Film now showing
Nesreeel of Stirling Moss winning
the 1961 German Grand Prix

Stirling Moss -British racing legend

Duration: 1 min. 37 seconds

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For more than 50 years, Stirling Moss has been one of the most recognised names in motor racing.

From his amazing exploits on the international circuits in the post war era to his frequent visits to revival meetings in more recent times, this great British legend has participated and succeeded in virtually every variation of motor racing challenges. For many, he will always be remembered as the best driver never to win the world championship, but very few drivers have ever had a Grand Prix ratio of winning nearly one quarter of every race they started, as well as being one of the top three drivers in the world for more than five years, as Moss was, for much of the latter part of the 1950s and early 1960s.

All rounder
Moss’s greatest claim to fame is that he was much more than a track competitor. He also set new world land speed records at Bonneville, he competed successfully in the gruelling Monte Carlo Rally, he won the Sebring Grand Prix of Endurance, he set a lap record at the 24 hour endurance race at Le Mans, as well as winning and setting a course record at the renowned Mille Miglia in 1955 when he covered the 1000 mile road course at an average speed of nearly 100 miles an hour, assisted greatly by his innovative navigator Dennis "Jenks" Jenkinson.

Born in 1929, Moss’s inspiration for motor racing came from his father, Alfred, who raced regularly at Brooklands before the war and also at Indianapolis, where he competed twice in the famous 500. Stirling’s forays into motor racing began when he was still a teenager in the late 1940s, starting initially with hill climbs before moving on to Formula 500. Like many other young drivers of the era, he benefited greatly by the appearance of the Jaguar XK120 and won his first major race in this new car, the Tourist Trophy, in 1950.

Celebrity
In his prime, Stirling Moss was also part and parcel of British popular culture. He was a celebrity with unrivalled fame, as well as a trend setter, living in a futuristic house in London’s Mayfair. He was a man who was admired and respected by rivals and public alike.

It was though on the race track where he was most at home, and during his distinguished career, he raced all the leading cars of the era: Cooper, Mercedes, Maserati, Vanwall, Connaught and Lotus, and if it wasn’t for the extraordinary success of his great friend and rival of the time, Juan Manual Fangio, Moss would surely have won even more than he did.

One achievement though that can never be surpassed is that he become the first Englishman to win the British Grand Prix when he finished first at Aintree in 1955.

Tragedy
Sadly, his career ended abruptly in 1962 when he suffered serious head injuries in a crash at Goodwood, for which many people at the time believed he may not survive. But while he did make a full recovery, and did briefly attempt a comeback, his proper racing days were over.

He did though remain very close to the sport, undertaking considerable media work. In 1967, he appeared as a chauffeur in the James Bond film, Casino Royale. In 1970, he presented a television documentary about the history of Sebring. In more recent years he was the narrator of the popular children’s animated series Rotary the Racing Car. He has also written several books on motor racing, as well as contributed to many other publications, as well as radio and television programmes.

He was knighted in 2000 and to this day he is still adding new generations of motor racing enthusiasts to his huge legion of fans.



 

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The Mercedes 300SLR team at the Eifelrennen, 1955. Moss trails Fangio and King in another epic race

Over the years that Moss and Fangio competed
together, they shared many victory podiums

Having set a new course record of only 10 hours and
 seven minutes, Moss gains the post-race accolades

For most of the 1950s and early 60s, Stirling Moss
was regarded as one of the world's finest race drivers

He competed in races across the globe with his arch rival and close friend, Juan Manual Fangio

In 1951, aged just 21, he set a new lap
record at Le Mans in the new c-type Jaguar

He raced in everything from hill climbs to F1 races, rallies, endurance races and speed record attempts

Moss in action in the Aston Martin
DBR1 car during the 1950s

Moss drives another Aston Martin DBR1 around Le Mans in 2007

Moss was not only a leading driver, but also
a major celebrity who was in constant demand

Against the odds, Moss and Bill Lloyd won the Sebring 12 hour endurance race in Florida in 1954 in an Osca 

Moss has been reunited with many of his former cars. Above he drives the winning Mille Miglia 722 car around Brooklands

Moss returned to Sebring in 1970 for a TV documentary and drove round the town in a rare Jaguar XKSS

Moss on his way to victory in a Lotus-Cimax 18/21
at the Nurburgring in the 1961 German Grand Prix

Moss celebrates his victory with fellow drivers and fans after competing the 15 laps in 2 hours and 18 minutes

Moss with Sir Jackie Stewart In 2007. Stewart's career primarily took off a few years after Moss's came to an end

His speed of nearly 250 miles per hour blitzed the previous record and made this car the fastest MG ever

In 1957 Moss raced at Bonneville and set a new
class F world land speed record in an experimental MG

Moss with Lewis Hamilton in 2008. The latest British star was born more than 20 years after Moss's last serious race

His success at the Mille Miglia saw Mercedes Benz bring out a special limited edition SL350 in 2003

Moss's lasting fame means he is constantly being asked for interviews and autographs

A surprise birthday present in 2006

At a book signing in 2008

In 1955, Moss won the gruelling 1000 mile Millia Miglia
in Italy. His navigator was journalist Dennis Jenkinson

Above, Moss drives the Vanwall car he raced in 1958