17 replies to this topic

[island]

Hi!
The Hongkong businessman was one of the more
colourful F1/F5000 sponsors in the 70s, I
think. Who remembers him?
By the way, what was his business?

[Huw Jenjin]

i remember that he was loyal to his drivers and Keke Rosberg gave him an F1 victory in the Theodore F1 car.

[Ray Bell]

Teddy may well have had businesses in Hong Kong, but his base was Macao.
He also had successes with Alan Jones in F5000... he was okay to talk to at the race meetings, a little guy with a somewhat Oriental appearance... but that's no surprise, is it?

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Barry Lake]

He was quite a character. He never seemed to think that being filthy rich meant he didn't have to talk to "plebs".
His drivers (F5000) always used to have some entertaining stories about him.
He often was accompanied by attractive young women who most people claimed were "rental jobs" of some kind - they might have been guessing. Perhaps the ladies were attracted by his two major attributes - extremely rich and very old.
But he married - and fathered a child when he was about 73, so they tell me.
There were stories that he had some shady businesses but they might have been just that - stories.
We should get Barry Catford on to this board; he used to know all the gossip in those days.

[Dave Ware]

I read an article, possibly in Car and Driver, several years ago, about a party Teddy Yip threw. The party was held, I think, in Brazil. He invited all of his ex-girlfriends, and their current husbands, and paid for them to attend. I don't remember how many ex-girlfriends were there, but based on my memory, or lack of, I'm going to guess "dozens". Also, according to the article (don't doubt me, folks, I only read this somewhere else), he went around to each ex-girlfriend, spoke to each privately, and told each one "I liked you the best."

!!!!!

Yes, he sponsored Jones' F5000 March that won in the rain at Watkins Glen (yes, Island, I was there, good race) and the Lola Jones also raced and won with that year. After the race one of the race mechanics was with the March, pointing out the serial number, or some such number that indicated that the chassis was actually a F1 car with a five liter Chevy.

We need more wealthy sportsmen like Teddy Yip, who are willing to enter cars and pay young lions to race.

Dave

[SB]

As a racing fan in Hong Kong, I am also wondering the same question.

After his F1/F5000 days, he's serious support to the naive Macau F3 race. He got the Marlboro money and formed a big team every year, hired dirvers like Senna, Hakkinen, Mclish, Irvine (I was too young those days).
However from late 80's his team suffered from strings of bad luck and good results were gone. So Marlboro money was left and Teddy run his own team for one or two more years.
His team finally left the Macau circuit around 93 or 94.

SB

[Don Capps]

Ah, they don't 'em like dear ol' Teddy anymore, alas. His involvement in racing was simply that of someone who loved it and could indulge himself.

His "business" was initially real estate in both Maucau and Hong Kong with other interests in exports/imports and banking (of course...).

I only met him a time or two, but he seemed to be nothing like what I expected. He was a funny and chatty guy and loved racing. The Theodores seem to be another weakness of mine...

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Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

Semper Gumbi: If this was easy, we’d have the solution already…

[Eagle104]

In 1977 Teddy was at Indy with Clay Reggazoni attempting to qualify an older McLaren. Don't remember if it was during Practice or Qualifying, but Clay had a major shunt when the south-end of his car came around on him exiting Turn3. The car slid down into the grass on the inside then clouted the earthen-bank taking him for a wild ride. Without looking it up, I don't recall his injuries(if any), but I'll tell you, it was very nasty looking.

In 1978, Teddy teamed with Dan Gurney and AAR. Their partnership, I think, was just for that year. That was the year that Bobby Unser re-united with AAR after leaving following their Indy 500 win in '75.

[Ray Bell]

Nice to see you land so often, Eagle!
Obviously you're going to contribute a lot here.

[Eagle104]

Thanks, Ray. It really was a pain to post before the new format. I can't say I've seen all or many Nostalgia forums, but I doubt that any are better than this. You've probably noticed that my historic forte is rather 'narrow', and I am 'wowed' by the knowledge shown here, but I enjoy-the-heck out of this place. Thanks again.

Paul Castagnoli

ps: my next goal is to 'beg' to get into the Paddock Club. (fingers crossed)

[hkf1]

Of interest to anybody living in or travelling through Hong Kong it is well worth taking a brief detour to Macau and visiting the "Macau grand Prix Museum".
It Has a special area devoted to Teddy Yip and features one of his 1970's F3 (I believe it is a March). He obviously loved racing and it is clearly a shame that he is no longer part of racing. The museum also has numerous cars which have competed at Macau starting from a 1953 TR3 (the first winner ) right through the 1960's to the 1990's
The museum also has Macau competeing cars driven by Senna, Coulthard, Hakkinen and Schumacher . It is well worth the visit if you are in the area, try to visit during the 3rd week of November when you can catch the F3 race as well as GT,Bikes etc.

HKF1

[MattFoster]

My favorite memory of Teddy Yip and Theodore was the 1981 Theodore. It had a cool loking elevated front wing. It was reasonably competative at the beginning of the season while Patrick Tambay drove it and he got in in the points at Long Beach I think. Marc Surer took over mid way through the season but the car was slipping back down the grid by then. It was a shame, I suspected that the budget was too small to develop the car fully. I can remember being realy disappointed when I saw that the 1982 Theodore was the 1981 car but with a standard style front wing.

Matt

[ghinzani]

Yip raced at Macau himself until into the 1970s didnt he?

[terry mcgrath]

Teddy Yip
The earliest I have on him is running and XK120 in the early Macau GP's. There will be a good amount on him in the book "Colour and Noise" by Dr Philip Newsome. I believe he came to Wanneroo Western Australia for some of the races by his team.
I am very interested in getting any photos of motorsport pre 1966 in Hong Kong, Macau, Malaya, Singapore, Indonesia and India specifically of interest are jaguars and they were raced in all these locations. I am also interested in getting pics of Teddy Yip with his XK120

below is a history of the Teddy Yip XK120 and some background history on him.
This information is from our new Jaguar XK book due out shortly
660726 - W2798-7
Owner: Tina Kernland, Switzerland
Chassis completed on 27 February 1951, registered in Coventry on 26 April 1951 and despatched that day as a private (i.e. no dealer involved) home delivery car on 26 April 1951 to Dr Oei Tyong Bo who gave his address as c/o Kiangwan (UK) Ltd, 56 Moorgate, London. The UK registration expired on 30 June 1951 as the car was shipped abroad to Hong Kong. Dr Oei raced the car at the Golden Hill hillclimb in Hong Kong in October and November 1952 and January 1953, and at the Wongneichong Gap hillclimb in November 1953. By 1955 the car was in the hands of second owner Theodore (Teddy) Yip of Hong Kong. He was of Dutch nationality, born in Sumatra in 1907 and educated in Holland, before moving to Hong Kong in the 1940s where he began to build up his business empire which eventually included travel agencies, hotels, casinos and trading companies. He started racing with the XK120, at the Macau Grand Prix on at least four occasions, crashing in practice in November 1955, finishing 11th in November 1956, retiring in November 1957 after losing a rear wheel, retiring in November 1959, and entered but possibly not raced in November 1960. In subsequent years, Teddy Yip drove an E Type in that same event, finishing 4th in 1961, 5th in 1962, 3rd in 1963, 5th in 1964, and 5th in 1965. He was the force behind the Macau Grand Prix as an event, and in 1962 he and partners took over the operation of casinos and other tourist operations in Macau. In the 1970s he became seriously involved in Formula 1 and other motor racing ventures, backing various teams and drivers into the early 1980s, including through his own Theodore Racing. He died at the age of 96 years in July 2003, with extensive media coverage following, and the 50th Macau Grand Prix in November that year being dedicated as a tribute to him. The XK120 was partly restored in England between 2001 and 2004 and retained by the family, owned by his daughter, Tina Kernland, living in Switzerland. In July 2004 it was also with daughter Ming-Sai Gillam (Betty Yip) of Forest Row, East Sussex, UK.
Original colours: Silver, Blue, French Grey
Regd: KVC445 (UK, Coventry, 1951)

Edited by terry mcgrath, 16 June 2009 - 01:11.

[Angus Lamont]

It is fair to say that without him and the Motor Sports Club of Hong Kong (MSCHK) there would never have been a Macau Grand Prix. Although I don’t know I suspect that he had a very strong influence on the Macau side of things as he was certainly a very well-known and highly respected figure there. His generosity was legendary and I remember that he used to throw a cocktail party at his house on the Wednesday night of race week for those marshals who had come over to Macau early in the week to do the logistics, scrutineering and circuit preparation, etc. All these people were non-paid volunteers and this was Teddy’s way of saying thank you. He also gave each of us a $100 casino chip, something that was appreciated by all of us. Bob Harper of Harpers and Walter Sulke of Zung Fu were other major supporters of the event in the early days bringing in overseas cars and drivers.

[RA Historian]

He died at the age of 96 years in July 2003, with extensive media coverage following,

...except in National Speed Sport News, which had a small report about two months ago that Teddy Yip was going to be the featured speaker at an upcoming Riverside Raceway reunion event. I e mailed them that perhaps a little research was in order on their end, but the e mail was never acknowledged, either electronically or in print.
Tom

[WGD706]

Teddy Yip, one of the more colorful Formula 1 team owners in the 1970s was born in the Dutch colony of Sumatra in 1907. Yip was sent to Holland to study but afterwards went into business. He moved to Hong Kong in the 1940s and began to build up his business empire which included travel agencies, hotels, casinos and trading companies. Yip spoke many languages including six Chinese dialects, Dutch, English, French, German, Malay and Thai which helped him expand his businesses into property and finance.

Yip started racing for fun in the 1950s at the wheel of a Jaguar XK120. In 1962 he and several partners, including Stanley Ho, formed the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau with a monopoly to run all casino operations and many other leisure activities in Macau, including the local lotteries, ferries and hotels. The company turned Macau into a major tourist center. Yip was the force behind the Macau Grand Prix which is today one of the biggest motor racing events in the world outside Formula 1.

Yip faded into retirement in the late 1980s but continued to enjoy racing until his death in 2003.
http://www.grandprix...ref-yipted.html

[Haggis 2]

Teddy Yip
The earliest I have on him is running and XK120 in the early Macau GP's. There will be a good amount on him in the book "Colour and Noise" by Dr Philip Newsome. I believe he came to Wanneroo Western Australia for some of the races by his team.
I am very interested in getting any photos of motorsport pre 1966 in Hong Kong, Macau, Malaya, Singapore, Indonesia and India specifically of interest are jaguars and they were raced in all these locations. I am also interested in getting pics of Teddy Yip with his XK120

below is a history of the Teddy Yip XK120 and some background history on him.
This information is from our new Jaguar XK book due out shortly
660726 - W2798-7
Owner: Tina Kernland, Switzerland
Chassis completed on 27 February 1951, registered in Coventry on 26 April 1951 and despatched that day as a private (i.e. no dealer involved) home delivery car on 26 April 1951 to Dr Oei Tyong Bo who gave his address as c/o Kiangwan (UK) Ltd, 56 Moorgate, London. The UK registration expired on 30 June 1951 as the car was shipped abroad to Hong Kong. Dr Oei raced the car at the Golden Hill hillclimb in Hong Kong in October and November 1952 and January 1953, and at the Wongneichong Gap hillclimb in November 1953. By 1955 the car was in the hands of second owner Theodore (Teddy) Yip of Hong Kong. He was of Dutch nationality, born in Sumatra in 1907 and educated in Holland, before moving to Hong Kong in the 1940s where he began to build up his business empire which eventually included travel agencies, hotels, casinos and trading companies. He started racing with the XK120, at the Macau Grand Prix on at least four occasions, crashing in practice in November 1955, finishing 11th in November 1956, retiring in November 1957 after losing a rear wheel, retiring in November 1959, and entered but possibly not raced in November 1960. In subsequent years, Teddy Yip drove an E Type in that same event, finishing 4th in 1961, 5th in 1962, 3rd in 1963, 5th in 1964, and 5th in 1965. He was the force behind the Macau Grand Prix as an event, and in 1962 he and partners took over the operation of casinos and other tourist operations in Macau. In the 1970s he became seriously involved in Formula 1 and other motor racing ventures, backing various teams and drivers into the early 1980s, including through his own Theodore Racing. He died at the age of 96 years in July 2003, with extensive media coverage following, and the 50th Macau Grand Prix in November that year being dedicated as a tribute to him. The XK120 was partly restored in England between 2001 and 2004 and retained by the family, owned by his daughter, Tina Kernland, living in Switzerland. In July 2004 it was also with daughter Ming-Sai Gillam (Betty Yip) of Forest Row, East Sussex, UK.
Original colours: Silver, Blue, French Grey
Regd: KVC445 (UK, Coventry, 1951)

Yes Terry, Teddy Yip came to Wanneroo for the 6hr LeMans in 1970 and co drove with Dr Henry Lee in Don Hall's Lotus 47, the own car having been delayed in transit from Macau and not arriving in time to compete.
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Brendon Hagarty