8 replies to this topic

[cabianca]

Cameron Millar, Maserati enthusiast extraordinaire and builder of replica 250Fs, has died after a long illness.

[Vitesse2]

Sad news. Thank you for letting us know.

[rdrcr]

Sorry to hear that news... he was one fine craftsman and true Maserati fan. RIP

Here are a couple of photos of Cameron in his last creation, taken at Goodwood '98.




Maserati 250F / CM9

[Doug Nye]

Very sad. This has been a bad year for so many good ole boys falling off the twig.

Cameron personified 'enthusiasm' - he positively bubbled with it and he truly adored Maserati and the Maserati people and the 250F series in particular.

He was compiling a detailed book on the 'CM' replicas which he went to such enormous pains to build in order to make as many 'original bits' mobile as he could. He NEVER personally claimed the cars were anything other than his productions - with the possible exception of one which went to Japan I think - and he was immensely proud of the fact that Fangio had bought a 'CM', and assured Cameron it was 'superbly balanced'.

Apart from his motoring exploits - which included crossing the Australian continent in his vintage Pomeroy Vauxhall - he'd survived a hectic career as a serving RAF officer. I recall him talking about flying both Beaufighters and DH Hornets during the Malayan crisis, and at other times Vampires, Venoms, Meteors...all manner of models. Cameron Millar had many, many types in his RAF service logbooks and, apart from all the above, he was a very friendly and forthcoming genuine enthusiast...a nice man who dug deep into his own pockets and left some very distinct footprints behind him...

DCN

[Barry Lake]

Sad news.

Does anyone have date and place of birth; date and place of death?

Surely he is famous enough to be listed with other famous motor sport people?

[David McKinney]

Oh dear, more sad news
I met him at a VSCC meeting on my first visit to England and he couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful to a fellow Maserati enthusiast
Only d/o/b I have, Barry, is 1919

[Perruqueporte]

Very sad. This has been a bad year for so many good ole boys falling off the twig.

Cameron personified 'enthusiasm' - he positively bubbled with it and he truly adored Maserati and the Maserati people and the 250F series in particular.

He was compiling a detailed book on the 'CM' replicas which he went to such enormous pains to build in order to make as many 'original bits' mobile as he could. He NEVER personally claimed the cars were anything other than his productions - with the possible exception of one which went to Japan I think - and he was immensely proud of the fact that Fangio had bought a 'CM', and assured Cameron it was 'superbly balanced'.

Apart from his motoring exploits - which included crossing the Australian continent in his vintage Pomeroy Vauxhall - he'd survived a hectic career as a serving RAF officer. I recall him talking about flying both Beaufighters and DH Hornets during the Malayan crisis, and at other times Vampires, Venoms, Meteors...all manner of models. Cameron Millar had many, many types in his RAF service logbooks and, apart from all the above, he was a very friendly and forthcoming genuine enthusiast...a nice man who dug deep into his own pockets and left some very distinct footprints behind him...

DCN

I was going through some photos earlier today, and came across some from Cameron’s 80th birthday party at Brooklands, where several of his 250Fs were assembled. At his memorial service which was at St. Clement Dane’s, the “RAF church”, one of his 250Fs was on the pavement outside, a wonderful “gate guardian” if you like. He and my father were the best of friends in the RAF during the war. A year or so before he died, I drove my father up for lunch with the Millars who lived outside Potters Bar. When we returned to their place from the pub, Cameron sat me in his own 250F (it was the last, CM11 if I recall correctly) which was a thrill. While serving in Bomber Command and returning from a bombing mission in bad weather, he managed to land a Lancaster on a dummy airfield, which was in fact farmland that had just been ploughed. The aircraft was undamaged - testimony to its strength (imagine what would happen to a grand
prix car were it to exit Woodcote and find itself bumping along a rally stage). Over the next few days an RAF ground crew stripped the Lancaster of as much superfluous weight as possible, and a bulldozer flattened a strip through the ploughed furrows, after which Cameron and his flight engineer flew the machine back to its base a few miles away. He was a most unassuming fellow, not uncommon for that generation, sadly lacking these days.

Christopher W.

[RCH]

Back in 1974 I was driving along a back road in the Potter's Bar area at dusk when I spotted an unlit vehicle coming towards me, through the gloom it seemed to have the profile of a "bubble" car. As it got closer I realised it was a pre war GP Maserati. Given where we were I can only assume it was Cameron Millar.

 

Unrelated but following on from the story of landing a Lancaster on a ploughed field. There was a wartime story where I grew up in Dawlish in Devon. A badly damaged American bomber, can't remember now whether Fortress or Liberator, crossed the Devon coast. Realising he couldn't make it back to base and having ordered his crew to bale out the pilot turned back to the coast intending to ditch the plane in the sea. However he spotted a field where he was able to land the plane. The damaged engines were replaced; as much weight as possible was removed; a few trees were cut down and the plane was flown out to land at the airfield at Dunkeswell.

[Perruqueporte]

Back in 1974 I was driving along a back road in the Potter's Bar area at dusk when I spotted an unlit vehicle coming towards me, through the gloom it seemed to have the profile of a "bubble" car. As it got closer I realised it was a pre war GP Maserati. Given where we were I can only assume it was Cameron Millar.
 
Unrelated but following on from the story of landing a Lancaster on a ploughed field. There was a wartime story where I grew up in Dawlish in Devon. A badly damaged American bomber, can't remember now whether Fortress or Liberator, crossed the Devon coast. Realising he couldn't make it back to base and having ordered his crew to bale out the pilot turned back to the coast intending to ditch the plane in the sea. However he spotted a field where he was able to land the plane. The damaged engines were replaced; as much weight as possible was removed; a few trees were cut down and the plane was flown out to land at the airfield at Dunkeswell.

Cameron did race a Maserati 4 CLT in the ‘70s. In around ‘75 or ‘76 we were competing in an FF1600 or FF2000 round somewhere and I came across him in the paddock readying that particular Maserati for a practise session. He was about to climb onboard having just put a very fancy cushion on the seat and was hoping that nobody at home would have noticed that the cushion was missing before he could return and replace it. Nothing changes - we’ve all committed similar crimes!