It is with enormous sadness that we learn of the passing of 'Mr. Motor Racing', Sir Stirling Moss. For most British schoolboys of the '50s and enthusiasts worldwide, the exciting vibrant name Stirling Moss meant a dashing gentleman who was...
If a racing driver at Le Mans hears that they have been described as “an amateur”, they are not likely to be best pleased. But as sports car racing flourished through the 1960s, being called an amateur was regarded less...
Crashing and burning during its competition debut on the 1953 Mille Miglia road race might easily have been the end of the Italian GT nicknamed ‘Supersonic’, but the flames of that accident consumed a body so beautiful it had to...
The Sixties was the time of Sputnik satellites and Saturn rockets, of Yuri Gagarin going into Earth’s orbit and Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon, and yet today when people share photographs of this decade, often they include a vehicle...
Above: Matthew Field speaking at the Royal Automobile Club during The Self Preservation book launch. Photo by Mark Lewis Photography. Throughout the summer I have been busy promoting my new book The Self Preservation Society: 50 Years of The Italian...
In the 95 years since the first Le Mans 24 Hours, few battles have captured the imagination as did the Ford versus Ferrari saga in the 1960s. Ferrari had won the French classic seven times since 1949, the last four...
The Gulf Oil logo. Powder blue and tangerine orange. Low-slung Ford GT40s, mighty Porsche 917s, open-top Mirage-Fords. All are synonymous with John Wyer, the Englishman who spent American oil-industry dollars so effectively that he became known as the greatest team...
He battled wheel-to-wheel with Senna and Schumacher, won the 24-hour races at Le Mans and Daytona, was crowned World Sportscar Champion, successfully switched careers from racing to broadcasting, and goes places at the controls of his own helicopter – yet...
It’s an uncomfortable truth, but the springboard to Juan Manuel Fangio’s five World Championships was provided by an army general-turned-President who welcomed Nazi war criminals into his country and oppressed political opponents with intimidation and violence. That iron-fisted ruler was...
The Bentley Boys are remembered as the brave free spirits of a golden age, but in all the hero-worship it is too easy to overlook the important role played by a heroine. An unlikely heroine, it’s true – notoriously rude...
Stories of great competition cars are really about so much more besides. Great cars result from great ideas and ambitions, dedication and teamwork, rivalries and setbacks, stubbornness and bounce-backs, and great drivers too. That’s why every one of the 12...
After a career spanning thirty years in the car industry - starting out at Ford - and encompassing Mazda, Porsche GB sales and then consulting for the likes of Rolls-Royce, Lotus, McLaren, Lexus, Toyota and GM, Steve has come full...
