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   The inclusion of Graham Hill on my list of the ten greatest drivers
is probably the most controversial. It is easy to underestimate someone who has come from
so humble a beginning. Hill came late to motor racing, in fact he had not even driven a
car until he was 24. His early years marked by a profound lack of money and one of the
first passenger cars that Hill owned was a 1929 Austin. The car was a wreck which is just
about what you would expect for 70 dollars. Soon loosing its brakes Hill would have to
scrub the car's tires against the curb in order to stop. He would later remark that all
budding race car drivers should own such a car. "The chief qualities of a racing
driver are concentration, determination and anticipation", he said "A
1929 Austin without brakes develops all three - anticipation rather more than the first
two, perhaps."
Graham Hill joined
Smiths, the instrument makers at the age of 16. He served a five-year apprenticeship and
was called into the Navy at the age of 21. Two years later he returned to Smiths. During
this time he had taken up rowing and met his future wife Bette. One day he saw an
advertisement in a magazine for a new racing school which said that anyone interested
could drive a racing car at Brands Hatch for five shillings a lap. Hill went down and raced four laps and as he would later
remark "everything changed." The school was called the Universal Motor
Racing Club where he suggested to the owner that he was willing to exchange his labor as a
mechanic in exchange for letting him drive one of the race cars. Unfortunately he was
taken advantage of and the owner soon left without Hill ever getting close to driving a
race car. Hill would not give up on his dream and soon entered into a similar arrangement
with another person he had only just met. This time he actually did race one of the cars
and soon this new school, taking advantage of Hill's limited success, had its first group
of students. Hill being the veteran of a handful of races and besides the owner the only
other employee, would be their instructor! |
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Hill was now ready for bigger and better
opportunities and at one race he hitched a ride back to London with one of the other
entrants, a man by the name of Colin Chapman. He started at Lotus working for Colin
Chapman as a mechanic and was paid one pound a day. Unable to convince Chapman for a
chance to race one of his cars he actually quit Lotus temporarily before finally
convincing Chapman. After much cajoling he was elevated to full-time driving and in 1958
he made his debut in Formula 1. That could only happen today if he had a couple extra
million in his back pocket! After limited success and too many mechanical failures for his
tastes, Hill left for BRM in 1960. In 1962 He won his first race at 
The next year was not a good
year for Hill and was marked by his last win at 
