1983.

Frederick Joseph McEvoy is described there as "race-car driver" (among other things mentioned above), "once killed a man in a barroom brawl in Marseilles", "He bet $10,000 that he could drive from Paris to Cannes in less than 10 hours and covered the distance in a Talbot racing car with nearly an hour to spare," "bought a Maserati with his winnings...later placed third with it in 1936 Vanderbilt Trophy races at Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island" (should be easy enough to check). His drowning death with his new wife, Claude Filatre, is also mentioned.

Frank

[fbarrett]

Friends:

OK, evidently not third but sixth (Nuvolari won):

6th, Fred McEvoy/Carlo Trossi, Maserati 4CM (works) + 24:41.77

Frank

Edited by fbarrett, 03 June 2009 - 18:00.

[Tim Murray]

...later placed third with it in 1936 Vanderbilt Trophy races at Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island" (should be easy enough to check).

According to the Sheldon Black Book and Leif Snellman's site, he finished 5th in a 4CM Maserati shared with Count Trossi. Full results on Leif's site:

http://www.kolumbus....llman/gp366.htm

[David M. Woodhouse]

My records show Frederick McEvoy as 6th in the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup, driving a Maserati 6CM. According to Joel Finn's account of the race, McEvoy qualified 27th, drove only the first third of the race and spun the car once. He was relieved by Count Felice Trossi, who is not listed among the qualifiers and did not expect to drive. Trossi drove the rest of the race, finishing in sixth position. First was Nuvolari, followed by Wimille, Brivio, Sommer, Pat fairfield in 5th with an E.R.A.

Woody

[Tim Murray]

Sincere apologies - typo on my part. He is indeed shown as 6th, not 5th, in the references I quoted.

Edited by Tim Murray, 03 June 2009 - 18:19.

[fines]

Initial reports had Trossi (in McEvoy's car) finishing 5th, and all the ERAs missing from the results - I have no idea as to why. And Woody's right, it was a 6CM.

Edited by fines, 04 June 2009 - 07:24.

[D-Type]

~It wasn't surprising, then, that McEvoy didn't wed Barbara but rather brokered her introduction to the man who would serve as the fourth in her line of failed marriages: Prince Igor Nikolaievitch Troubetzkoy, heir to a worthless Lithuanian title, then employed as a journeyman bicycle racer and one of Freddy McEvoy's bagmen.

I thought I recognised the name Prince Igor Troubetzkoy one of the first Ferrari owners. Racing was a smaller world then.

[matey]

My records show Frederick McEvoy as 6th in the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup, driving a Maserati 6CM. According to Joel Finn's account of the race, McEvoy qualified 27th, drove only the first third of the race and spun the car once. He was relieved by Count Felice Trossi, who is not listed among the qualifiers and did not expect to drive. Trossi drove the rest of the race, finishing in sixth position. First was Nuvolari, followed by Wimille, Brivio, Sommer, Pat fairfield in 5th with an E.R.A.

Does anyone know of any photos of McEvoy's car at the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup? As far as I can see there isn't one in the Brock Yates / Hempstone Oliver book.

[terry mcgrath]

more on McEvoy

I came across a piece in Classic & Sportscar feb 97 "Nazis Stole my Teardrop"
A betty hodges know as bobsleigh betty met freddy McEvoy she had already owned an SS moved onto a Railton Terraplane and wanted a "Teardrop" after a night at Monte Carlo she put a deposit on one and noted she thought McEvoy was the agent. She got the car in spring 1938 colour Dark Blue withy cream upholstery she obviously moved in the right circles as she was also friends with Freddie Zehender and Beatrice Cartwright who was at about this time married to McEvoy.
Cartwright also had a "Teardrop" cream and green which Betty and Beatrice entered at a concour in Canes. Hodges Teardrop was left in a lockup in Paris when the war started "say no more"
I could find mention of the Cartwright car as below.
terry
"Designated a 'Coupe Royal' by Figoni, this luxurious car was originally owned by Mrs. Beatrice Cartwright, a Standard Oil heiress and sometime wife of car enthusiast Freddy McEnvoy. It was recently the subject of a painstaking restoration and today remains one of the most authentic Talbot-Lagos of its kind.

By Figoni & Falaschi.
Chassis number 93041.
Collection of Joe Cantore"

[David M. Woodhouse]

Does anyone know of any photos of McEvoy's car at the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup? As far as I can see there isn't one in the Brock Yates / Hempstone Oliver book.

There is a photo on page 201 in Joel Finn's "American Road Racing - The 1930s. It shows the car bearing race #12 in the pits being restarted by Trossi. Incidentally, my previous post stating that McEvoy qualified 27th was in error. He actually qualified 29th.

Woody

[fbarrett]

Collection of Joe Cantore

Terry:

A good-guy collector from Chicago, big into Mercedes-Benzes.

Frank