157 replies to this topic

[Paul Rochdale]

I've been doing some research into Mike Parkes who gained two 2nd places in the 1961 and 1962 Le Man 24hr races. He was particularly successful in sportscars. He joined Ferrari principally on the engineering and development side and it wasn't until 1966 he gained a seat in the F1 team. On his debut at the French GP he came second with a further second in the Italian GP. A serious crash at the following year's Belgian GP mean't he took about three years to recover and when he did come back, the 'sparkle had gone'. He died in a road crash near Turin in 1977.

Very little seems to be said about him - any anecdotes?

[Twin Window]

He and a colleague designed the Hillman Imp, and I think Parkes later undertook development work on the Lancia Stratos.

[Peter Darley]

In my forthcoming book there is a photo of Mike Parkes, walking with the aid of sticks, at the International Trophy Race at Silverstone, 25-04-68.

He had just been talking to Jackie Ickx in the Ferrari.

[bradbury west]

Theee are good profiles of Mike Parkes in Georgano's Encyclopaedia, and in Brian Laban's "Winners."

Mike was a very talented engineer and fitted very well at Ferrari, being very highly regarded by il Commendatore. IIRC there was an interview a while back in one of the magazines with the English woman, DCN will no doubt remind me of her name, who was p.a to Enzo for years, and she really regarded Parkes as a star and a gentleman, as well as a superb driver.

He was very quick, versatile and successful in all sorts of cars, especially the long distance sports racers, but the big crash affected him, and his edge, quite badly. he spent much time on the develpoment of roasd cars and was killed by an oncoming truck, on a wet road I believe, whilst evaluating a new development in 1977.

His father was Chairman of Alvis, Mike did full engineering apprenticeship at Rootes, a serious training in those days, and was one of the team who developed the Imp, plus other things. Raced a works rapier in 62 and 63, having raced other stuff previously. It was his completeness which made Enzo offer him a job, the first British engineer at Ferrari..

A very good bloke,and a hero of mine, for which I make no apology.

Roger Lund.

[fausto]

Originally posted by bradbury west
Theee are good profiles of Mike Parkes in Georgano's Encyclopaedia, and in Brian Laban's "Winners."

.........IIRC there was an interview a while back in one of the magazines with the English woman, DCN will no doubt remind me of her name, who was p.a to Enzo for years, and she really regarded Parkes as a star and a gentleman, as well as a superb driver.


Roger Lund.

The name of the Lady is Brenda Vernon

[bradbury west]

Many thanks. No time to check the files.

RL

[Macca]

Actually Brenda Vernor...............and apparently she was closely involved with Parkes for a while.

There is a chapter in 'The Day I Died' by Mark Kahn about Parkes which is quite revealing, also a 20 questions in 'Motor Racing' magazine for February 1967.


Paul M

[fausto]

Originally posted by Macca
Actually Brenda Vernor...............and apparently she was closely involved with Parkes for a while.

There is a chapter in 'The Day I Died' by Mark Kahn about Parkes which is quite revealing, also a 20 questions in 'Motor Racing' magazine for February 1967.


Paul M

Sorry for my mistake

[Paul Rochdale]

I'd read that Tim Fry and Mike Parkes between them designed the Hillman Imp or at least it's prototype. Brenda Vernor is English, speaks fluent Italian, and apart from being Mike Parkes girlfriend, was also one of Enzo Ferrari's secretaries. I understand she is still with them at Marinello.

Thanks for the interesting comments. I thought my motor racing book collection was pretty extensive........clearly not.

[Arjan de Roos]

Mike Parkes was very important to the Lancia Stratos development. A car that carries the Ferrari Dino engine.

He also was a key figure behind the Ferrari 512M developped for Filipinetti. To decrease the frontal area it was decided to use the windscreen of a Porsche 917. The Ferrari 512 F (F for Filipinetti) was born.

Parkes had scored pole position for the 1966 italian GP.

Did many tests for Ferrari prototypes and GT's.

[Alan Cox]

Don't forget his relentless pursuit of Moss in the '61 TT, another good result in the '62 race plus his driving of Jaguar 3.8s and GTO Ferraris at numerous English meetings.

[bradbury west]

And sticking out into the breeze in a Gemini FJ, IIRC.

RL

[Bonde]

...and sticking out in the breeze in the Fry-Climax oddball. Where did he put his legs in that thing?

[Gary Davies]

He must have been a most understanding fellow. Half way through 1966, Jean-Pierre Sarti nicked his helmet design.

[ian senior]

There's a very good book about the Hillman Imp - "Apex - the inside story of the Hillman Imp" by David and Peter Henshaw - which gives a great deal of detail about Mike's involvement with the Imp and the prototypes that led up to it.

[bill patterson]

As an aside - Enzo presented a Ferrari P4 Spyder to David Clarke, a very unassuming Ferrari collector and racing driver of the '50s, who ensured Mike received the best treatment possible during his recuperation from the Belgian GP accident; this demonstrates the high esteem Enzo held for Mike.

[Doug Nye]

He was usually a Michael rather than a Mike - could be quite a snob - also quite political within the Ferrari context, pretty much detested Surtees, who was te'ibly common you see, and this antipathy was cordially reciprocated by IGJ who did not think that Michael was any great shakes as an engineer, especially if the handling of the early Ferrari 275GTB (Parkes developed) was anything to go by. From the trackside, hanging on the fence, I thought 'Parkesi' was terrific all-round. Once I got to know him I still thought he was a very talented and quick driver.

DCN

[Bonde]

Doug,

Apart from Mr. Parkes somewhat stiff upper lip as you alluded to, how did he come across to you as a person?

[caneparo]

Didn't they modify the 312 chassis to make his leg fit into the cockpit?

[MrMacca]

Originally posted by caneparo
Didn't they modify the 312 chassis to make his leg fit into the cockpit?

Yes, his car had a longer chassis than the other 1966 cars - it was written-off at the Belgian GP in 1967.

Paul M

[Cynic]

Michael Parkes was also the manager of the Lancia rally team in 1975. I met him when I served as an FIA Steward at the Press On Regardless in Michigan, a World Championship event.

Sandro Munari, driving a Stratos, caused an immense problem at the event, which led to most of the field not being able to complete the second night.

As the championship was hanging on this event, there were protests from all sides, and the Stewards meeting lasted for over 17 hours! Michael Parkes was an effective representative for Lancia during the meeting, either acting as a Team Principal when that might help him, or being "our buddy" and giving us "good advice" when that might better serve his team.

I also know Brenda Vernor well, and after Parkes' death she never married, and I'm not sure she ever again had a relationship of significance.

(Doug, I must also say I saw some of the attitude of "above all this" to which you allude.)

Cynic

[Paul Rochdale]

Thanks to James Kalie I have been in touch with Brenda Vernor and located Mike's (Ooops, Michael's) grave at St.Peter's Church, Charsfield, Suffolk.

[Paul Rochdale]

http://www.findagrav...r&GRid=15979145

[ghinzani]

Originally posted by Macca

There is a chapter in 'The Day I Died' by Mark Kahn about Parkes which is quite revealing, also a 20 questions in 'Motor Racing' magazine for February 1967.


Paul M

Is that a good book? I've heard it mentioned a couple of times and I bet it would make interesting reading now, being a boo of its times very much.
If so I could'nt find any copies on AMazon in the UK but saw a couple here http://www.alibris.c...t=p&cm_re=works*listing*buyused

Worth shelling out that amount of money?

[Alan Cox]

Although Mark Kahn was a tabloid journalist, I have always thought it was an underrated book. It includes some interesting sidelines. It doesn't seem to come up for sale at motoring book dealers very often - maybe it was a poor seller when new, with its rather sensational, tabloid-style title.

He also wrote aother book about the Le Mans tragedy where I read for the first time I read that Mike Hawthorn had an illegitimate son living in France - some time before Chris Nixon's "Mon Ami Mate" was written, although I dare say it was well known to motor racing insiders.

[oldtimer]

Originally posted by Cynic


Doug, I must also say I saw some of the attitude of "above all this" to which you allude.

Cynic

From all those years ago, and in an international forum, Parkes' snobbishness is hard to understand. But not if you are familiar with the old English class system. Remember, his father was Chairman of Alvis (who built cars for the well-heeled) in the days when chairmen of such companies needed to have the 'right connections' rather a drive to maximise shareholder value.

Michael came by his snobbishness honestly, insofar that that probably was his environment as a youngster. It is interesting that his father sent him out as an engineering apprentice rather than to lounge at an Oxbridge university. Maybe he saw that his son was too attached to his privileges.

[Twin Window]

Interesting post, oldtimer.

[Vitesse2]

Originally posted by ghinzani


Is that a good book? I've heard it mentioned a couple of times and I bet it would make interesting reading now, being a boo of its times very much.
If so I could'nt find any copies on AMazon in the UK but saw a couple here http://www.alibris.c...t=p&cm_re=works*listing*buyused

Worth shelling out that amount of money?

Some cheaper ones at ABEbooks:

http://www.abebooks....d&x=64&sortby=3

It's a surprisingly rare book - it didn't sell all that well in period and I think it was actually remaindered: maybe they all ended up being pulped!

[Danny Skehan]

I think you will find that Brenda Vernor was in fact Irish

[Paul Rochdale]

....and that 'that' is spelled 'that' and not 'thet'. "Whatever". Doncha just hate that response? :

[Danny Skehan]

Yep! heath tat!

[Graham Gauld]

I honestly do not know why people get so up tight about apparent "snobbishness". Because the guy speaks with a decent accent often means that he is reasonably well educated and has a pretty open mind. I did not know Michael Parkes but I do know that on one of my Modena trips I went along to the autodrome with my shining new portable tape recorder - a Sanyo which I think was one of the first of its type. Michael Parkes arrived from Maranello with a very interesting car, the 330LMB-bodied 250GTO to do some testing for the forthcoming Tour De France where it was driven, I think, by Jo Schlesser.
He nodded hello and got down to the business practicing racing starts and occasionally missed a gear sending a wave of sound round the walls of the autodromo. After fifteen minutes he came into the pits and asked if I wanted to go round with him and so I climbed inside with the recorder and recorded a lap of the circuit in this howling magical beast. Needless to say he was not hanging about and indeed at one point you can hear when he put one wheel on to the grass on the exit from the tight left hander at the end of the straight. We had a laugh, I got out and he continued testing, all on his own and then headed back to Maranello. A charming guy.

[Bjorn Kjer]

What an experience that must have been!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bjørn

[Paul Parker]

I was lucky enough to witness Michael Parkes race the Ferrari 250GT and GTO and of course the Equipe Endeavour Jaguars all those years ago and he was pretty damn good.

At the August Bank Holiday Monday meeting at Brands in '62 he won the GT and saloon car races in the Endeavour GTO and 3.8 Mk2 and the Guards Trophy in a Ferrari 246SP entered by Maranello Concessionaires I seem to recall. He had dominated British GT racing in the dark blue GTO and would in my opinion have easily won the TT in it, but started with a new or rebuilt engine that was still too tight to give of its best and he ended up 3rd instead.

He never got to drive enough in single seaters and F1 and it was his misfortune to end up in a team with someone of Surtees' brilliance, personal antipathy aside. Nevertheless he would have done quite well if he had more F1 mileage (didn't he win the '67 International Trophy at Silverstone?)

Years later I watched Willie Green in historic racing and I was instantly reminded of Parkes' press on oversteer style.

[Doug Nye]

One of the finest demonstrations of Michael Parkes's very serious prowess behind the wheel of a competition car - or rather cars - was surely Bank Holiday Monday, 1962, at Brands Hatch. That was a HORRIBLE day - predictable Bank Holiday weather, pouring rain, 10/10ths cloud, seagulls coughing into the fog...and he won three of the four events on the programme.

He won the 25-lap Peco Trophy (and set fastest lap) in the Equipe Endeavour Ferrari 250GTO, beating the sister cars of Salvadori, Ireland and Surtees.

He then won the 30-lap Molyslip Trophy (and set fastest lap) in the Equipe Endeavour 3.8 Jaguar Mark II saloon, beating the sister cars of Jack Sears and Roy Salvadori.

And he finally won the 50-lap Guards Trophy (and set fastest lap) in the Colonel's Maranello Concessionaires-entered Ferrari 246SP Spider, beating Ireland in the UDT Lotus 19, Jo Bonnier in Count Volpi's Ferrari TRI/61, Carlo Mario Abate in the same owner's Ferrari 250GT 'Breadvan' and Roger Penske in his own Cooper Telar Special Monaco.

DCN

[Doug Nye]

Whatever happened to the old 'edit/delete' function when you realise your ham-fisted typing has screwed up (again)? That GTO driven by Salvaodri, was of course driven by Eric Saldavori.

DCN

[ghinzani]

Originally posted by Vitesse2

Some cheaper ones at ABEbooks:

http://www.abebooks....d&x=64&sortby=3

It's a surprisingly rare book - it didn't sell all that well in period and I think it was actually remaindered: maybe they all ended up being pulped!

Thanks - I shelled!!

[Paul Parker]

I too was present on that day at Brands Hatch and was suitably amazed by Parkes' lapping in 1m 47.0 (a fantastic time with an R6 shod car and 2 years later with at least 80-90bhp more and possibly better conditions and far grippier tyres Sears' Willment Cobra only managed 1m 46.4) in the GTO before the rains came.

I also recall Colin Davis going straight on at the Druids hairpin in what I recall to be the Serinissima GTO (forgive spelling if incorrect, this is all from memory) and being amazed that he could not at least spin the car rather than front ending it into the bank at all of 20/25mph or so. Piper crashed his GTO too didn't he?

Parkes reached his peak in 1962 I believe but obviously he was really too tall for the diddy F1 cars of the time (or indeed of any era). When he drove the F1 Ferraris in 1966/67 he had a special lwb chassis (shades of Mike Hawthorn).

Meanwhile Eric Saldavori is alive and well and keeps in touch with his old chums including Divad Pooper.

[Alan Cox]

I think the edit/delete function is still there, Doug......It's far more interesting if you don't use it, though and shows to the rest of us that you are, in fact, mortal.

[Doug Nye]

Thank you Alan - but better to be mortal than mrotal.

[Doug Nye]

Thank you Alan - but better to be mortal than mrotal. Does the 'edit/delete' biz only last for a certain time from initial posting now then?

[Bonde]

Doug,

IIRC, the Edit function works for two hours, and the Delete for half an hour. So - this is a test of that, then.




Edited at 21:16...Yes, in fact I can even respond to Alan's post below this one!


Edited agaon on October 6 10:51...

[Alan Cox]

But is it better to be immrotal than merely mrotal?

Incidentally, I find that the edit/delete function still works on all my old posts.

[rindt]

It was the 200 miles Grand Prix of Austria 1965 for sport and GT cars, on the old airfield of Zeltweg. Parkes in a Ferrari 365 was the favorite for the race. But the race developed to a big battle between Parkes and Rindt in Gotfrid Koecherts's private Ferrari 250 LM. Rindt's knew, the only chance he would have winning the race was going through nonstop. Neither changing the tires nor refuelling patrol.
Rindt's mechanic, a little chiseller ;-) fixed a switch on the dashboard which allowed Rindt to activate the stoplight even he did not brake ....... a couple times, whenever Parkes came too close to Rindt, ready to overtake, he switched on the lights just a second before he really began to brake for the next corner. This little irretation was enough to keep Parkes behind him. Despite that little "trick", it was not relevant for the race. Parkes had to come into the pits changing tires and refuel the car and Rindt's hazard going nonstop enabled him the victory. On the way to the ceremony Rindt's car stopped because of empty fueltank. However, Parkes has known that he can not go nonstop and he was sure that Rindt's car would stop before the end of the race. Lastly he was happy with the second place and Rindt was the lucky man on that day. And I would spend all my money to know if Parkes was told later about the little trick with the stoplight .....

Regards, Erich

www.jochen-rindt.at

[Twin Window]

I'm not sure how I came across this image in the first place, and - as it's fairly unpleasant - I'll post it here only via a link.

I mean this; if you're easily upset - do not look at it.

http://img152.images...bel67clrqw3.jpg

What strikes me is... why is there a fire extinguisher (presumably placed there by a marshal) in the middle of the image, yet the stricken driver is still - apparently - unattended?

It beats me...

[JB Miltonian]

Better to have a badly broken leg than a badly broken neck, I guess. I take it that he was not belted into the car? Apparently this accident was witnessed by several of the other drivers, including team mate Chris Amon, who was convinced that Parkes was dead.

[Paul Parker]

I did read somewhere that Parkes had lost control of the Ferrari and crashed on oil dropped by Stewart's H16 BRM that was apparently leaking fluids early on.

Being apart from my archive I cannot check this but presumably Doug will know.

[Twin Window]

Originally posted by JB Miltonian

I take it that he was not belted into the car?

Presumably not...

I seem to remember reading that as the car began rolling he was only half flung-out of the chassis, and was trapped in this position by his long legs. This predicament, I believe, was the cause the most serious of his injuries.

[Rob Miller]

One of the finest demonstrations of Michael Parkes's very serious prowess behind the wheel of a competition car - or rather cars - was surely Bank Holiday Monday, 1962, at Brands Hatch. That was a HORRIBLE day - predictable Bank Holiday weather, pouring rain, 10/10ths cloud, seagulls coughing into the fog...and he won three of the four events on the programme.

For the benefit of those sad people like me who cannot stop wondering about this sort of thing, the fourth race was won by Tony Maggs in a Tyrrell Formula Junior Cooper-BMC T59 from a very strong field.

[pilota]

Originally posted by bill patterson
As an aside - Enzo presented a Ferrari P4 Spyder to David Clarke, a very unassuming Ferrari collector and racing driver of the '50s, who ensured Mike received the best treatment possible during his recuperation from the Belgian GP accident; this demonstrates the high esteem Enzo held for Mike.

Not quite correct. Enzo presented the P4 to Dr. 'Dick' Wilkins who looked after Parkes during his recovery. In 1969 Dr Wilkins decided to dispose of his collection and David Clarke purchased 0856. But this, as Bill said, did come about because of Enzo's respect for Parkes.
Nathan