8 replies to this topic

[John Nelson]

Here's a transcript of Stirling Moss' appearance on the David Letterman show in New York on September 24, 1999:
September 24, 1999

David Letterman: He has not raced in more than 35 years and to this day, though, he is considered the greatest all around driver in the history of motorsports. It's an honor and a pleasure to have him here with us. Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Stirling Moss. Stirling, come on out here.
[Moss RUNS across the stage and shakes DL's hand]
DL: Welcome to the show, welcome to New York, welcome to the United States. Pleasure to have you here.
SM: Thank you, very nice to be here.
DL: Let's talk to folks a little bit about your career. When, you know set the picture for us. When did you start racing and when did the career end?
SM: I started racing in 1947 and I stopped in 1962 'cause I had a big shunt.
DL: That's right. But actually, a very nasty shunt, and you were in a coma for like a month.
SM: Yes, I was in a coma for a month and paralyzed for six more.
DL: Wow, that's unbelievable, isn't it?
SM: Well, it upset my career.
DL: Now today, an accident like that today wouldn't be so bad, would it in the cars and equipment there is?
SM: Oh no no no, if you were in it today you would be alright.
DL: When you started racing, what drew you to racing? What was the interest in it?
SM: My father'd raced. I liked cars, I liked fast cars, and then I got the invitation when I was, what, 18 to join a professional team, go race in Europe which was a fantastic life. I mean I was going from small town to small town, racing every week, meeting pretty girls, having a fantastic time…
DL: Babes. It's all about the babes, isn't it? [laughter]
SM: Oh, exactly. I mean…
DL: It's all about the babes…[laughter, applause]
SM: The cars were a help but you know, the babes, yeah…
DL: You remember, uh, when you're sitting there in these cars, these Mercedes Benz, as I remember it and I see from old photos and the films and so forth, were behemoth automobiles…
SM: Yeah.
DL: …but wide open. They were all tires and engine and there you were just kind of perched in them…
SM: Yeah.
DL: And you're doing what kind of speeds in those cars?
SM: 170, 180 mph. [audience reaction]
DL: Oh! And you're wearing, what are you wearing?
SM: Well, when I started you didn't even have to wear a crash hat. My father said to me, "If you've gotta race, you're gonna wear a crash hat," and I can remember saying, "Dad, it's a bit sissy," because the fast driver…[audience laughter]…no really, ser… seriously, people like Sommer and Chiron, all these guys were wearing cloth helmets. Anyway, he made me wear this great big thing and then of course I raced in short sleeves…
DL: Short sleeves!
SM: Yeah, because you get a sun tan. [laughter]
DL: [laughing] So, so now that, that's the outfit and you're doing 180 miles an hour…
SM: Yeah…
DL: What, what was that sensation? Do you still have that with you? Do you dream about it? Do you feel it? Do you get a whiff of it every now and then?
SM: Oh, I…I mean I still race in historics you know, I still race those sort of cars. In fact, I was racing just this last weekend.
DL: Stacked one up somewhere, I heard.
SM: I…I did, actually…[audience laughter] I, um, somebody else came across in rev…going backwards actually and I T-boned him.
DL: This is out at Monterrey…
SM: Yes, Monterrey.
DL: Now what were you driving, Stirling?
SM: I was driving a DBR-1 Aston Martin, 1959. Fantastic car.
DL: Valued at about what now?
SM: Probably, a couple of million.
DL: A couple of million. [audience groans]
SM: I don't own it, I would say that.
DL: Of course not, you don't own it. [laughing]
SM: No, no, it's cheaper to drive other people's cars, I'll tell you that. [laughing, audience laughter]
DL: You just junked it! You don't have to worry about it! It's like a rental car! What do you care?
SM: [laughing] Ha ha!
DL: Pick him up at the airport! And was the owner unhappy that you had wrinkled his car?
SM: Well, he didn't come up and congratulate me. [audience laughter] But, no, actually he was very nice. He's such a nice man I can't believe it. He had this fantastic piece of gear of his that he had lent me. He knew it wasn't my fault because we'd seen it on television and so on. And, uh, he was very realistic. I mean he came up and said, don't worry, it's just a car. You're not hurt.
DL: But you know for me, if I were lucky enough to have a car like that, or any car--in fact would you like to drive me home? is what I'm getting to…
SM: I'd like to drive your car…
DL: …I just, if Stirling Moss wrecked my car man I'm telling ya I'd be a happy man 'til the day I died.
SM: I could do that for you anytime. [laughter]
DL: There's uh, when you were with the Mercedes Benz team your teammate of the day was…
SM: Fangio.
DL: Juan Manuel Fangio.
SM: Greatest driver in the world.
DL: Who you consider to be the greatest driver of all time.
SM: I do. Of all time.
DL: Won 5 world championships.
SM: Yup.
DL: And what about him made him so good? Because it was a whole different beast in that era.
SM: Yeah, well, the point was he had tremendous concentration [counting on his fingers], enormous stamina, he could keep up the pace for the whole time, it's rather like you know what makes a guy a great miler. But I mean Fangio was a guy who was fan… an incredible driver, but he would keep up lap after lap cause in those days the Grand Prix were three hours minimum and he'd keep it up for three hours and that's incredible.
DL: Could you, could you beat him in even equipment?
SM: I could beat him in sports cars. I couldn't beat him in Formula One which is the ultimate, I mean Formula One car is the most difficult and the most demanding and it requires the greatest precision. But I could in sports cars.
DL: Did that drive you nuts that you couldn't beat Fangio in similar equipment in Formula One?
SM: No, because to be number two to the best in the world, old boy, is as good as you can get, other than being him and he couldn't speak English anyway. [laughter, applause]
DL: What was the situation when, uh, when you went down to uh, Cuba to race…
SM: [smiling] Oh there, well…
DL: …and uh, is a sports car race is what it was?
SM: Sports car race and Fangio…this was the time of Battista…
DL: 1957 or something like that?
SM: Fifty-seven or eight, yuh. And, uh, Castro had him kidnapped. I mean he's checking into the Lincoln Hotel and a guy comes up with a big…[reaches into pocket] …and said [deep threatening voice] "Fangio, you come with me," or, in uh, Spanish obviously of course. And Juan did the right thing, he said "OK," and went along and of course that made it a lot easier for me [laughter]. Now I hadn't…I'll tell you one thing, I had nothing to do with the kidnapping! [more laughter] I never even met Castro until after.
DL: [laughing] Now, does that sort of thing still go on today where drivers routinely are kidnapped?
SM: There's nobody that worth kidnapping, actually, let's face it. I mean, uh…
DL: [Taking out photograph of a young SM] I wanna, Stirling, uh I hate to just rush through these but we have some great photos…
SM: Oh, now you see I still have hair then…
DL: This is a Mercedes Benz…
SM: That's a Mercedes, that's the car actually I did the Mille Miglia in, which is a 1,000 miles around Italy. Fantastic car.
DL: Good looking kid. Look at that kid! Handsome looking boy. This, this I like [showing picture of very streamlined, futuristic MG]…
SM: That one, that still stands…
DL: This is the one you drove to Mars, I believe…[laughter]
SM: This is Utah, and that actually is …
DL: Oh that's the Salt Flats?
SM: Yes, Salt Flats, and this is an MG. And I still hold the record-- 246 I think. Still stands, yeah.
DL: 246 miles an hour.
SM: Yes, which is quite fast. [audience applause]
DL: These are great pictures. Look at this… [DL shows ph

[Duane]

Thanks John,
I wish I'd seen that interview.

[ZippyD]

Excellent interview!!!!!! Thank you very much John. Do you have the show on video tape?

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"Pete, Do you sometimes get tired? Lately I have been getting tired. Very tired."

[Keir]

John,
"Ripping good stuff"
Maybe CBS will have the video?
"It's all about the babes"

[John Nelson]

Thanks all. Glad to share it with others who appreciate it. Yes, I transcribed it laboriously (I like to include the nuances that give you a real sense of the interview)from a videotape I made. I don't know if I still have it, I might possibly have taped over it. Here in the US, of course, our NTSC VCR's are incompatible with the European PAL standard. If I can dig it up, are you any of you really interested enough for me to lug my butt out and get a copy made? The whole interview was included here, by the way. Nothing edited out. And I particularly loved the crack by Moss about no one around now being worth kidnapping!

[Ray Bell]

A man with insight...

[desmo]

Thanks John,
I was a bit in my cups when it aired, so it was very nice to be able to revisit it. I wish it had gone on for the whole hour.
Let's all wish Dave a speedy recovery.

The babes man, the babes!

[Eric McLoughlin]

Back in Spring 1998 (I can't remember the exact date) Channel 4 in the UK devoted a whole evening to Stirling Moss. The programmes started around 9.30pm and went on into the early hours. Apart from a number of documentaries (a couple of specially made ones snd a couple from the 1950's and 60's), there was a studio discussion / group interview between Moss and some well known motor racing writers which was very informative. The discussion programme was split up and slotted between the various documentaries so each lasts about 10 minutes. If there is any interest in this, I would post transcripts from the discussions onto the BB.

Although the David Letterman interview sounds like it was interesting, it seems to have suffered from too many Letterman interjections. Moss can talk a rope when given a free reign.

The interviewers on Channel 4 were Douglas Nye, Nigel Roebuck, Richard Williams and Peter Collins.

[This message has been edited by Eric McLoughlin (edited 02-12-2000).]

[Ian McKean]

The spring 1998 special on Stirling Moss was the night before the Australian GP, to keep us all awake till 5 in the morning - and it worked. Brilliant...

Films included
Tourist Trophy at Dundrod in 1955
Mille Miglia from 1955
Mille Miglia from 1952 or 3
British GP at Aintree 1955
Monaco GP 1961

The Tourist Trophy at Dundrod particularly stuck in my mind. What a place.

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