Volume 3
 

 

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Louis Stanley was for many years chairman and joint managing director , with Jean Stanley, of the family-owned BRM racing team. From this vantage point he was able to observe the changes that the years would bring to the Formula 1 circus. He was at the forefront of motor racing safety and the establishment of the Grand Prix Medical Unit. He chronicles the introduction of advertising in a frank and honest manner having introduced Marlboro to Formula 1, a development that he would later regret. He writes critically regarding the use of electronic driver aids which in his mind produced a two-tier situation in Formula between the haves such as Williams, Ferrari and McLaren and the have nots. But to dismiss this book as the bitter remarks of a person who time has passed by is to make a great mistake. In his chapter Unpredictable Personalities he delivers concise snapshots of legendary figures such as Enzo Ferrari, Vittorio Jano, Louis Chiron and Alfred Neubauer. The chapters entitled Analysis of Accidents, Safety Measures and The Campaign that Saved Lives are both disturbing and necessary, as Louis Stanley sought to understand the cause and effects of crashes in order to promote greater safety in the future. Lastly his chapters Memories Never Age and Victories to Savor give the reader a window to this period in Grand Prix racing the 60's and 70's, The Legendary Years. Graham Hill's victory in the German Grand Prix of 1962, a young Jackie Stewart winning at Monza in 1965 and Jean-Pierre Beltoise's remarkable win in torrential rain at Monaco in 1972 stand out. The book finishes with a short story on the origins of BRM. Generously illustrated with black & white photographs that make the drivers seem even more heroic, this book would make a welcome addition to anyone's library.

Stanley, Louis. "The Legendary Years". Queen Anne Press., 1994, 248 pp., ISBN 1-85291-547-1

From Moss to Mansell the lives of great British racing drivers are contained herein. Famous names such as Mike Hawthorn, Peter Collins and Tony Brooks are given flesh and blood through anecdotes and personal remembrances. We read of the exploits of G. Hill, Clark, Surtees and Stewart racing wheel to wheel in cigar shaped cars painted British racing green and Italian racing red. A time considered by many as the true golden age of Formula 1.

Mike Hawthorn the great amateur among professionals, the first British World Champion and his mate Peter Collins make an all too brief an appearance. Tony Brooks and Stirling Moss, one famous the other less so could both have been World Champions. Moss's tragic accident that ended his career is covered. The minor drivers are given lives again. The book is 176 pages but contains more interesting material covering the life and times of its subjects than books many times its size. By now you may have guessed that this is one of my favorite books. The current World Championship is fought by drivers from many other lands and is no longer dominated by the drivers from Great Britain. This in itself is not a problem what is lacking is the personnel friendship shared by the earlier British contingent. When the season ended they would race down-under, in the Tasman series, free of the intense pressure of the European races. They would eat, drink and race together, a true Grand Prix circus. The years covered in this book encompassed the years of my youth and just as those days will never return the Reign of the British Racing Hero has ended. Reading this book will be as close as we will ever get to those times when an aspiring driver was measured by his speed rather than his bank account.

Allsop, Derick. "The British Racing Hero". Magna Books, 1992, 176 pp., ISBN 1-85422-313-5

 

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by Guy Jellinek-Mercedes

History is full of stories of inventors who after gaining fame from their inventions finding themselves overtaken by others who were more able to take advantage of the commercial opportunities these inventions offered. Daimler-Benz could very well have fallen victim to the same misfortune were it not due to the vision of Emil Jellinek. In 1896 Emil Jellinek traveled from Nice to the Daimler factory in Cannstatt Germany. He came there to take delivery of a new 6hp Daimler. After reading everything he could get his hands on concerning this new invention, the horseless carriage, seeing it in person galvanized his belief that he and only he had the vision to bring forth this great invention to the public. He would act as their agent; in the computer age his position would be know as an evangelist or true believer. In 1897 he order no less than 140 cars of various models. Everyone knows the story of him naming cars that he re-sold after his daughter, Mercedes. Less are aware of the fact that he had his own name legally changed to Jellinek-Mercedes.

He was eccentric and overbearing yet bursting in energy and he believed in the value of racing to improve the breed. His relationship with Gotlieb Daimler was strained but in the engineer Maybach he found a will partner. Trans-continental telegraph messages and letters flew between wherever Jellinek happened to be and the factory at Cannstatt. Pleading and badgering the factory to build more and more sophisticated cars. Letters from that "maniac" Jellinek were read warily but the challenge to Daimler's engineers would not be left unanswered. It must be remembered that the very same cars that were raced in those days were the cars that anyone with the money could buy. The reputation of Mercedes cars having some of the best engineering available was born in that period and lives on to this day.

Guy Jellinek-Mercedes tells the tale of his father through personal remembrances, undoubtedly handed down and embellished by his father, and includes his correspondence and fascinating accounts of classic road races held in the early days of the automobile. You also learn about the brilliant engineer Wilhelm Maybach who more than anyone was responsible for the greatness of Daimler's first cars.

Jellinek-Mercedes, Guy (translated by Ruth Hassell). "My Father Mr. Mercedes". G.T. Foulis & Co. Ltd, 1966, 319 pp.
 

 
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by Peter Miller

During its thirty years of existence, from 1927 to 1957, the Mille Miglia was considered "the greatest road race in the world." In his book Peter Miller has captured the spirit of this great event with over 150 photographs - many of which have never been published, and contributions from Stirling Moss, Piero Taruffi, Alfred Neubauer and the Contessa di Maggi. Miller has produced a family album because when the race was held all the drivers were treated as family and the event took on the feeling of a family reunion at the Maggis' Calino villa. The story of the Mille Miglia is the story of one man's dream, Conte Aymo Maggi with the help of three friends sought to revenge the loss of the Italian Grand Prix to Milan by creating the worlds greatest road race for sports cars. They wanted to spur the Italian motor industry out of its doldrums and bring publicity to Brescia. The four musketeers as they were known decided on a race from Brescia to Rome and back to Brescia. The distance of approximately 1600 kilometers converted to 1000 miles which had a nice ring to it. One of the four Franco Mazzotti remarked that the Roman legions used to calculate their marches in miles "so why don't we call it a race for the Coppa della Mile Miglia?" Renzo Castegneto, who would become Maggi's right hand man and the one responsible for the organization of the race came up with the famous symbol of the red arrow emblazoned with the words 1000 MIGLIA.

Chapters such as Race Hazards, the Final Lap and The Man Who Loved Life bring back echoes of a long gone age. Peter Miller describes all of the problems that had to be overcome each year the race was run, the politics and the rivalries that are a part of Italian daily life are all described in an engaging style. We learn of Conte Maggi's own racing exploits as one of the leading Italian drivers of the 20's. The race would take more and more of his energy and he discontinued driving. In the end it was said that he died of a broken heart when his race was banned after 1957.

Miller, Peter. "Conte Maggi's Mille Miglia". St Martin's Press, 1988, 164 pp., ISBN 0-312-02525-4