Jim Clark Half A Century On...........

[René]

May 24, 2023 15:52:07 GMT chrisb said:

I managed to find a book on Jimmy that quite honestly I had forgotten about, a lovely book by Bill Gavin, who was friends with Jimmy and really gives a brilliant insight as to why Jimmy was so successful and why he was so quick, the other thing was it was published in 1966/67 before the Cosworth and before the tragedy in 1968: , definitely a book worthy of any bookshelf

the other point Bill made was just how successful Graham would have been had it not been for jimmy 

Sounds like a great find Chris!



for those interested, available on Amazon:  www.amazon.com/Jim-Clark-Story-Bill-Gavin/dp/B0000CNEYO

[chrisb]

Ian Scott Watson, the man who introduced Jim to competitive driving has sadly passed away, always courteous always ready to talk about Jim despite being sidelined quite early in Jim’s career he remained a loyal supporter and friend. I believe in his own time Ian was an architect of some renown

Rest in peace Ian

[René]

Thanks Chris for posting this.



Rest in peace Ian Scott Watson.

[mikael]

Belgian GP, Spa 1965,

A painting by Martin Tomlinson - borrowed from Motor Sport Magazine.

Very nice!

[robmarsh]

Very nice indeed, Mikael. Looks like he is from the John Charles school of art.

[chrisb]

That really is a splendid picture I have a copy of the Michael Turner painting of Jimmy at Zandvoort in 1967 but the above I think is a little bit better

[mikael]

A couple of very nice Jim Clark photos:

Start of the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix

From 1962 (probably at the German GP)

[chrisb]

wonderful Mikael ! brilliant photo's

I am considering another book on Jimmy- how is this possible? When I get to the Museum after the 7th I shall check out this new book of photos of Jimmy, 

ah the 1963 Belgium GP, surely one of the most astonishing races of all time- simply genius

Jimmy always rated his drive in the 62 German GP as one of his best ever- and he certainly drove over the limit for much of the race - a very unusual occurrence and scared himself silly in the process - had he won we would be talking of a race that was certainly up there with the 57 race. 

[mikael]

Jim Clark at Crystal Palace (London) 1964

Murray Walker speaks about Jim Clark

[chrisb]

thanks Mikael, difficult to believe but I actually saw Jimmy race the Cortina at Crystal Palace, which year I am not sure, but I distinctly remember my older brother dragging me under a fence and us watching the saloon cars et al - great days, 

Gosh I have bought another book that is about that era and is written by another mechanic called Derek Wild who was a mechanic for Jimmy amongst others including Jack Oliver - some fantastic photos not seen before, oh well that is my 15th book on Jimmy 

[chrisb]

Have just finished Derek's book, it is simply wonderful, left me wanting more of the stories - some so funny, their antics were definitely of their times, my word they would all face life imprisonment in today's society, yet it was also so sad, poignant, especially talking of Jimmy, gosh he was so seriously revered by his mechanics, no wonder they still say so much of him. 

A few interesting facts came to light, now apart from quite a famous photo of Jimmy on a little Honda bike at Brands in 64 I have never heard of Jimmy riding bigger bikes, certainly not for sustained periods, yet apparently he joined others including Dan in South Africa riding Benelli's across country, 

Derek also talks of other circuits, mechanics and drivers and it was interesting what they felt about certain places. 

I enjoyed it so much I am going to read it again, I would love to have heard some of Jim Endruweit's stories apparently he was a real tale teller as was Andrew Ferguson 

It joins Cedric Selzers book as a jolly good read 

[mikael]

Ref.: the flattened Mini at the 1964 Crystal Palace race: something similar happened none less than three times in Denmark - during a span of just two years - before it was realized that something had to be done about safety. (In all three cases, miraculously, nothing serious happened - no real person damage.)

In whatever way, apparently not a very stable car (even though it was extremely successful in motorsport) ...

From the 1968 Danish Motorsport Yearbook:

From the 1969 Danish Motorsport Yearbook:

And then, finally, also in the 1969 yearbook, a discussion: "What about the safety?"

[Carl]

The original Mini-Cooper had a narrow track front and rear. I wonder if that increased the chance of a barrel-roll accident when push comes to shove at the limit. Nevertheless, all my friends and I wanted one with a Union Jack on the roof.

One rainy night early in my pursuit of driving skill, I chased a Mini Cooper S along Mulholland Drive in my Austin-Healey Sprite and nearly went over the side of the hill after spinning. The Mini driver noticed my headlights gone from his mirrors and came back to check on me.  He recommended tyres better suited for wet weather than the bias-ply ones I had on.  Great camaraderie

[chrisb]

Mini's were a great icon and was it John Rhodes who was so successful in British saloon cars in his? they used to smoke their tyres if memory serves and were always very successful

[Carl]

Jul 15, 2024 10:34:20 GMT chrisb said:

Mini's were a great icon and was it John Rhodes who was so successful in British saloon cars in his? they used to smoke their tyres if memory serves and were always very successful

Alec Issigonis was a genius!