10 replies to this topic

[Fred Gallagher]

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the opening ceremony of the "Flying Finn 2007- Timo Makinen" exhibition today in Jyvaskyla.

As well as the great man himself, and an outstandingly original looking Mini (CRX91B) on steel wheels, there were lots of photographs on display.

Highlights for me were:
TM in a Mini van on the 1961 1000 Lakes
TM in an F2 Lotus at Heinola
TM in the Jaguar D-Type. I remember hearing of him ice-racing that car but this shot was of a race at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium with a Ferrari 750 Monza behind. Timo told me he was offered the car for £300 but thought it wasn't worth it!

This was the second of what will be an annual occassion. Last year the late Henri Toivonen was honoured and I would not be surprised if Rauno Aaltonen is next year's Flying Finn.

Fred

[RS2000]

Or, to we Mini fans in the mid 60s, "God".

Even completely forgotten now in some lists of "greatest ever rally drivers" but who else was ever to the same degree the one driver his peers feared and virtually accepted they would come second to? (and, no, I don't put H.Toivonen in quite that category).

A final return to an Escort, RAC 80:


Was only just talking about him being on 82 RAC (helping Kankunen's GpA Manta GTE) wearing a flat cap and only needing a whippet on a lead to look a caricature Yorkshireman!

[RS2000]

This photo has been widely published on other sites but if it is copyright I will of course remove it immediately. Makinen's winning Group3 Cooper S, Monte Carlo Rally 1965. He allegedly was smoking 60 cigarettes a day at this time. Period atmosphere, even down to Paul Easter wearing a pudding basin.

(Tape on upper spotlights suggests dipping from QI headlights on to auxilliaries was nothing new in 1966, the year of the "lighting scandal" exclusions on this point).

[sterling49]

The original maestro......."plenty sideways!". in the book, the "Works Escorts" by Graham Robson, the section that dealt with the Colibri cars ('74?) said that Timo had at one point 13" wheels on one side and 15" on the other.....the mechanics called the car "the cropsprayer"! IIRC Timo still won, the car looked great in Colibri colours.From memory, didn't Timo win the R.A.C in '73-4 and 5? Stuart Turner used to have some great tales to tell of his antics, both in the B.M.C.and Ford works team, a great character


Sterling

[RS2000]

Probably the most "difficult" driver ever as far as team mechanics were concerned. An early Finnish PR disaster of the type we now are used to in F1 - a massive contrast with the highly articulate Rauno Aaltonen.

Topical with the Indianapolis/Milk thread on here at the moment:
(After winning the 73 RAC with Milk Marketing Board sponsorship)
"So, Timo, do you drink milk?"
"No. I drink whisky".

but:
"Timo Makinen, the Tazio Nuvolari of the 60s, the fastest and bravest driver of his era" - Don Barrow.
"Only Timo ever tamed the big Healey" - Pat Moss

[sterling49]

Originally posted by RS2000

"So, Timo, do you drink milk?"
"No. I drink whisky".

Brilliant

[Allan Lupton]

Originally posted by RS2000

"So, Timo, do you drink milk?"
"No. I drink whisky".

I fear that by now he may have drunk rather too much whisky, from what I've heard.

[sterling49]

Originally posted by Allan Lupton


I fear that by now he may have drunk rather too much whisky, from what I've heard.

On a serious note, the sauce is quite a problem in Finland, might it be linked to S.A.D.? it's dark so much of the winter.......

[RS2000]

It was always a danger for TM, I think. Hannu Mikkola beat the drink once when at the top...and I'm sure the reason he lost his car's keys and had to break into it in parc ferme to start one RAC Rally was unrelated.
The guy who I think did die as a direct result was the walrus-moustached organiser of the 1000 Lakes. We ran into him in a fast food joint in Jyvaskyla late one evening the year we went and he said he was just off crayfishing. The only fishing gear we could see was a crate of Vodka.

[GeoffR]

I remember seeing him in the 1976 Southern Cross Rally when he and Roger Clark competed in a pair of works RS 1800s. Great to watch while he was going but unfortunately he retired on the second night with differential failure as the result of an oil leak.
A mate of mine was doing a Saturday morning rally program on a Hobart radio station at the time and interviewed Timo at Port Macquarie. Unfortunately my mate didn't have all his facts quite right and a number of Timo's answers were preceded with "No, you are wrong". Needless to say I don't think that particular interview ever made it to air.

[Mark A]

I met Timo in 1994 here in the UK just after he had finished a test of the Mini he was about to use on that years Monte, the car was unfortunately stolen a few days later and the car they subsequently built up wasn't quite good enough on the day. He certainly wasn't what you would call chatty.

A friend on mine knows Paul Easter and we spoke to Paul at the end of the concentration run and they were still completing the car on the way down. A shame they didn't get the recognition on the event that Paddy Hopkirk did as Timo was IMHO the better driver and had a better attitude on the event.

I also met Rauno Aaltonen in 2001 as we got him to come over to the UK for some driver training for a bunch of us Mini nuts, had a good chat with him the night before in the bar and he was a really nice bloke to talk to. Although the fact we were discussing the fact his then current employer and my previous one were one in the same probably helped.