Phil Hill died an hour ago. He will be missed by the racing community. (I removed the Obituary at the resquest of Denise McCluggage, it will be on Autoweek) The photo is Phil in Venezuela in 1957, driving a Ferrari 335S Image Unavailable, Please Login
Also noted here - http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=137978605&postcount=5 A Very Sad Day He will be missed.
Many years ago, when I was only about 11 or so, we had a subscription to National Geographic. It had a major picture article about Monte Carlo. One of the topics was the famous Grand Prix. The picture they showed was the perfect red Shark-Nose Ferrari with Hill sitting in the cockpit, ready for the start. I think it was the very first good color Ferrari picture I ever saw, and certainly the very first picture of a real Formula One race. It was also the first time I had heard of American champion Phil Hill, who I followed with interest from then on.
As a racer myself one thing that sticks in my mind is how Phil Hill raced in an era where good drivers died from racing mistakes all the time. He was so good that he retired with an amazing set of wins and passed away of old age. Today racers can take chances and do take chances. They crash and rarely die, learn from their mistakes and race again. Phil Hill's generation of drivers never had that luxury which makes his accomplishments all the more amazing.
A class act and a gentleman, always respectful of those around him. Something some of the current F1 drivers lack and should definetely emulate.
I am very saddened to hear of his passing. Some personal remebrences: Last saw and talked with Phil at the Seattle historic races in 2000. As always a very pleasant person. Someone who had stayed overnight during the event had talked of how during the prior evening's dinner Phil had taken one of the event sponsor Mercedes street cars and made a seriously fast lap. First met Phil during the Road & Track testing of Harley Cluxton's 312B3 at Riverside Raceway. This became a cover article for Road & Track in about 1977. It was very enjoyable time especially when Phil and Henry Manney would reminisce. That led to meeting with Phil to view his collection of cars and his restoration shop: Hill & Vaughn in Santa Monica. We met at Phil's house and then proceeded to go to his shop in his 1912 (or so) Model 30 Packard. This car had been listed by Automobile Quarterly as being one of the 10 or 20 finest Packards in the country. Phil is driving without using the clutch and is sometimes using the exhaust cut-out. For those that may not be aware during that time period Hill & Vaughn was considered the finest restoration shop for Packards in the western US; both Phil and his partner had individually won best of show at Pebble Beach with their classic cars. Later ran into Phil at one of the Laguna Seca historic events. We talked about his Twin Six Packard that he still had. It had been his grandmother's and was the car that he was driven home in following his birth. Car had never left the family. He had originally intended to restore it but admitted it was hard to work on a restoration as a hobby after spending all day dealing with restorations as a business. Then the market changed and made original unrestored cars highly valuable. Jeff
Yes, he will be missed. We can sign the Book of Rememberance on his website at: http://www.philhill.com/
He lived the dream many of us share being Americans. Driving for Ferrari and winning the title for them. R.I.P.
I was not quite nine when Phil won the championship. I remember my father telling me that an American had won it for the first time, and also hearing about the tragedy of Von Trips' accident that September day at Monza. Very sad news today. Obit from the LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-me-hill29-2008aug29,0,5179464.story
I was 11 years old when I met Phil Hill. I didn't meet him meet him; I met him on the pages of Road and Track in the magazine section of the Montrose Grocery Store at 7th grade lunch time. I squandered my lunch money on R&T that day instead of Hot Rod or Kart. Phill won the Belgian Grand Prix and Le Mans that year - a few weeks apart- and I read all about this intense young California guy in his sharknose Ferrari beating all the world. I soon followed everything he did. I subscribed to the old NY Herald Tribune. My teachers thought it was because I was intelligent and that I wanted a good grade in Mr. Goldstein's Social Studies class. BS. The Trib carried the results of the European races every Monday morning, something no other US paper did then. I then discovered there was a lot more to Phil Hill because he wote a Salon Article about one of his old cars, an old Alfa, in R/T. He had me then. He continued on and won the F1 championship, raced GT40s and Coopers and Chapparals but more importantly he continued to write about cars in a clear and interesting manner sharing his knowledge and love with the rest of us. His articles and those by Peter Egan about him going back to test Ferraris for R/T or driving them at LeMans are classics. I have a Book he wrote A Champions View about the Ferraris he raced and some he did not. When I heard the news I opened the book to his autograph -that's the closest I ever got to meeting him. But I got a huge gift from him just the same. When I became a Professional racer in the early seventies I read something he said about some of his fellow GP racers - That "they let themselves get killed." That's not something anybody talked about back then because so many people did get killed. But it shows how he almost never got in a crash - the only one I remember was in The Targa Florio when his throttle stuck on his 246 because one of the mechanics or someone threw a St Christophers medal in the car to keep him from getting hurt and it jammed the pedal! He thought about everything even when you are getting into an agricultural moment. That saved his life and I think it helped me too. I doubt that Kimi or Felipe or Lewis are going to contribute to Motorsports in the profound way that he did. He was a true CHAMPION
one of the last of the breed. the gentleman gladiators that fought in racing when it was a true blood sport...we may never see racers cut of this cloth ever again. r.i.p. pcb
In my eyes, one of the best American racers ever. But what distinguished him was his modesty and his integrity. ONE OF THE LAST TRUE GENTLEMEN OF THE SPORT. He will be missed.
I can't believe Phil Hill is no longer amongst us. I recall reading about this racing legend of a gentleman in Sports Car International and R&T as a teenager. Admiring the great man through the photographs of Klemantaski and others. The motor racing world has lost a treasured ambassador of the sport today. Godspeed champion.