Phil Hill R.I.P. (1927 -2008)

Such sad news. I never met Phil Hill, but he always exuded class and seemed like a great guy. Thank you--you will be missed.

 

Two years ago in Elkhart Lake.
After a long day at RA, he was still gracious and posed for his photo.
The fellow with the silly expression is me, the lady on the right my friend's wife, Sally.
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A great man, a great racer, and a great human being. I never saw him race competitively, but I always enjoyed reading about him and reading his take on things. I don't know if anyone subscribes to Auto Week, but just recently they did their 50th anniversary issue and not only was he listed as one of the top 50 pioneers of racing, there was a terrific picture of him and JM Fangio from 1958 which was Phil's first and Fangio's last grand prix. If I can scan it, I will try to post it.

 

Vaya con Dios

 

So true.

But what an exciting life !

 

Truly a great racer and a wonderful person.

Found some old photos. Brings back good memories.....

1. Phil driving 250MM
2. Phil in 1961
3. Phil with 1962 LeMans winning 330 Tri/LM
4. Phil Hill with Chaparral
5. Phill driving Sharknose reconstruction at 1998 50th anniversary in 1998
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Truly sad news..................... R.I.P Mr. Phil Hill
you will be missed.................

 

Whow, that comes as a shock to me. I remember speaking with Phil Hill at Spa in the early ´90s where he drove a Ferrari 250TR like he never retired (see picture below). And later during Le Mans Classic. Hill still had the spirit and put the Alfa Romeo he was driving on 1st place. Great driver, nice person, never refused an autograph.

R.I.P.
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I met Phil once, in Philadelphia in the mid 1980's, at an overnight stop for the Great Race, which Phil, being the classic car enthusiast that he was, did regularly in those days. I don't recall what he was driving, but it was very old and very large! It was a fairly short conversation, since they had a bit of work to do on the car, but he was still friendly and cordial, and always willing to talk to a Ferrari fan. I always loved his "Salon" articles in "Road & Track", and his book "Ferrari: A Champion's View" will always occupy an important place on my bookshelf. R.I.P., Phil, and enjoy your chats with Enzo and Luigi!

 

Just heard. A great loss. Superb driver and gentleman. Likely driving a great Ferrari (or Packard) someplace far away right now. Hope to see him in the future.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Taz: The Phil Hill Funeral is tomorrow at 10:30AM, St Monica Church, 725 California Ave, Santa Monica

 

I received this yesterday in my email Via an attendee of the service. -

- Rick Cole sent this to Sports Car Market magazine to share with other members of the car collecting and motorsports community:

For those who could not attend the funeral of Phil Hill, a copy of the tribute booklet for today's services is attached.

As Rick had known Phil for almost 40 years, he was privileged yesterday to share remembrances with Alma Hill of the special times they all had together.

Alma told Rick the photo on the back cover is very personal to her (and was actually acquired by her after Phil left us), because he passed away only a few yards from that finish line. -

- If anyone would like to see the attachment of the booklet mentioned above, please PM me as the file is to large to post.