Very sad news in very sad times. I share Enzo Ferrari’s opinion of his huge talent. A great gentleman has left us. But, Stirling, what a life.... RIP
Legend. Rip. Moss became so a famous figure that policemen in Britain regularly asked speeding motorists: “Who do you think you are, Stirling Moss?” Moss reported that it even happened to him one day and he had great difficulty explaining to the constable in question that he was actually Stirling Moss. https://www.joeblogsf1.com/joesaward/id/00745 Best, Sammy
I have many memories of Stirling these past 30 plus years, all instigated of course by my ownership of his 1961 TT winning Ferrari SWB #2735. It ended up being the Ferrari he raced most often and the one he won most races in, which included his last outright victory at Nassau for the TT. He often characterised it as ‘the best GT car ever’ and indeed wrote that onto the dashboard for me. Others will no doubt write about his outstanding racing record, and Stirling was the consummate professional both as a racing driver, but after his crash, also in the way he used to conduct his ‘second life’. I mentioned on the Bartoletti Transporter thread the other day that he used to ‘host’ my Kinnerton corporate test days each year at Goodwood for me, driving customers and friends around the circuit in #2735. So here’s how ‘driven’ the man actually was: One year, about 4 days before the Goodwood Test Day was due to take place, Stirling rings me up and says “Clive, I’m afraid I’ve broken my left leg old boy.” I’m not sure, if I’m honest, which thought came first to me - sympathy for Stirling or the thought that S##t, my whole Corporate Day involving my most important customers, had just gone up in smoke! “Don’t worry though, he continues, I’ve got on the phone to Mercedes and got them to give me a 500SL automatic, so I’ll be there as normal”. And sure enough, leg totally encased in plaster, there he was driving everyone around like nothing had ever happened. Imagine, for some of my younger buyers, who’d never been on a circuit at all, let alone getting into this car with a 70 plus year old person behind the wheel, leg in plaster, who then proceeded to fling the car around the circuit at incredible speeds that would leave you feeling breathless, exhilarated, but also safe and in awe, as he talked through every corner about what he was doing and why he was doing it. We used to have to literally haul this ‘old age pensioner’ out of the car, as he would sit in the SWB saying “Next” and waiting to give yet another person their coveted laps with one of the greatest drivers who ever lived. If the customer also proved to be a pretty girl, or ‘crumpet’, so much the better for Stirling. He came down to Maranello with me to take delivery of his old racer in 2009 and the measure of respect the factory and Classiche gave him that day, testing at Fiorano, inviting his old mechanics to the handover and lunch at Cavallino, was touching in the extreme. When behind the wheel occasionally, he grew horns, but otherwise he was at all times, courteous, humorous, endowed with a tremendous work ethic, and generally the best possible ambassador for the sport we all love. For someone who retired in 1962, yet who was able to keep his name rightly in lights up to the day he sadly passed, almost 60 years later, is testament to the man; but it is also testament to Lady Susie, who has been the absolute foundation of his second career. She has nurtured him, humoured his sometimes irascible moments, protected him from his adoring public and generally allowed us all to enjoy this titan of our sport for decades. To Susie and Elliot, we all offer our sincere condolences. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I had the good fortune to meet him at Robert Publicker’s home in Fort Lauderdale where he was recuperating from his career ending Goodwood crash. Before then, I had only imagined him as I raced a miniature Vanwall or D-type around a Scalextric track. I was a mere lad of 14, who showed up unannounced to have my copy of A Turn at the Wheel signed by the great man himself, yet he welcomed me warmly. It is an experience I’ll cherish as long as I have memory.
Monaco 2000. It's a couple of weeks before the F1 and I'm making my first ever trip to the Principality. The Monaco Historics motor race is taking place 39 years on from a most incredible Grand Prix victory. I had recently liquidated almost everything I owned to move to Europe to pursue a life in racing. I'm all alone, and don't know anyone but I am in motorsports heaven; surrounded by great racing cars and drivers of times gone by. As I navigate my way around the paddock I see an older lady slightly loose her footing and drop a number of items she was carrying. Of course I stopped and helped her with her things while nobody else around seemed to care. We exchanged pleasantries and proceeded to go about our own ways. It was a wonderful day and being around those cars energized my passion but I was broke, lost, and had no prospects. Fast forward two months later and I'm starting to get some direction. I've landed a job at a racing school in England and have started to make a few friends. I would spend every waking hour at the race track and when I could not work I'd go as a spectator. The place I was working at was entertaining a contingent of Canadians (the Bombardier family and their guests) and I was asked to escort them at a private event being held at the Coys Historic Festival at Silverstone. Again more race cars at the most famous racing track in all of Britain. Approaching mid-day a lady came up to me and said 'I know you. You're the nice man that helped me with my things in Monaco'. The encounter had slipped my mind but apparently it had not gone un-remembered. She proceeded with 'It's almost lunch time, would you care to join my husband and I to eat?' Unencumbered I politely accepted and she led me to the table where I would meet her husband: STIRLING MOSS!!!!!!!!!! I remember that day with a special fondness. Not only did I (a nobody in the racing world) have lunch with one of the greatest names the sport has ever had but the Moss' treated me as a total equal and with a kindness and interest normally reserved for close friends. We spoke on a number of subjects and they even asked me for advice on their son, who was about my age at the time, and struggling to find his feet in the world. It was an exchange I treasure to this day. Sir Stirling Moss passed away at the age of 90 today. History will remember him as one of the most all-round successful racing drivers of all time. I will remember him as a kind soul that was nice to kid he didn't know at a time when he needed it the most. Goodbye Sir Stirling. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I agree with those who say that he's the greatest driver never to win the World Drivers' Championship. And I contend that his drive in the 1955 Mille Miglia is the greatest race drive ever, by anyone at any time. It's ironic that his career ended on an Easter Monday and that his life ended on an Easter Sunday. I guess that it was meant to be. Rest in Peace, Sir Stirling. You were a great driver and a great gentleman.
But it should be mentioned and not forgotten that most of his races and success was with Maserati! Not Mercedes, not Aston Martin, not Cooper and by far not with Ferrari! R.I.P. Sir
For the record, GP races won by Stirling Moss, by manufacturer: Vanwall. 6 Lotus. 4 Cooper. 3 Maserati. 2 Mercedes. 1 HWM. - ERA. - Connaught - BRM. - Ferguson. - In sports car and GT racing he competed in many marques, including Ferrari, Sunbeam, Aston Martin, Cooper, Lotus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Lister, Jaguar and Maserati.
Apart when he was contracted to Jaguar, and then in 1955 with Mercedes, Stirling Moss was freelance for most of his career. Early on, he had signed a lucrative long term contract with British Petroleum that helped him to reach F1 in 1954 with a private Maserati. For the following years, Moss had to pick up drives compatible with his contract, with a few exceptions. That's why he couldn't accept factory drives at at Cooper or Lotus, sponsored by different oil companies. After 1955, he rarely did a complete season with one team, switching from Maserati to Vanwall, then private Cooper or Lotus (RCC Walker), with a few races in between for BRP, etc ... In endurance, he moved from Jaguar to Aston Martin, Mercedes, then factory and private Maseratis (CAMORADI), one-off drives for OSCA, and Porsche, later private Ferraris. Moss was more interested in winning races than championships, and chose the events he wanted to attend, then tried to find a car for each one.
It is often forgotten that he was planning to run the 1962 F1 season in a Ferrari 156, presumably identical to the team cars, for Rob Walker. Considering that the Ferrari was obsolete by 1962, it's interesting to surmise how Moss would have done in it.
Based on the totality of his skill on the track...and equally his character as a man...I think he could well be considered GOAT.
Sir Racer! One of the Greatest Britons of all time!!! ...and just such a character and so likeable, as he is here:
As always, he would have been the underdog in a lesser car, and given us giant-killing performances against the odds. That was Stirling Moss !!
