Phil Hill – (1927-2008) a tribute to the American F1 Champion and all round motor racing legend
- Anthony Crawford
If you are not a diehard Formula One racing fan, you could easily get Phil Hill mixed up with Graham Hill, the British Formula One champion of 1962 and 1968.
But Phil Hill remains the only US-born F1 champion to have won the coveted motor racing title, in 1961.
He did so driving the superb looking Carlo Chiti designed Ferrari 156 “sharknose”. Powered by a 1.5-litre V6 pumping out 190bhp – Hill won both the Belgium and Italian Grands Prix.
His death has a personal note for me, as my father had met Phil on a couple of occasions in Europe and talked engines with him.
Of course credit must be given to the only other American driver to win the F1 World Championship (1978) Mario Andretti, but Mario was born in Italy.
Hill remains an American motor racing icon, as not only was he the first American to win the F1 title, but he also took out the overall title at Le Mans in 1958 also driving a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa.
Phil Hill was a winner and he could drive anything. He won races driving a Ford GT 40, several Chaparrals, Shelby Cobras, Cooper Climax’s and a McLaren M1.
His wife Alma, son, Derek and daughters Jennifer and Vanessa and grandchildren will sorely miss him.
Apologies in advance to our Italian readers for what is no doubt a string of profanity as ex-F1 driver Riccardo Patrese takes his wife for a hot-lap in a Civic Type-R.
After our recent visit to catch up with the guys (and the Stig) from Top Gear Australia, we had such a good time, we thought we’d give something back.
So we are giving away a Top Gear shirt and a Top Gear bag to one of our readers, but there is a catch. You have to come up with an idea for a Top Gear Australia segment.
SBS invited CarAdvice.com.au and selected press to a secret location for “Hummers, Helicopters and Hot Laps” this afternoon, as Top Gear Australia was launched to the media.
The invite said “Your Transportation to the top secret location will be arranged…Please indicate if you are willing to participate in either.
a) Helicopter joyride, b) Hotlap or c) All activities” – enough said!
A Stretch Hummer is almost 10 metres long and can accommodate 12 people in relative comfort – including a fully stocked bar. They are an awesome sight on the road but not nearly as awesome as four stretch Hummers in convoy!
We arrived at a private airport Southwest of Sydney, but no one actually knew which building belonged to Top Gear. Try doing a three-point turn in one of these, in a confined space, without “Park Assist. That should be a challenge for a celebrity guest to perform in George Street Sydney, in Friday afternoon peak hour.
We pulled up outside a fairly non-descript aircraft hangar but just to the right, through a fenced off area, I could clearly see two of the show’s hosts, Steve Pizzati and Warren Brown beside a Pagani Zonda, Ferrari F430, Maserati Grand Turismo and the superb looking Audi R8.
This is a big day for SBS, BBC Worldwide and quality local production house, Freehand.
Victoria Police have announced plans to use five custom built Hummer H3s in a new operation to tackle the weekend violence in Melbourne’s CBD.
General Motors’ Hummer brand will be loaning the five vehicles to Victoria police with media reports suggesting the cars will be ready within five weeks.
The concept is for the Police force to stand out and have a stronger felt presence on city streets. The idea has already been in the works for some time, however the announcement follows yet another weekend filled with violence that left a 24-year-old man dead and another seriously injured.
“The idea of going to the Hummers is that it’s about trying to measure visible impact so we’ve got to try to introduce something which might look different to our current fleet of vehicles. We want to be visibly seen and we want to make sure the police out on the streets are recognisable and that we do reassure the public that we’re there.” Asst Commissioner Gary Jamieson said
Will the use of more “stand-out” vehicles such as the Hummer have any noticeable impact on the alcohol problem in Melbourne?
Although we are told it’s top secret and we can’t talk about it, we couldn’t really help ourselves. TopGear Australia has invited us to a special day to meet with the hosts of the Australian show, Charlie Cox, Warren Brown and Steve Pizatti.
Of course, we will also get to meet the Aussie Stig and try our very hardest to figure out who he is, although we suspect he will not be saying a single word.
Yes, it’s official. SBS has announced that Top Gear Australia’s first episode will go to air on Monday September 29.
Charlie Cox, Warren Brown, and Steve Pizzati, who describe themselves as the “ugliest men to go on television” will grace our screens, along with the Aussie Stig.
So make sure you’ve got your hard-drive recorder, DVD recorder, VCR, or even your BETA set to capture the Australian version of the iconic Top Gear.
Some say his skin has the texture of a dolphin’s, and that where ever you are in the world, if you tune your radio to 88.4, you can actually hear his thoughts. All we know is, he’s called the Stig.
But apart from being the preeminent driver of any car ever built (and some would say any yet to be built), the Stig doesn’t seem to live for any other purpose. So when Top Gear asked him (it?) to annotate his impressions on the new Nissan GT-R, he was happy to oblige….if he could use a computer, that is.
The result, is…well.. interesting. Click here to head to the Stig’s blog.
Surely you are all familiar with Air Force One, the US President’s own personal aircraft - well now meet Cadillac One, the President’s personal limousine.
Believe it or not, this isn’t a new long-wheel base model from the GM stable for general consumption - this is a limousine being specifically built for President George W. Bush.
In a blow to the automotive design community, Andrea Pininfarina, head of coachbuilding and design company Pininfarina, has died overnight in a collision.
Pininfarina, who was 51, was riding his Vespa scooter, when he was hit by 78-year-old driver Giuliano Salmi, on the outskirts of the city of Turin. The real irony is that he was killed by a Ford Focus - one of the vehicles his company was deeply involved with.
Best known for its work on Ferraris, Fiats, Alfas, and developing convertible versions of existing product, Pininfarina’s company has been a driving force in the motoring landscape of Italy.
So much so, that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said in a statement Pininfarina was “the representative of a dynasty that helped bring the story of ‘made in Italy’ to the world.”
Ferrari head Luca di Montezemolo had this to say:
“With Andrea Pininfarina I have lost a great friend and outstanding business partner. Together we shared years of work and successes with the Ferrari cars he designed.”
“He was a man of great humanity and in this moment of deep sorrow my heart goes out to his parents, his wife, children, brothers and all his collaborators at Pininfarina.”
London’s Telegraph noted that when his death was announced, trading in the firm’s shares were suspended as a sign of respect.
His family also said his body would be taken to the chassis plant at Cambiano near Turin so employees could pay their last respects.
He is survived by his wife Cristina Maddalena Pellion di Persano, and three children.
Some say he never leaves his test track, and that a fear of aerodynamic lift means he can never fly on an aeroplane - but he does… and he has.
The Stig has been spotted in Australia recently, driving one of only two right-hand drive Ford GT’s in the world for the first season of Top Gear Australia.
Unfortunately the Stig was as elusive as ever, keeping his trademark white helmet on the entire time to hide his true identity.
It seems Camden airport in New South Wales has been adopted as the home ground for the local series, with the team reportedly using the main runway as well as a few of the taxi ways to create their own test track.