49 replies to this topic

[Maindrian Pace]

Sorry to be the first with this sad news, but I've just heard that former British Saloon Car Champion and GP driver John Love has died.

[Keir]

He almost pulled off a big one at Kyalami in '67 !!

[Richard Jenkins]

Oh, I don´t believe this.

Allison, Cross, Marshall and now John Love all dead in less than 3 weeks.

Excellent driver & another huge loss for historic motorsport. RIP.


Details of his death place & date would be appreciated, as always

[Andrew Kitson]

Very sad. Any more news on this, a link possibly?

[gerard BARATHIEU]

what a very sad news.

Somebody knows how old was he ?

I remeber in 1967 with his old COOPER ,near to win thr SOUTH AFRICAN GP

in front of all the three litter cars !!!

I wander what he don't belong to an official team at this time.

He have made some good apparitions in EUROPE in FJ time.

perhaps he want to stay in RHODESIE for busineSS;

very great champion.

[BorderReiver]

But for a few gallons . . .

RIP Mr Love.

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by gerard BARATHIEU
what a very sad news.

Somebody knows how old was he ?

John was 80 in December.

[barrykm]

R.I.P. John

[Hieronymus]

Tot siens, John..."our" Rhodesian hero.

John spent his last days at his daughter's home in Durban.

[Racer.Demon]

Marius was planning to please 8W with a story on John Love's wonderful international and local career in the next few days, and I guess it will turn out to be more of an in memoriam than he originally intended it to be...

[Paul Taylor]

RIP This year has been really bad so far.

[alnica]

John Love, six-time South African motor racing champion, died at his home in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, yesterday morning. He was 80.

from http://www.themercur...05&fAuth=&fC=24

[renzo_zorzi]

http://f1rejects.com/centrale/love/

a great account of john loves best effort.

RIP john

[Thilo F]

Greg Mills is the national director of the South African Institute of International Affairs.
He published Johns biography FOR THE LOVE OF IT just recently. Its a paperback and not very expensive (100 Rand in S.A.) with many photos. A good read.

I bought it here:

Motorbooks
341 Jan Smuts Avenue
Craighall Park
Johannesburg S.A.
www.motorbooks.co.za
Tel No 011-325-4458/59/60
Fax No 011-325-4146

[Russell_Sheldon]

John Love, 1967 South African Grand Prix. 2nd place.


I have vivid and very fond memories of John Love. This is my tribute to the great man.

I grew up in Milnerton, near Cape Town, South Africa, during the mid-sixties when Scalextric was the craze. Along with my friends I used to “play Scalextric” practically every day after school and at least once a month we would organize a “championship” event, combining our track pieces and building large 4-lane circuits on the garage floor of my parent's house. I recall that our neighbour was a very enthusiastic spectator and often kindly sponsored prizes for our races. With the Killarney motor racing track within cycling distance of Milnerton we were also motor racing enthusiasts and would arrange our Scalextric “championship” races to coincide with the big motor races at Killarney. You can imagine our surprise and delight one afternoon, when towards the end of one of our big events, a Team Gunston truck pulled up in front of the garage, complete with a Brabham BT20-Repco in the back, and out stepped multiple South African Champion racing driver John Love! Our neighbour had arranged for him to stop by and hand out the prizes – we were overwhelmed!

Although the SA F1 series was dominated by John Love from 1964, he was probably best known for his association with Team Gunston. The Gunston Cigarette Company of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, introduced tobacco sponsorship to motor racing when they sponsored Rhodesian drivers John Love and Sam Tingle for the 1968 SA National Championship series.



John Love, 1968 Brabham BT20 Repco

Gunston and multiple South African Champion John Love developed a long-standing relationship. Following the 1968 South African Grand Prix, Gunston bought the Lotus 49 driven by Graham Hill to 2nd place, and the Brabham BT24 Repco with which Jochen Rindt finished 3rd. In the SA national series for F1 and F5000 cars, Love campaigned the Lotus, winning the 1968 title, with Tingle finishing 3rd in the points with the Brabham, behind the Lola T140 F5000 car of Jackie Pretorius.



John Love, Lotus 49, 1968

South African saloon car driver Basil Van Rooyen got his first taste of single-seater racing when he competed in the 1968 South African Grand Prix, entered by John Love to drive the ageing Cooper Climax T79 (in which Love so nearly won the 1967 SAGP). For the 1968 SA national series Van Rooyen drove a STP sponsored Team Lawson Brabham BT24 Repco, winning the Natal Winter Trophy and finishing second in the Republic Trophy, Rand Winter Trophy and Rand Spring Trophy races.

For the 1969 season, Team Lawson obtained McLaren M7A/1 and Basil Van Rooyen promptly won the opening race of the series, the Cape South Easter Trophy at Killarney, as well as winning the Coronation "100" at Roy Hesketh. Van Rooyen finished 2nd in the Rand Autumn Trophy at Kyalami to Love's Gunston Lotus 49, but unfortunately crashed heavily in practice for the Republic Trophy Races at Kyalami in May. It put an end to his season and practically finished his racing career. The McLaren M7A broke in half when it hit the crash barriers at over 150 mph, flinging Van Rooyen from the car when the seat belts broke. A deflated tyre or suspension failure was thought to be the cause of the crash. Love went on to win the 1969 title in his Lotus 49.



John Love, Lotus 49, 1969


Real competition came Love's way when Aldo Scribante, the owner of a construction company and an ardent motor racing enthusiast who over the years sponsored a number of South African drivers under his "Scuderia Scribante" banner, bought Jo Bonnier's Lotus 49B (chassis number R8) for Dave Charlton to campaign with in 1970. Charlton used it to good effect to win the SA National title from John Love that year. Following the 1970 SAGP, where Charlton was classified 12th although he failed to finish, Scribante secured sponsorship from South Africa's United Tobacco Company. Gunston was the main rival of United Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarette brand and this saw the start of the "tobacco wars" in SA motor sport. Lucky Strike's entry into SA motor sport resulted in a long-term association with Charlton, his Lotus 49C first appearing in Lucky Strike colours at the Coronation "100" held on 30th March 1970. With the team renamed "Scribante Lucky Strike Racing", Charlton went on to win his first South African National Championship.

Midway through the 1970 season, Gunston obtained a brand new March 701 (chassis 701/10) for John Love, replacing the Lotus 49, and the Cosworth powered Brabham BT26A/1 campaigned in the 1969 Grand Prix season by Piers Courage, for Sam Tingle. After the first race of the season Pieter de Klerk took over the Team Gunston seat from Tingle, who retired from racing. Love debuted the March 701 in the Bulawayo 100, which he won, but the car was plagued with problems, retiring from four of the five remaining races.



John Love, March 701

Love started the 1971 season with the March, which included an entry in that year's SAGP, but the car continued to prove unreliable. Despite beating Charlton's Lotus 49C in the Goldfields Autumn Trophy, Gunston decided to replace the March with a Surtees TS9, which was to prove to be even less competitive than the March, in time for the Bulawayo 100.



John Love, Surtees TS9


Unfortunately, Love crashed the Surtees heavily just three races later in the 25th Anniversary Trophy race at Kyalami, the car wedging itself between the barriers at Clubhouse Corner after a tyre burst. Thereafter Team Gunston brought the March out of retirement and Love raced it right up to January 1972, winning the 1971 False Bay 100 and the 1971 Rhodesian Grand Prix. Jackie Pretorius took over Team Gunston's Brabham BT26 for 1971, beating Love to take 2nd place at the Bulawayo 100 and Republic Festival Trophy races, both of which were won by Charlton, and winning the Natal Winter Trophy race after Charlton retired from the lead.

Although he drove the March 701 in the 1972 opening Cape South Easter race, Love's Team Gunston Surtees TS9 was rebuilt for the 1972 season, but after a DNF in the Highveld 100 and spinning out of the SAGP, he opted to drive the Team Gunston Brabham BT33 which had been acquired for Willie Ferguson, Jackie Pretorius having decided to drive a F5000 car instead. With two wins and four second places, Love finished 2nd to Charlton in the championship.

The 1973 championship series included a class for Formula 2 cars, along with the F1 and F5000 machinery. Team Gunston opted for a F2 Chevron B25 FVC for John Love, with Lucky Strike retaining the Lotus 72D for Charlton. Lucky Strike's involvement extended to sponsoring the ex-Jackie Stewart/Patrick Depailler Tyrrell 004 for Eddie Keizan, entered by Alex Blignaut, and a March 721 for Meyer Botha. John Love's title chase was well and truly over. Charlton went on to win his fourth SA championship.

Gunston also backed some of the sports prototype cars which used to come out to South Africa for the end of season Springbok Series, with John Love pairing up with the likes of Paul Hawkins, Brian Redman, Richard Attwood, Helmut Marko and Peter Gethin, with Love always acquitting himself well alongside the international stars.







Although I wasn't at this year's Zwartkops tribute meeting, thanks to the tip from Quintin Cloud and the generosity of my friend Derick Thesnaar, I proudly possess a copy of the book "For the Love of it" by Greg Mills, signed by John Love. I shall treasure it.


Kind regards,

Russell

[eldougo]

News indeed .

RIP...Mr Love ...........And thanks Russell for that pictorial trubite to John Love .

[Gilles4Ever]

RIP Mr Love

Thanks for the tribute Russell. I unfortunately only ever got to see him race in historic and clubman races. What he did for motorsport on the sub continent was phenomenal.

[P 4 Staff]

"I grew up in Milnerton, near Cape Town, South Africa, during the mid-sixties when Scalextric was the craze. Along with my friends I used to “play Scalextric” practically every day after school and at least once a month we would organize a “championship” event, combining our track pieces and building large 4-lane circuits on the garage floor of my parent's house. I recall that our neighbour was a very enthusiastic spectator and often kindly sponsored prizes for our races. With the Killarney motor racing track within cycling distance of Milnerton we were also motor racing enthusiasts and would arrange our Scalextric “championship” races to coincide with the big motor races at Killarney. You can imagine our surprise and delight one afternoon, when towards the end of one of our big events, a Team Gunston truck pulled up in front of the garage, complete with a Brabham BT20-Repco in the back, and out stepped multiple South African Champion racing driver John Love! Our neighbour had arranged for him to stop by and hand out the prizes – we were overwhelmed"!

Russell...what a lovely story...I got tears in my eyes as I read it.

Best: Staff

[Breadmaster]

Russell - that's a bloody excellent story.

RIP John.

[Wolf]

I have a feeling two very rich guys have died recently... Between this and Gerry Marshall thread, I cannot but admire the way they influenced people here- a thing that makes them a lot more wealthy than a load of dosh or rich sponsor contracts.

One can gaze at statistics and results for ages, and still never know a thing about those kinds of heart-felt stories you have shared here. Thanks.

Godspeed, John Love.

[Hieronymus]

John's funeral will be held today, Thursday, in Bulawayo.

[Hieronymus]

...by the way. Joe Putter, the man that was instrumental in the Gunston sponsership for the cars of Love and Sam Tingle, also passed away just a couple of days ago.

[D-Type]

Russel,
I loved the Scalextric story. John deserves to be remembered for that as much as for Kyalami 1967!
My sympathies to his relatives who have lost a great man.

[Hieronymus]

Originally posted by D-Type
John deserves to be remembered for that as much as for Kyalami 1967!

Kyalami 1967 is just a small note in the Love-saga. There is much more to it. Hopefully Mattijs will have the full story ready on 8W within the next few days.

[Racer.Demon]

Make that the next few hours...

Marius never intended this to be an obituary but sadly it has more or less ended up being so.

A fine tribute to John Love's accomplishments:

http://8w.forix.com/love.html

[Russell_Sheldon]

What a fabulous biography by Marius Matthee!

This says it all about the great man:-

"McNicol now only had to finish second in the final race of the year to take the title away from Love. The drama that unfolded in that final race at the Rand Spring Trophy at Kyalami has to be told to remind the reader what true sportsmanship really meant in those days:

On the warm-up lap before the race it was discovered that McNicol’s car had developed a chassis fracture. The other drivers, lead by Love, pleaded with the race organizers to postpone the race to later in the day, thereby allowing McNicol to repair his car to take the start. Doug Serrurier immediately began doing some welding repairs assisted by Pretorius, Love, Driver and Tingle."

Thank you, Marius!

Kind regards,

Russell

[Hieronymus]

Thanks Russell!

Yes, that just shows the quality of a true sportsman.

I have compiled a fairly accurate statistical record of all John's races, so if anyone is interested, please let me know. I can email it on request.

[Hans Etzrodt]

Tot siens, John... also from me.

I just discovered this thread after some days vacation from TNF. I have many good memories about John Love racing. I mostly saw him race in Kyalami but also once in Bulawayo on my return through the Kalahari from an Okavango Swamps safari. When John Love raced his Gunston racecars it convinced me to smoke Gunston instead of Lucky Strike, both considered 12 volts cigarettes, as we called those without filter. 'Girly' cigarettes, those with a filter, were only 6 volts in our eyes.

I was sitting at the Leeukop grandstand overlooking the Kyalami circuit when John Love almost won the South African Grand Prix in 1967. After the main contenders had dropped out of the race, Love and others came to the forefront and all of a sudden Love was in first place after the leader pitted. So, Love was lucky to inherit the lead but after many laps in first place all was lost when he had to pit for more fuel near the end. We were very disappointed of course but Love still came second. I remember this as being a rather interesting race. John Love was our favorite, the underdog to the factory drivers from Europe.

[Patrick Fletcher]

Originally posted by Hans Etzrodt
Tot siens, John... also from me.

John Love was our favorite, the underdog to the factory drivers from Europe.

Something that was very special during those years in SA and other nations, in a world sense this somehow eased the popularity of F1TV into living rooms worldwide.
It is good to read the exploits of this great sportsman from South Africa.

[Wolf]

Originally posted by ry6

The photo is from my book "Springbok Grand Prix" and was taken by Malcolm Kinsey. It is one of Malcolm and my favourite photos of John Love who was very kind to me over the years.

[Wolf]

Originally posted by ry6

Again from "Springbok" two more masterpieces by Malcolm Kinsey. Top Pedro Rodriguez in the winning Cooper Maserati and bottom John Love in my "favourite" "F1" car - his Tasman Cooper T79) with 2.7 Climax engine.
I think this must have been the last time Coopers were 1-2 in a World Championship Grand Prix? For that matter probably one of the last wins for the marque? John's T79 is now owned by Bob Woodward in the USA.
Was this Tasman Cooper perhaps the "first" McLaren?

[ry6]

Wolf you are a star!
These photos I sent you only a few moments ago are already posted.
Many thanks.
Rob

[ry6]

Wolf you are a star!
Within moments of my sending you these photos they are posted.
Incredible.
Thank you very much.
I have been working for some time in a place where I do not have internet so
it is great to be back in the electronic age,
Rob

[Wolf]

Originally posted by ry6

Another photo of John Love by Malcolm Kinsey.
In the 4 December 1965 Rand Grand Prix at Kyalami John Love leads Jack Brabham's Scribante entered (Brabham Climax 2.7) as they lap Jack Holme's F2 LDS-Brabham. Love matched Brabham until about lap 20 when he was forced to slow with shock absorber trouble. This was still in the early stages of his development of the T79. His grid time of 1:30.86 was slightly slower than Brabham at 1 min 30.8. What's interesting is that by the time of the 1967 SAGP on 2 January ( 13 months later) , Love gridded at 1 min 29.5 in the "same" car.

It is my pleasure Rob- Your posts are one of the reasons TNF is kind of place it is. It is me/we who should be thanking You, not vice-versa.;)

[Wolf]

Originally posted by ry6

I thought I would share with you some photos of interesting cars that John raced.

#6 is the Scuderia Lupini Cooper-Maserati at Roy Hesketh Circuit during the Pat Fairfield Trophy in January 1961. John was second behind the Cooper-Alfa of Bruce Johnstone. Wolfgang Seidel was third. This car was noted for its difficult handling although the Lupini team developed it and improved it considerably during its "career".

#12 is the interesting LDS-Porsche during practice for the 1961 Natal Grand Prix at Westmead. This car was built by Doug Serrurier for AH Pillman who fitted a four cam Porsche RSK engine and gearbox to it. This was a very quick car but initially handled badly. Love crashed in practice and non-started.

A few weeks later it showed its paces in the Cape Grand Prix and was the quickest "local" car with Love posting times only a second a lap slower than Jo Bonnier's works Porsche 718.

[Wolf]

Originally posted by ry6

I was given a sheet of tiny contact prints and a friend has scanned and made up a couple of photos for me. They are not great but they ARE interesting. If u blow them up a bit u can see something.

Here they are -

1. Start of 1963 Royal Show 100 at Roy Hesketh, Pietermaritzburg as leaders flow thru Henry's Knee shows left Doug Serrurier (LD ALfa); middle John Love (Cooper T55) and Syd van der Vyver (Lotus 24 Climax V8). #99 on the right is Brausch Niemann's "formula one" Lotus 7. Syd won the race. Love was leading at one stage but had to stop to have a distributor rotor replaced.

2. Ernest Pieterse (Lotus 21) leads Doug Serrurier and John Love up Beacon Hill Bend.

[jpm2]

Does anyone have a photo of John Love with the Cooper, at Monza 1964 ? I never saw in my life (and I'm 55!). It seems he only did four laps during practice, so I guess he never got to be photographed

[ry6]

There seems to be some confusion as to where John "passed away".
One account says that he passed away at his daughter's house in Durban wheras another says it was at his home in Bulawayo. Which is correct.

The Mercury story says that John won the Rand Nine Hours with David Piper. To my knowledge this is not correct and the usual careless reliance on sanguine stories passed on.

John co-drove the Porsche Spyder with Dawie Gous to Nine Hour wins in 1960 and 1961 but I don't think he ever co-drove with Piper. He did once share a Piper Ferrari, the GTO, with Peter de Klerk, circa 1964. They were second to Piper & Maggs in a 275 LM.

I then remember him driving the 275LM or 250 LM ? with Mike Spence a year or so later.

I have no reference material where I am to substantiate dates.

[Russell_Sheldon]

"The Mercury story says that John won the Rand Nine Hours with David Piper. To my knowledge this is not correct and the usual careless reliance on sanguine stories passed on.

John co-drove the Porsche Spyder with Dawie Gous to Nine Hour wins in 1960 and 1961 but I don't think he ever co-drove with Piper. He did once share a Piper Ferrari, the GTO, with Peter de Klerk, circa 1964. They were second to Piper & Maggs in a 275 LM."

You are correct, ry6. The other Piper cars that John Love drove were the 3.3 Ferrari 250LM (6th place with Mike Spence in 1965) and the Porsche 917 (010) which he shared with Richard Attwood in the 1970 race (DNF).

The nine hours endurance race was first held in 1958 on the old Grand Central track and was won by Ian Fraser-Jones and Tony Ferguson, driving a Porsche Speedster Carrera. John Love and George Pfaff were second in Pfaff’s Austin-Healey 100, despite losing a number plate! According to Autosport: "John Love of Rhodesia lost his number plate part way down the straight, halted, dashed across the track in font of an oncoming bunch to retrieve it, and proceeded to the pits to replace it". (Marius Matthee, The Last Rhodesian Hero)

The 1959 race was won by Hugh Carrington and Chris Ferguson (Dart-Climax), with John Love and Dawie Gous winning in 1960 and 1961 with a Porsche 550 Spyder, as stated by ry6. The race was held at Kyalami for the first time in 1961.

1962 marked the beginning of the David Piper era. David Piper and Bruce Johnstone won in a Ferrari 250 GTO. Piper won again in 1963, this time with Tony Maggs as co-driver, with a new Ferrari 250 GTO. The 1964 race was again won by Piper and Maggs, in a 3.3 Ferrari 250LM. John Love and Peter de Klerk were second (3.0 Ferrari 250GTO). Piper took his fourth straight win in 1965, with Richard Attwood co-driving the 4.4 Ferrari 365P2. 1966 again saw Piper and Attwood victorious (Ferrari 365P2). The Piper/Attwood combination were to win again in 1969, driving a Porsche 917.

1958 (Grand Central)
1. Ian Fraser-Jones/Tony Ferguson (Porsche Speedster Carrera)

1959 (Grand Central)
1. Hugh Carrington/Chris Ferguson (Dart-Climax)

1960 (Grand Central)
1. John Love/Dawie Gous (Porsche 550 Spyder)

1961 (Kyalami)
1. John Love/Dawie Gous (Porsche 550 Spyder)

1962 (Kyalami)
1. David Piper/Bruce Johnstone (Ferrari 250 GTO)

1963 (Kyalami)
1. David Piper/Tony Maggs (Ferrari 250 GTO)



1964 (Kyalami)
1. David Piper/Tony Maggs (Ferrari 250LM)
2. John Love/Peter de Klerk (3.0 Ferrari 250GTO),

1965 (Kyalami)
1. David Piper/Richard Attwood (Ferrari 365P2)
6. Mike Spence/John Love (3.3 Ferrari 250LM)

1966 (Kyalami)
1. David Piper/Richard Attwood (Ferrari 365P2/P3)
DNF Peter Sutcliffe/John Love (Ford P40 GT/112) #2 Peter Sutcliffe



1967 (Kyalami)
1. Jacky Ickx/Brian Redman (Mirage Ford 10001)



2. Paul Hawkins/John Love (Lola T70 Mk.3 Chev SL73/112) #3 Paul Hawkins



1968 (Kyalami)
1. Jacky Ickx/David Hobbs (Mirage Ford 10001)



3. Paul Hawkins/John Love (Ferrari 350P 0858) #4 Hawkins Team Gunston



1969 (Kyalami)
1. David Piper/Richard Attwood (Porsche 917 010)



DNF John Love/Brian Redman (Lola T70 Mk.3B SL76/138) #1 Team Gunston



1970 (Kyalami)
1. Jacky Ickx/Ignazio Giunti (Ferrari 512M 1010)



DNF John Love/Richard Attwood (Porsche 917 010) #1 Piper Team Gunston



1971 (Kyalami)
1. Clay Regazzoni/Brian Redman (Ferrari 312PB 0880)
5. Helmut Marko/John Love (Lola T212)

1972 (Kyalami)
1. Clay Regazzoni/Arturo Merzario (Ferrari 312PB)



5. John Love/Peter Gethin (Chevron B21 Ford) #10 Team Gunston




John Love did not enter the 1973 event, which was won by Reinhold Jöst/Herbert Müller (Porsche 908/03). The fuel crises end the 1973 Springbok Series after just two rounds, the Kyalami 9-Hours and the Cape 3-Hours (Killarney).




Kind regards,

Russell

[Russell_Sheldon]

I've just had the chance to take a look at "Sun on the Grid" and have corrected my above post.... The 9-Hours was first held at Kyalami in 1961, not 1962 as I had erroneously posted....


Kind regards,

Russell

[Pedro 917]

From Autosport "Race of my life" - August 1991 :

INTERVIEW BY ALEXANDER CORNE

John Love
South African GP
Kyalami
January 2, 1967
Tasman Cooper

I started racing aged 19 on a Zundapp motorcycle, but switched to single seaters and went to Europe where I did some racing for Tyrrell. Then I had a prang and broke my arm badly, requiring a bone graft from a hip.

Ken Tyrrell wanted me back, possibly to drive a Cooper or Brabham, but I didn't go because I didn't think my arm was going to be good enough, or strong enough for a heavy season.

That was about the time when the 1500cc World Championship grew to be 3 litres. It was the end of the 1965 season I think. Bruce McLaren was racing a Cooper Climax, an ex works car, which I brought out to Rhodesia and latterly raced in South Africa.

Later on I graduated to the Tasman Cooper which I also bought from Bruce McLaren, in which he'd been competing in the Tasman series. That's the car I was driving in the 1967 Grand Prix.

I'd been racing the Tasman Cooper in the Rhodesian Formula 1 series that year, but our rules were slightly different. The Grands Prix were for heavier cars and they carried more fuel. We were used to sprint type races, so you didn't have all the extra weight or fuel.

I was a privateer entry, for the Grand Prix in the old car which was painted black and white when I got it direct from New Zealand. I had the car painted in Cooper colours, as a throw back to the clays with Ken Tvrrell when he ran the Cooper works team in formula junior. Also, I was 43 years old, and thus the oldest chap on the grid.

I remember at the time looking at the car, and thinking that I'd he lucky to finish the race with such an old car, plus it wouldn't be able to carry enough fuel for a Grand Prix. So I put an extra six gallon aluminium side tank on the car to boost the 16 gallon main tank capacity. The extra tank had a Bendix electric fuel pump to push the reserve fuel into the main tank. We reckoned that by the end of the race we'd be a couple of laps behind managing 78 out of the 80, and there'd be enough fuel.

I was working in the same pits as Jo Siffert (Cooper Maserati) and he came to me to ask to borrow a Bendix pump. I had two in the back of a van and gave him one, the good one of the two as it turned out. I only found out I was left with the dud pump seven laps from the end when it failed to pump all the reserve fuel into the main tank.

Practice for the race had been good. I'd scored second fastest lap on the Friday, only jack Brabham was faster, but then Denny Hulme and Jim Clark and Pedro Rodriguez pushed me to fifth on the grid for the start, alongside Surtees. We were pretty high up I thought, but then those H16 BRMs weren't that good and the 2.7 Climax engine I had was in good shape.

As the flag fell at the start of the race Denny Hulme grabbed the lead in his Brabham Repco, followed by Jack Brabham in a similar car. John Surtees followed and I was outdragged by the faster cars into the first corner. Jackie Stewart's H16 BRM blew its engine and deposited oil on the track which had Jochen Rindt spinning.

Graham Hill bumped his car and a pipe came loose so he was out and Jim Clark overheated and retired after only about one third distance. While I was having a bit of a dust tip with Dan Gurney, both of us in similar cars, he in an American Eagle 2.7 litre unit, we were catching John Surtees and I got past him at about half way with Dan following me soon after.

A couple of laps later Jochen Rindt retired and jack Brabham's car started to play up. Hulme was still in the lead, I was following and Gurney was behind, with John Surtees fourth and Rodriguez fifth.

Gurney broke his suspension and Rodriguez took Surtees and then Hulme ran out of brake fluid or some such story and so I was in the lead, 25 laps from home,

The grandstands were in uproar. I didn't realise I'd taken the lead until I came around in front of them and saw the thousands of cheering spectators waving at me in my Cooper. At the start of the straight it was all quiet until they saw it was me, then they went bonkers, waving and gesticulating, and I thought: 'Well I must be in the lead by now,' and I was.

I had 13 laps at the head of a Grand Prix and was feeling on top of the world. It was an incredible feeling. Even though I was a Rhodesian, not a South African, I was well known there, and the South African Champion at the time, so it was like leading a Grand Prix in front of a home crowd.

The elation didn't last long though because I had to stop for fuel. The Bendix pump had ceased to push the fuel to the main tank and I'd also noticed a misfire from a loose condenser wire becoming progressively worse. This of course had a bad effect on fuel consumption. I was forced to make a pit stop and take on more fuel into the main tank and have the misfire sorted out.

The stop was terrible. Rodriguez swept past while I was in the pits and was uncatchable. I was disappointed, having come so close to winning a World Championship event. The car shouldn't have been so high up, but my lap times showed I was just as fast as anyone else. I got six points and finished 11th in the World Championship that year, for my single Grand Prix outing.


Born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, in December 1924, John Love started racing at the age of 19 on a Zundapp motorcycle, although he soon moved on to cars. He was the South African single seater champion for six consecutive years. His forays to Europe weren't as successful, though he did win the British Saloon Car Championship in the 1960s in a hot Mini Cooper, commuting from darkest Africa for each race. John raced single seaters until the late 1970s and retired from active participation in motorsport only in recent times; he used to race a highly competitive Golf GTi until about two years ago, in what he calls the 'hotchpotch' of a racing scene blighting Zimbabwe. He's now occupied with a successful exhaust business in Bulawayo.

RIP John.

[wily man]

Does anyone recollect John Love owning or driving a Cooper 500 with either Norton or JAP engines early in his career?
I ask because in the early '60's a workmate of mine in Kalgoorlie brought with him from Northern Rhodesia a Cooper 500.
In conversations with him John Love's name was often mentioned and I'm not sure if he mentioned that his car once belonged to John Love.

If this was one of his cars it is now here in Perth Western Australia having been fully restored.

[dmj]

I'd like to add my R.I.P. wishes here. Just today I managed to write a short article on Mr. Love and post it at one Croatian F1 forum. Although besides my few fellow countrymen here there aren't many people in my country who ever heard about him, I do hope they'll enjoy the short overview I made. Also thanks to posters here who enabled me to find all significant details about him easily so I could write it.

[Hieronymus]

Originally posted by wily man
Does anyone recollect John Love owning or driving a Cooper 500 with either Norton or JAP engines early in his career?
I ask because in the early '60's a workmate of mine in Kalgoorlie brought with him from Northern Rhodesia a Cooper 500.
In conversations with him John Love's name was often mentioned and I'm not sure if he mentioned that his car once belonged to John Love.

If this was one of his cars it is now here in Perth Western Australia having been fully restored.

For the next three years Love was a regular competitor in Southern Rhodesia, first in the Cooper JAP, which later was fitted with a Norton engine. After this car was written off in an accident, he purchased yet another Cooper-Norton. Races were mostly held on dirt circuits and during this time he scored five victories at Umgusa Speedway and another five at Salisbury’s Coronation Park. After cutting his teeth against some of his countries best drivers, men like Jimmy Shields, Gordon MacPherson, Jimmy de Villiers, Sam Tingle and Peter Wood, John moved south of the border for the first time to compete in South African race meetings.

John Love - The Last Rhodesian Hero
http://8w.forix.com/love.html

[ry6]

John's story in Autosport mentions he was the oldest driver on the grid at 43 years of age.

I have not got any records with me but I am sure that Sam Tingle was older.

Also John was a very "young" 43 year old in that he was as fit and alert as someone of say 30.

[Hieronymus]

Yes, Rob. Sam Tingle is three years older than John Love.

Sam Tingle (b. 24 Aug. 1921)
John Love (b. 7 Dec. 1924)

By the way, the two of them went to the same school in Bulawayo.

[wily man]

Hieronymus,
Many thanks for your reply to my question re the possibility of my old workmates Cooper 500 being an ex John Love car. I might leave it at that and the thought of it "could have been".

The Cooper 500 in question had been raced on oiled dirt circuits. It showed signs of a hard life, the alloy body didn't have a smooth panel on its brushed red and white body. It carried a symbol on its flanks in hieroglyphics [sp?]. Reputed to be a good luck sign.
I lost track of Howard and his Cooper after he left Kalgoorlie. The car, in new hands, turned up at a historic "Round the Houses" race meeting years after. The now current owner has had it restored, a lot of parts being painted, wishbones, drive shafts etc, instead of being restored to their bare metal appearance. It still looks OK.

[ry6]

At one time John was a partner in a motorcycle business with Jim Redman, the multi motorcycle world champion.
Jim, a long time ago, at a dinner in honour of John Love, told us that John bought a Cooper 500 from Stirling Moss. This must have been circa 1954/5. He and John drove from Bulawayo, Rhodesia to Port Elizabeth in South Africa to collect it. It was in poor condition when they collected it off the ship.

I think they replaced the engine.

I also think that John may have had more than one Cooper cyclecar during his early career.

[Mattthecat]

http://www.sundayind...ticleId=2390910

A quite entertaining article on Tony Maggs and John Love

[anthony figueiredo]

I would call him on a couple of occassions back in the late 90s to see how he was.I always remembered him as a true hero someone who represented all Rhodesians in Motorsport.He allowed our dreams to come true as a true ambassador and competitor.My father shared a drive with him in the Mini Cooper S at the Marlborough Circuit in Salisbury.I remember he bought a Chevron B21 for his son Royce to race at the Donnybrooke track.I still have the Original Issue book titled John Love written by Adri Bezuidenhout and signed by John.He rights to my father" To Tony Best Wishes John 15/5/70.Thanks John you will be dearly missed.I will never forget your words of wisdom which i always tried to follow in my racing days.Over 3 years ago now and i still think of you.Anthony